Help: : Research Services and Support:
Using Library Resources in Blackboard
Links to Library Gateway and Ask a Librarian
Links to RefWorks
Links to Library Resources and Services
Course reserves and canned library catalog searches
Library licensed resources (databases, e-journals, articles, etc.)
Library services and library-created materials
End of the Semester Blackboard Clean-up
Contact us
Integrating library resources and services into your Blackboard site will enhance its value for your students. To this end, the Library and CIT have added links to the Library Gateway and to the Ask a Librarian service to all new Blackboard course sites (see items 1 and 2 below). Additionally, you can add course-specific items to your site (see item 3 below). Instructions for adding content to your Blackboard course site are listed below; if you have any questions or would like assistance selecting and adding library resources and services to your site please see the contact information in the appropriate section. For more information on the integration between Blackboard and library resources, see http://www.cit.cornell.edu/atc/cst/bb-library.shtml and http://www.cit.cornell.edu/atc/cst/bb-refworks.shtml. For more information on Blackboard itself, see http://blackboard.cornell.edu/ and contact atc_support@cornell.edu for help.
1. Links to Gateway and Ask A Librarian:
The Library Gateway is the main portal to the Cornell University Library. It provides access to the vast array of library services and resources such as the Library Catalog, Find it! (for articles, databases, and images), Find e-Journals, and Course Reserves.
The link to Ask A Librarian provides information about how to phone, email, and chat with a member of the Library’s reference staff for help with all phases of the research process.
If you have a course site created prior to August 14, 2006 and want to add these permanent links to the Gateway and to Ask a Librarian in your course menu, please see instructions for doing so at http://www.cit.cornell.edu/atc/cst/bb-library.shtml.
RefWorks is a web-based tool for managing citations that allows users to easily import references from online database searches and to format papers and bibliographies. RefWorks can be helpful to students when completing course-related research assignments and papers. Instructors can use RefWorks to create course reading lists, bibliographies, and/or a course database to which students contribute citations. Access to RefWorks at Cornell is jointly funded by Cornell University Library and CIT and is therefore free to users while they are at Cornell.
a. Instructions for instructors
3. Course-specific integration: (instructor-selected links to library resources and services)
To create links to library resources for your courses, follow the general guidelines provided by Blackboard on creating links to the Library Gateway and Ask a Librarian in older course sites (see instructions for doing so at http://www.cit.cornell.edu/atc/cst/bb-library.shtml) and replace the Gateway or Ask a Librarian URLs with your own. However, when you are linking to Library course reserves, canned searches, or licensed resources, to make the link permanent, you will need to follow the steps outlined in the links below.
a. linking to Library course reserves and canned Library searches
b. linking to Library licensed resources (databases, journals, articles, digital collections, rss feeds, etc.) Please note that off-campus access to library licensed resources is restricted to current students, employees and faculty with NetIDs. Those with GuestIDs will not have access. This should be the only major restriction to linking directly to Library licensed resources. By and large, instructors can assume that if the Library has a database or journal available in electronic form, they can point to it or articles within it for class (except for Harvard Business School publications).
c. linking to Library services (consultation requests, document deliveries, etc.)
The Library provides a number of services that would be valuable for students to have access to from their Blackboard sites. Examples include the Library’s research consultation service (see individual library pages (e.g. http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/consult.html) or contact the individual library’s reference desk for consultations) and Interlibrary Loan/MyDocumentDelivery.
d. linking to Library created material (webliographies, subject guides, help pages, tutorials, video training, podcasts)
The Library creates a variety of resources that would be valuable for you to link to in your Blackboard course site. Many instructors bring their classes to the Library for instruction in doing Library research; to request a session please contact the appropriate instruction coordinator from the list at http://www.library.cornell.edu/services/instruct_co.html. Often the librarian performing the instruction session will create a web site for students to use for researching their assignment (examples available at http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/classbibs.html and at http://www.library.cornell.edu/services/guides.html under course-related guides). This web site can be linked to from any of the Blackboard Content Areas. Other examples of library created resources include subject guides, help pages, tutorials, and video training available at http://www.library.cornell.edu/services/guides.html and podcasts available at http://podcasts.mannlib.cornell.edu.
4. End of the Semester Blackboard Clean-up
At the end of the semester, you have the option of archiving your Blackboard site for future use or to have the site deleted entirely. CIT has a webpage, End of Semester Clean-up, that provides guidance and contact information on how to maintain your Blackboard site for repeated use and how to delete it.5. Library contact information
For questions about using Library Resources in Blackboard, please contact LIBGATEWAY-L.