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Online Library Instruction

Integrating Library Resources into Blackboard: A Guide for Faculty

What does it mean to offer online library instruction?

Would you like your students to have access to a librarian via your course Blackboard site?  We can provide instruction via announcements, email and tutorials for specific student research questions.  Student questions often result in one-on-one sessions where the librarian offers personal research instruction that can help students save time and become more effective researchers.

When would you choose to add a librarian to a course?

If your course involves a literature review, a research paper, requires accessing statistics or other information, or generally involves information literacy issues, the course could be a good candidate for embedding a librarian.  Any course where students need to access library resources like article databases, online/print journals, books or other reference information could use librarian support.

How do I add a librarian into my course?

If you would like the librarian to offer instruction through announcements, you will need to make them a co-instructor or course builder.  

Add a Librarian

Librarians can serve as co-instructors within Blackboard courses and provide valuable virtual assistance from making themselves available for reference questions to providing links and tips for course-related research, etc.

You can add a librarian as a co-instructor by setting up the librarian as a course user and then upgrading the privileges of the user:

  • Go to the "Users and Groups" section of the Control Panel, expand "Users and Groups" and click on "Users."
  • Click "Find users to enroll."
  • If you know the librarian's username, enter it. Otherwise click Browse.
    • Select one of the following: first name, last name, email address, or username.
    • Select one of the following: Contains, Equal to, or Starts with.
    • Click Go. All matching entries appear.
    • Click the checkbox next to the name and click “Submit” at the bottom of the screen to save your choice.
  • From the "Role" drop-down menu select "Instructor,"  "Teaching Assistant," or "Course Builder." The person in any of these roles can post notices and materials to the course site via the Control Panel. Click “Submit” to save your changes.