The best way to incorporate material from the Library’s databases into your Blackboard course is by linking to it. When you link to the Library’s licensed electronic resources for classes or research, you do not have to worry about copyright or fair use because you are not uploading a new copy of the content. Also, since access to these resources has already been paid for, no further permission is needed to use them. This option saves you time and effort because you do not need to scan and upload documents onto a course website. Individual licensing agreements may vary, but it is usually acceptable to provide links to these resources on your course website.
Creating links to content from Library databases works the same way as creating a link to any other URL in Blackboard, with one exception. Since most of our databases are subscription based, anyone attempting to open a link from off-campus will need to log in. To be sure that the link works properly for students when they are off campus, you must add the link to the library’s proxy server at the beginning of the hyperlink.
An example of how this works appears below.
Gale Virtual Reference Database
Gale provides a “stable” URL to the article, located at the end of the article.
Copy this link and paste it in the URL box for the weblink in Blackboard.
Add the Proxy server link at the beginning of Gale’s link.
The entire link will appear as below (the proxy server link is highlighted in blue):
http://ezhost.utrgv.edu:2048/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX2652900169&v=2.1&u=txshracd2620&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w
The staff at COLTT are also able help you with questions related to Blackboard linking. For assistance, contact Faculty Support at
http://utrgv.edu/coltthelp