Course Reserves

Making e-reserves available through Blackboard.

Most Blackboard course sites are created automatically. However, they are not visible to students until you make the site available to them. After are ready to have your students use it, you'll want to change the availability:

Make the coursesite visible to your enrolled students

In the Control Panel menu click on "Customization"
Click on "Properties"
Mark the Yes radio button next to "Make Course Available"
Click on "Submit".

Note that the "Get Library reserve readings" item includes the password for ereserves, and so should not be shared with anyone outside the course. The Course Documents content area by default does not allow guest access, so unless you change the access rules the text will be visible only to people enrolled in your coursesite.

Frequently asked questions about Blackboard and E-reserves

You didn't use to require a Blackboard coursesite, why are you doing this?

We made the decision because of copyright issues that have occurred on other campuses. Using Blackboard to provide access to e-reserve readings will better protect the rights of copyright owners and limit any liability on the part of the University.

How is this good for me and my class, especially if I haven't in the past found Blackboard useful?

Use of Blackboard is very high on campus and most students are familiar with it. If you maintain your own class website you can simply activate a basic Blackboard coursesite for your readings, and provide a link to the Blackboard login page from your main class website. You can also make it easier for your students to find your non-Blackboard website by putting a link to it in your Blackboard site

Does the Library take care of my Blackboard coursesite for me?

Not entirely. We do provide a basic template for most classes; it is a fairly simple process for you to activate the site. See the detailed instructions at the top of this page.

If I'm using Blackboard anyway, can I just upload my own scanned articles directly to Blackboard myself?

Of course! That can be a great solution if the articles you assign aren't already available online through library subscribed databases (linking to existing content is almost always better than rescanning the article, but be sure you construct durable links that will work for off campus users.) If you would like the Library to do some of the scanning for you, you can use our document delivery service to request that scans of library materials be sent to you. If you create the files yourself, Library staff in the CMET consulting area can help ensure that your documents are easy for students to download and read or print. Bear in mind that the same copyright laws apply for e-reserves, regardless of whether you or the Library is doing the scanning and uploading. See our copyright FAQ for more information.

What if more than one coursesite is listed for the class in Blackboard?

Typically this occurs with courses that are cross-listed as 4xx/5xx, having separate CRNs for undergraduate students (the 4xx CRN) and graduate students (the 5xx CRN). These cross-listed courses have 3 coursesites created for them within Blackboard, one for the 4xx CRN, one for the 5xx CRN, and a merged site (with students from both the 4xx and 5xx CRN). By default the Library will assume that you are using the merged site, and prepare e-reserves to be linked from that coursesite. If instead you use the separate 4xx and 5xx course sites, be sure that your reserve requests note the separate courses and indicate which CRN the readings are for.

Where can I get more help with Blackboard?

Staff in our Scholarly Communications and Instructional Support unit (346-1942 / Room 19 Knight Library, consulting hours) can help instructors with your Blackboard questions. You may also check online documentation including:

Maintained by: Laura Willey, lwilley@uoregon.edu
Last Modified: 09/22/2009