Libraries

Overview: The Content Libraries Redesign Initiative

The Content Libraries redesign project includes a suite of new features and functionality that make Libraries centralized hubs for creating, managing and reusing content.

In Sumac, Phase 1 of the Content Libraries redesign project launched, which included the ability to create and reuse components, add tags, search and create collections. To explore the various ways to use Libraries, see here. 

What’s in Teak?

The Teak release expands Library support to units. Content authors can create a unit in a Library using the same workflows that they use to create units in courses. 

Open

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Creating units in a library unlocks benefits such as:

• Authors can create units independently from the course outline. They aren’t constrained by a prescribed course structure.

• Authors can create content more efficiently, with reuse in mind.

• Authors can reuse units in one or many courses, and sync updates centrally. This eliminates duplicative manual workflows.

• Authors can reuse units over and over again, without needing to rebuild them every time. 

What are some of the ways I can use this new functionality?

• “All the courses in my physics department use the same introductory material. I can create my introductory units once, and reuse them as many times as I need.”

• “I’d like to create sets of formative assessments that I can use multiple times through a learning sequence.”

• “My instructional designers create the majority of my course content, but we have an institutional set of materials that must be included in all courses, and updates to this material must be managed centrally.”

New Functionality for Unit Support

Expanded content creation means authors can create units directly in a Library.

All content management functionality extends to units, including:

• Units can be searched, sorted and filtered, enabling easy discovery and management

• Units can be added to collections

• Units can be tagged

• Units can be published

• Units can be reused in courses 

• Units can be updated in a library and synced centrally

New additions and enhancements to Libraries

Libraries now support more content types, including:

• Open Response Assessment (ORA)

• Drag and Drop

• Polls and Surveys

• Word Cloud

• Google Integration blocks

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Future improvements

• Libraries will support the creation and reuse of subsections and sections

• Libraries will support import of course content

• Libraries can be exported

• Improvements to the problem randomization workflow

• Improvements to the Library sync page

Migration of Legacy Libraries

The Legacy Libraries feature will be supported through Ulma, moving to unsupported in Verawood. Ulmo will include a migration feature that will make it easy to convert a Legacy Library into the new Library interface.