Case study: Repository of music recordings in Blackboard

Based on Orchestra Pit by Booboo on Flickr (cc-attribution-only) http://www.flickr.com/photos/81788338@N00/631659339/ Origin

Department of Music
Faculty of Arts
University of Bristol

Part of the IeLS Project

Tools used

  • Blackboard Content System

Contact

Objective

To improve student access to a collection of music recordings

Background

The School of Music pilot was designed to provide students with access to a collection of musical recordings over the web.  Until now students had to come into the University to listen to the collection on CD.

The idea behind using the content system was that the files could be access by students over the web but that access could be limited to the students on the Units to meet copyright requirements.

What was done

600+ sound and video files were uploaded to the content system and linked into several Unit courses, showing that we can easily host existing repositories of materials, removing the need for isolated silos of content.

Outcomes

The uploading of the materials took less than an hour and with a few minutes training the academics were able to link materials into their existing Blackboard units.

Since the initial setup there have been no problems or support requirements for this repository, staff have found it easy to link to areas they need and students simply open the files they require.

This demonstrates that we can easily host existing repositories of materials, removing the need for isolated silos of content.