Using Existing Links In BlackBoard | Adding a Link to a Library Web Page | Adding a Link to the Library Catalog | Adding a Link to an Online Journal | Adding a Link to an Article in a Database or Online Journal | Adding a Link to an OhioLINK Digital Video | Adding a Librarian as a Co-Instructor | SafeAssign and Plagiarism Prevention | Blackboard Scholar
This guide will help you find ways to integrate library resources into your Blackboard courses.
The Library tab at the top of all Blackboard pages links to a general UC libraries page:
In addition, if you utilize the Library’s Electronic Reserve service, a link to the Electronic Reserves will appear in your course menu. More information on E-Reserves can be found at http://www.libraries.uc.edu/services/reserves/eres_guidelines.html.
Library pages that may be useful to your students:
University of Cincinnati Libraries home page ( http://www.libraries.uc.edu/)
UC Libraries and Affiliates (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/information/about/uclibs.html)
UC Libraries Help page (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/help/index.html)
How Do I.. (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/help/how/index.html) - frequently asked questions about libraries.
Research Assistance (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/help/reference/index.html) - links to various options, such as chat, e-mail, telephone, and contact information for subject specialists.
Subject Resources ( http://www.libraries.uc.edu/research/subject_resources/index.html) - the subject pages link to a variety of resources including indexes/databases, reference books, and web sites.
Library Instruction page for students (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/instruction/students/index.html)
What Is Plagiarism? (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/instruction/students/index.html) - a page on plagiarism avoidance for students.
RefWorks page (http://www.libraries.uc.edu/services/tech_services/refworks.html) - links to RefWorks for on- and off-campus access and all pertinent information.
Keyword Search http://uclid.uc.edu/search/X
Title Search http://uclid.uc.edu/search/t
Author Search http://uclid.uc.edu/search/a
Subject Search http://uclid.uc.edu/search/d
Journals Search http://uclid.uc.edu/screens/journals.html
Reserves by Course http://uclid.uc.edu/search/r
Reserves by Instructor http://uclid.uc.edu/search/p
You can create a link to a specific subset of materials by searching the Library Catalog and linking to the resulting URL. It can be a list of items by a certain author, on a certain subject, or results of a search with limiters applied.
Example 1: results list for the subject "Educational Technology."
Display the results and copy the existing URL into your course page.
Example 2: results list for a keyword search "feature films" limited to language "Chinese" and videos/DVDs.
Perform a search and copy the existing URL into your course page.
1. Search for the item in the catalog and click on the title to open the full record.
2. Copy and paste the resulting URL into your course page.
This would include records for items put on traditional/print reserves.
Link to the Full Text Journals/Electronic Journals Finder menu for your preferred journal. Here are a few reasons why we recommend this option:
-
Publishers frequently change their URLs without advanced notice. By linking to the Full Text Journals/Electronic Journals Finder menu, your students will always be able to find the journal you are assigning regardless of publisher URL changes.
- The date range for full text availability changes and it also varies from database to database. From the menu the students will be able to select the database that has full text for the desired date.
- A database server may be down or the quality of full text may be inadequate. Students may be able to go to another database for full text.
1. Go to the the Full Text Journals/Electronic Journals Finder (http://aj2vr6xy7z.search.serialssolutions.com/)
2. Perform a search for your preferred journal.
3. Copy and paste the resulting URL into your course page.
Example: Menu for the Journal of research on technology in education.
CAUTION: In order for your students to be able to access the online journals from off campus, the persistent link needs to include the prefix for the Libraries’ proxy server. You can easily add it to the front of the link. The proxy server prefix is http://proxy.libraries.uc.edu/login?url=
You can create links to many of the articles available through Library databases and online journals.
In order to create a link to an article, you need to use a persistent link. These are sometimes called persistent URLs, stable URLs or DOIs (digital object identifiers.)
Example of a persistent link from an EBSCO database:
CAUTION: In order for your students to be able to access the articles from off campus, the persistent link needs to include the prefix for the Libraries’ proxy server. If the persistent URL does not have this prefix, you can easily just add it to the front of the link. The proxy server prefix is http://proxy.libraries.uc.edu/login?url=
Example:
Persistent URL for an article: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=15479062&site=ehost-live
Link for off-campus access with the proxy server prefix: http://proxy.libraries.uc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=15479062&site=ehost-live
The OhioLINK Digital Media Center is located at http://dmc.ohiolink.edu/. You can link to this page or to the pages of individual collections.
If you want to link to a record for an individual image or video title, search or browse for it in the appropriate database.,The URL for bookmarking (linking to) an individual image or video record is at the bottom of the record.
Copy and paste the URL into your course page.
For off-campus access please remember to add the proxy server prefix (http://proxy.libraries.uc.edu/login?url=)
Librarians can serve as co-instructors within Blackboard courses, and can provide valuable virtual help.
Adding a librarian as a co-instructor requires setting up the librarian as a course user and then upgrading the privileges of the user, as follows:
SafeAssign™ is a plagiarism prevention service, offered by Blackboard. Instructors can set up SafeAssignments in their Blackboard courses and let students submit papers to these assignments. As students submit papers, they are checked against SafeAssign's comprehensive databases of source material. The papers will then be delivered to instructors through the Blackboard Learning System together with the originality reports, with the results of the matching process, attached to them. (This information is taken from the SafeAssign Wiki, where you can learn more about SafeAssign, see sample reports, etc).
You can also learn more about SafeAssign from Using SafeAssign in Blackboard developed by UCit Blackboard support team. This document along with other useful Blackboard Guides and Tutorials is available at the Blackboard Help page. Click "Instructors" - "Guides and Tutorials."
Librarians will be happy to work with you towards plagiarism prevention. Please visit Plagiarism: prevention and detection strategies for ideas.
Blackboard Scholar is built right into the Blackboard Learning System, for easy integration of relevant, reliable resources and dynamic streams from Scholar, directly into the course.See the press release on Scholar from the Blackboard Media Center for more information. Learn ho you
can integrate Scholar resources directly into the course environment.
Related resource: 7 Things You Should Know About Social Bookmarking (PDF file).
The University of Cincinnati Library acknowledges the University of Texas, Austin Library and the University of Montana, Missoula for their assistance in preparation of this guide:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/services/instruction/faculty/blackboard/index.html
http://www.lib.umt.edu/research/guide/pdf/fac_bbguide.pdf
UC guide developed August 2006, last updated August 2008