Guides are more than lists. They are instructional tools, telling users not just where but how to do research, which often requires longer narrative or explanatory text. There is an inevitable tension between conflicting purposes: bulleted lists for quick findability, vs. sentences and paragraphs for explanation. Try to alternate modes: break up explanations with bullets, sub-headings, and other visual cues to group smaller "chunks" of information.
As students tend to use the first resources listed, it can be helpful to list them in order of importance rather than alphabetically.
Think about other ways to arrange the sources. For example: from broad to narrow in subject scope; by date coverage; etc.
It is also best to keep lists of resources short – maybe highlight the top three to five key resources. You may also want to break up long lists of resources into different boxes, grouping similar ones together in smaller chunks.
Usability tests show that students are confused by excessive content. So, tabs, text, lists, number of pages and boxes should be kept to a minimum.
There's no magic number, but if you have more than 7 or 8 resources in a single content box you should think about how it can divided into more than one box.
Strive for usability, not comprehensiveness.
Use the Book from the Catalog to highlight books
Keep mention of print books to a minimum, instead highlight ebooks.
