What's New for 2007-2008

Release of Blackboard 8.0 for the Blackboard Learning System™ for Enterprise and Basic Licenses. Release 8.0 provides a complete engagement solution with smart grading capabilities that will delight faculty; tools that promote critical thinking skills and increase student engagement; and a single content management solution that enables users with diverse needs to collaborate across the institution in a secure fashion.

Blackboard Sync™ is a safe and secure student engagement tool for Facebook that keeps students continually connected to their academic studies and promotes social learning opportunities. 

bFree - Use bFree to open a Blackboard™ course export or archive file and display the content of the course. Preview and select the content items that you want to extract, then extract them as a set of files and folders or as an independent website. Step-by-step instructions are included in the application.

SafeAssign - SafeAssign, a plagiarism detection program that integrates into Blackboard Enterprise as a Building Block.  SafeAssign is FREE to Blackboard Enterprise clients. To download SafeAssign you will need to go to Behind the Blackboard and download the Building Block or contact your Blackboard Administrator.

NC LIVE has launched its WebFeat federated search solution to power statewide access to its electronic resources. NC LIVE has been designed to offer the citizens of North Carolina online access to electronic resources including complete articles from over 16,000 newspapers, journals, magazines, and encyclopedias, indexing for over 25,000 periodical titles, and access to over 25,000 online print and audio books. WebFeat is designed to enable NC LIVE users to simultaneously search more than 50 databases from a single, intuitive interface customized to NC LIVE specifications. The WebFeat system is available free of charge and can be accessed within an affiliated library or remotely. Access is available to all library patrons, students, and educators from NC LIVE's four communities of interest, including more than 75 public libraries, 58 community colleges, the state's university system, and 35 members of the North Carolina Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

WebFeat has been intended to enable NC LIVE users to include their library catalog in the federated search when the user authenticates through their local library. The WebFeat solution for NC LIVE integrates WebFeat's SMART Usage Tracker, so NC LIVE staff can track and report database usage across the network and by individual library. NC LIVE staff members will also have access to the WebFeat Enterprise Administration Manager for management of their WebFeat system. WebFeat provides advanced search capabilities designed to enable users to search by subject categories pre-populated with relevant databases selected by the NC LIVE staff. WebFeat users can also select any combination of subject categories or individual resources, including local library catalogs, to simultaneously search. NC LIVE member libraries will have the option of implementing discounted WebFeat systems designed to enable users to search their local library's database collections along with NC LIVE resources. Local systems may be customized and branded to match the local library's webpages. (www.nclive.org/about.phtml; www.webfeat.org <http://www.webfeat.org/> )

Free DL Service - As you may have read in the Spring 2007 issue of On the Cutting Edge, the North Carolina Network for Excellence in Teaching (NC-NET) has recently launched a free service designed to help you locate faculty willing to teach courses via distance learning. A planning group led by Bob Ervin, Director of the NC-NET Central Regional Center, developed the concept which has become the North Carolina Distance Learning Online Recruitment Tool. The NC Distance Learning Online Recruitment Tool allows DL Administrators to post position openings and to search through faculty resumes by broad course category, specific course number and/or keywords. Instructors who wish to teach online may use the system to post their resumes, search for positions, and indicate their interest to the appropriate DL Administrator. The process is designed as the first step toward matching applicants with open positions, not as a substitute for completing a college's application form and fulfilling the requirements of the human resources office.
To begin using the Online Recruitment Tool, go to http://ncnet-webjobs.info/ Use the Faculty tab at the top of the page to register.

authorPOINT 3.8 - Dramatically improve your audience's understanding of your PowerPoint presentations even when you are not in there in person. authorPOINT allows you to capture your expressions and voice tones thus bringing meaning to your facts and figures - and understanding to your audience. authorPOINT is being used to improve understanding in many situations. Click on the link to download a FREE copy and view a tutorial on authorPOINT.

Curriculum Pathways^® 2008  -  Look for new features, fresh content and greater functionality into Curriculum Pathways^® 2008! New features will include "Introducing the Writing Reviser" and much more.  Contact the BCCC library for more information and assistance.

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