Incorporating Digital Library Resources into a

University Course Management System

Jacqueline Solis

Ellen M. Hampton

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Course Management Systems Originally created to facilitate distance education Now used to provide information about both on-

campus and distance ed. classes

Licensed systems (Blackboard/WebCT) Growing movement towards open-source CMS

(Moodle, Sakai, .LRN)

What can you do with a CMS?

Post syllabus, course readings, schedule, announcements

Groups, discussion board Quizzes, grade book Open-source models are developing

blogging, wiki software

CMS at UNC

UNC licenses Blackboard$60,000/year16 ITS employees support BlackboardOver 2500 courses in Blackboard2100 instructors and 650 TAs use Blackboard85% of students use Blackboard

Investigating move to open-source CMS

Perceived Problems

Licensed CMS included links to fee-based resources, or low-quality internet links, not library resources

Faculty breaking copyright law Students overwhelmed by library web

page, even after library instruction

The Project

Integrating relevant library resources with specific course’s Blackboard page

Connecting instruction with course assignments – a good model

Goals: Incorporate digital library resources into Blackboard Organize specific resources for students Help faculty with copyright issues

The Process: Template Creation

The Process: Class-specific

Meet with interested professors Read and discuss syllabus, readings and

assignments Select resources

Relevant subject headings Databases Internet resources Digital documents

Work with E-reserves

Results

Resources linked directly from main Blackboard page

Results

Resources linked directly from main Blackboard page

Links to copyright cleared articles located in the E-Reserves

Results

Resources linked directly from main Blackboard page

Links to copyright cleared articles located in the E-Reserves

Library instruction is subtly included

Results

Resources linked directly from main Blackboard page

Links to copyright cleared articles located in the E-Reserves

Library instruction is subtly included Digital library resources (from UNC and

elsewhere) linked directly

Questions? Comments?