I've got a new reading for my students in my hybrid course. How do I get copies of articles from databases and journals into my Blackboard or e-reserves course sites?
When making material available for a class, it is best, whenever possible, to avoid creating new copies. Making additional copies of a work (be it in print or electronic) may violate Fair Use because of the potential effect on the market value of the original. You can still properly get the content into your Blackboard and e-reserves sites.
If the work is available in an electronic library database or freely available on the web use this protocol:
Always link to the information provider's home page. This gives the provider proper attribution as well as credit in terms of advertising revenue. More specifically, do not frame (i.e. bring a portion of a document into a new window on your site) and do not deep link (i.e. link to URL that jumps over the provider's homepage directly to the document itself).
What if the work is available only in print?
If the work is a small portion of a larger work, you may make an electronic or print copy for your class. If the copy is electronic, it should be placed on a passworded site so that only the students for whom it is intended may view it. It should be taken off of the site at the end of that semester. If the copy is print (e.g. a photocopy), it should be placed on reserves and then removed from reserves at the end of the semester. If you want to use the same work repeatedly for the same course, you should get permission .