CTL Blog

New Online Library Coming to CoursePlus This Week

January 11, 2012 | 3 Minute Read

The new Online Library is finally arriving in CoursePlus this week. We had originally planned on rolling it out during the second term, but we received feedback from faculty who felt this would be disruptive. Now that we're between terms (but still in the Winter Institute), we felt that it was a good time to make this new version of the Online Library available to you.

One big, important note about this new version of the Online Library: the new Online Library will not work in Internet Explorer 7. We know that there are some faculty and staff who still use Internet Explorer 7 to access CoursePlus. However, the Center stopped supporting Internet Explorer 7 for online courses and CoursePlus in June, 2011. For a recap of the reasons why support for IE7 was ended, please see this blog post.

We have tested the Online Library against a number of modern Web browsers, and found no problems. Tested and supported browsers include:

All of these browsers are free and download quickly. If you do not wish to upgrade Internet Explorer out of concerns about what it may do to your computer, you can use Firefox or Chrome. These web browsers do not interfere with your operating system in the same ways that Internet Explorer does. (As a matter of fact, the Center strongly recommends the use of Firefox or Chrome instead of Internet Explorer.) JHSPH Information Systems will gladly help you install Firefox or Chrome on your computer, should you need to do so.

On a more positive note, here's a recap of the highlights of this new version of the Online Library:
  • A merge of the old Online Library and Web Links tools. You now manage both files and weblinks in the same place. Students also see files and weblinks on the same Online Library page in CoursePlus sites.
  • Drag and drop reordering of files and folders in the library.
  • Record an Audio Note (brief audio recording) directly into the Online Library. That Audio Note is then automatically converted into an MP3 file for students to download.
  • Upload of multiple files at once.
  • Visual feedback while uploading files so you know how long the upload will take.
  • Replace a file with a new version without deleting the file from the library.
  • Open/close dates on folders as well as individual files.
  • Send an email to the entire class when you've uploaded a new file.
  • Block individual students from viewing specific files (good for hiding an answer key from students who have not completed a homework exercise.)
  • Track which students have downloaded which files or clicked on which weblinks in the library.
  • A streamlined, single-page interface for doing all the work you need to do in the Online Library.
The new online library will have full documentation and how-to videos when its released. If you've taught or TA'd an online course, you're already familiar with this new version of the Online Library because it's the same one found in online courses.

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