This presentation provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a course page on Blackboard, link LibGuide to Blackboard, and upload documents and videos to the page. Presented by Chella Vaidyanathan on January 25, 2009 at the 2009 ALA Midwinter Conference for the Joint Meeting of the WESS Germanists' and Social Sciences and History Discussion Groups.

1. Library Instruction and
Services through Blackboard
Chella Vaidyanathan
History, Political Science, U.S. Govt./International Docs. Librarian
University of Miami Libraries
2009 ALA Midwinter Conference , Jan. 25 2009

2. Library Instruction & Services
via Blackboard
• Promoting library services
• Great for library instruction
sessions
• Useful for teaching long-distance
learners
• Easy to link to subject specific
LibGuides for European History,
Asian Studies, etc.

3. Library Instruction & Services
via Blackboard (continued)
• Links to discipline-specific
information and visual resources
can be added to Blackboard
• BB Discussion Board is a good
place to teach about information
literacy concepts outside of class
• It is also an excellent tool to initiate
discussions among students

4. Logging into Blackboard
• At the Univ. Miami Libraries,
librarians have system
administrator rights
• Therefore, it easy to log into any
course and create a course page for
that class
• Go to your university’s BB page
• www.courses.miami.edu
• Enter your user name and
password

5. Accessing Course Pages &
Library Support Tab
• Click on “systemadmin” tab and
select “courses”
• Search by “instructor name”
• Click on the course number (e.g.
HIS 241)
• You can also search by course ID
(e.g. POL347)
• On the left side of the screen, you
will see a “library support” tab
• At UM, we have a customized tab.
If you don’t have one, create it! 

6. Creating a Library Support
Tab
• Click on “control panel”(located at
the bottom left side of the screen)
• Choose “manage course menu”
and click on “add content area”
• Type the name of the content area –
“library support/services”
• Then hit “submit” and voila, you
have created a “library support
tab”
• Go back to the main course page by
clicking on the course title at the
top right

7. Creating Library Content for
Class (continued)
• On the left side of the screen, you
will see a “library support” tab
• Click on the “library support” tab
and then, click on “edit view”
(located on the right side of the
screen)
• Then, click on “modify” (located
on the right side of the screen)
• A text box will appear on your
screen where you can copy and
paste contents

8. Creating Library Content for
Class (continued)
• A text box will appear on your
screen where you can copy and
paste contents
• After you are done with copying
and pasting, hit “submit”
• All your contents should be
available on the library support
page

9. Linking LibGuide & Other
Resources
• You can easily link the LibGuide
and any other websites that the
class needs
• Click on the “library support” tab
and then, click on “edit view”
(located on the right side of the
screen)
• Then, click on “modify” (located
on the right side of the screen)
• Click on “external link” at the top
(globe sign)

10. Linking LibGuide & Other
Resources (continued)
• Click on “external link” at the top
(globe sign)
• Type the title or name of the
LibGuide or website
• Copy and paste the URL
• Scroll down and hit “submit”
• You can also specify options for
display and upload MS Word
attachments to this page

11. Uploading MS Word
Documents
• To upload your handout (MS Word
doc), scroll down to the second
section of your BB page
• This should be listed as quot;2 Content”
• Hit the “browse” button and select
the document that you would like
to upload from your C drive or
desktop
• Then hit “submit”
• Your handout should be uploaded
to the library support page 

12. Uploading Video Clips from
YouTube to Blackboard page
• If you would like to upload a video
from www.youtube.com, then click
on “<>” button on the top of the
text box (make sure to check for
copyright information)
• Select a video from
www.youtube.com that you would
like to have on your course page
• After selecting a video, look for the
HTML source code. This should be
available in the “embed” column

13. Uploading Video Clips from
YouTube to Blackboard page
(continued)
• Copy and paste the source code
into your text box in BB and then
hit “submit” (at the bottom of the
BB page)
• Click “OK”
• Then, click on “library support” to
see your video 

14. Conclusion
It is also easy to track usage statistics for
•
LibGuides and other resources/websites via
your Blackboard page
Both students and faculty love the library
•
support tab on the course page
It provides easy access to information and
•
research resources