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Library

Teachers and administrators are given a personal library in which they can create course elements. These elements can be used in multiple courses and shared with other users at their school, at the site, or in the itslearning community.

Library is the teachers’ overview of the elements they have created. Currently they are limited to adding pages, links, files and crossword puzzles, but more elements will be added in future releases.

Finding content from other teachers

Content from others is available from the Add menu in courses or from the Library page. Both places allows you to search for content using a free-text search. While content you search for from within a course can be added to a course, adding it to your library collection allows you to edit and create your own version.

Sharing content and collaborating with others

To start sharing elements, open an element in Library and click the Start sharing link under Available to . Another option is to share directly from the course via the cog wheel icon >> Add to library.

The sharing interface:

Elements can be shared at three levels: school, site, and community. From the Available to drop-down under the Permissions heading, you can select who you want to share the element with.

Icon	Level	Description
	You	No one but you can see the element.
	School	The element you share can be accessed by users at your specific school. Other users can find the shared element by clicking Add content from library from courses in itslearning. When you update the element, the changes apply to all courses to which it is added.
	Site	The element you share can be accessed by users at your site. Other users can find the shared element by clicking Add content from library from courses in itslearning. When you update the element, the changes apply to all courses to which it is added.
	Community	The element can be accessed by users who have access to the itslearning community. Other users can find the shared element by clicking Add content from library from courses in itslearning

Stop sharing elements

The element below is shared at school level. To stop sharing, select You in the Available to drop-down. Users who have already accessed the element from the library will still be able to access it, but it cannot be updated.

Information

In order to make sure that other teachers find your content, you should make sure to provide a good and detailed information. When you click Start sharing, an Information column to the right of the screen allows you to enter information about your element. This information is used to identify elements in the library and enhance searching. There are currently five types of information:

• Description: This is a brief description of the content of the element. When shared, the description will provide other users with a quick synopsis of the element.
• Keywords are used to specify relevant keywords for your element. When other users search for one of the keywords, your elements will appear. In a page about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, typical keywords might be: Napoleon, Bonaparte, Waterloo, Napoleonic, Austerlitz, France, and Corsica, to name a few.
• Language: This setting is useful for identifying the language in which the element is available.
• Format: Select what type that best describe the format of your content, for example, audio, video, text, interactive or image.
• Learning objectives: Allow others to find your resource when they search for learning objectives connected to it.

Can other teachers change my content?

That's up to you to decide. When you click Start sharing (or Update sharing if you have already shared an element), you can adjust this setting under Allow copies? By selecting Yes, teachers can create their own version you allow other teachers to copy your content and let them edit and change your original work. If you do not want others to change your work, select No, teachers may only use this resource as is. These settings apply to teachers who find your content in Library, but also to teachers you collaborate with in courses.

In order to create your own version of an element, you must first add it to a course and then click the settings cog wheel and then Create your own version. If you cannot click the Create your own version link, this means the content author has chosen not to allow others to create their own versions.

Adding co-authors

You can add co-authors from Start sharing in the library (or Update sharing if you have already shared an element). In the Find teacher search field, start typing the name of the teacher with whom you want to cooperate, and click on the full name when it appears in the drop-down. Upon saving the teacher you add will see the element in their library and will be able to edit and add new content to it. To remove co-authors, simply click the x behind their name and click Save.

Review content

You can rate and review content you add from the Library. The average rating and number of reviews appear in search results. When the content is previewed or added, the ratings and reviews are visible in a column on the right-hand side.

Searching for content

When you do a search, we look for the words in the Title, Description, Keywords (tags), Author and Co-author fields.

Here are a few tricks that can help getting more relevant search results (note that these only apply if you search for keywords (tags), not free text):

1. For example, if you’re looking for content that contains “Advanced Cell Theory”, you can enter the search words in any order, for example: “Advanced theory”, “cell”, “theory cell”, “advan”, “cel” etc.
2. Any three-letter words that are not in uppercase, are excluded. If you search for “Cell theory and DNA” the words “Cell”, “theory”, and “DNA” are all searchable, but “and” is not. This is to reduce the number of common three-letter words such as “and”, “the”, “for”, “but”, “get” and so on. However, if titles and descriptions contain these words they will be searchable.
3. Words that are shorter than three characters are excluded from searches. If you’re searching for “Reading Wonders Grade 4” the search returns all grade levels of Reading Wonders because “4” is left out. You may use the underscore character to combine text and numbers, for example, “Reading Wonders Grade_4”, but note that will only search in keywords, not in titles or description.

How-tos

Adding elements to Library

1. Click the Library tab.
2. Click + Add.
3. Select the element you want to add.

Sharing elements

1. Enter the element you want to share.
2. Click the  Start sharing link under Available to.
3. Choose to share the element on school, site, or community level from the Available to drop-down list.
4. Click Save.

It is optional whether to allow other teachers to create their own version of the content under Allow copies? This setting applies to teachers who find your content in Library, but also to teachers you collaborate with in a course.

Adding shared elements to courses

1. Enter the course to which you want to add a shared element.
2. Click Add content from library.
3. Use the search field to search for an element.
4. Click the element you want to add.
5. Click the Add button. The element is now added to your course.

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