Below are some of the content strategies faculty and instructional designers should consider when designing an online course.
| Subject Librarians |
Meet with a subject librarian early in the process. They can identify how to access content (is it free or owned, or can we purchase it), provide support to students through Canvas, and answer copyright questions. |
| What BC owns (search the Library Catalog) |
Determine online options. Search the library catalog to find out if BC has access. If we do, is the item limited to one use at a time, or do we need to buy more copies, or upgrade so that all students can use it at the same time? |
| Affordable Course Material/ OERs | A Subject Librarian can help identify Affordable Course Material such as Open Textbooks, Open Access books and journals, etc. |
| Free websites |
Is it a free website? You can link to free sites within Canvas, just remember as with anything free, it can disappear at any time. |
| BC owns but Not online |
Is it a book, article, or dvd that we only have in hard copy? We can check for an online version or see if we can get streaming rights. If it's not available online, we can scan a fair-use portion (up to 10%). |
| Linking to library content |
Understand how to link. Off-campus access requires a BC sign-in. Links found in the library catalog should provide off-campus access. See Remote Access to Library Resources. |
| Permalinks |
Databases often have a permalink to articles or ebooks. Look for a permalink whenever it's available instead of using the browser URL which can be unstable. |
| Accessibility | Make the content accessible to the students. Link to sites rather than uploading pdf files. Make sure students are aware of tools such as Read&Write that makes documents, files, and web pages more accessible. |
Building your list of course material using Course Resources found within Canvas or directly at https://bc.edu/courseresources. Send your List to the Library and we will link to, scan, or purchase any missing items and publish your list so that students can view it in Canvas.
| Type of material | Considerations | How long it may take |
| Books and Book Chapters |
If the publisher sells an ebook version to libraries, we will try to purchase it; we cannot buy ebooks for individual use such as Amazon Kindle ebooks. If the book is only available in print, then copyright restrictions would only allow up to 10% to be scanned. |
1-2 weeks |
| Articles | We will scan print articles from the BC collection or try to get them from another library using Interlibrary Loan. | 1 week |
| Film / streaming media | We will try to negotiate for streaming rights and license access. | 1 month |
| Short clip from a DVD | If we own the DVD, we will create a short clip and put that into Panopto. | 1 week |
| Full course reading list | Within Course Resources, click the SEND TO LIBRARY button to send your list to the library for processing. | 6 weeks in advance of course review deadline |
