Archiving Blackboard Courses FAQs

	*What is the Current Policy on retaining older Blackboard courses?* *Archiving and Exporting Bb Content* *How do I archive an old Blackboard course?* *Who should I call if I have problems or questions?* *Am I required to archive my old courses?* *Can I archive a current course?* *I only want to save the syllabus, a few Word files and PowerPoint presentations. Should I still archive my course?* *How do I check to see that the archived or exported course file actually contains the items from my course?*
	Using Archived Content *I archived my course and now I want to use the [PowerPoint, Word, Excel etc..] document included in the course. How do I do this?* *archived my course and now I want to restore it in its entirety to an existing course. How do I do this?* *So if restoring a course archive to an existing Blackboard course is not recommended, how do I get the material back into Blackboard?*
	Problems Archiving I am connected to the Internet from off campus. Why am I having problems archiving my course? get a blank screen after a long wait. I am connected over broadband or I am on campus. Why am I having problems archiving my course? I still don’t see the download link after I press refresh. What should I do next? I am connected over broadband or on campus and I tried to export my course into two smaller files but it is still failing. What should I do? *I totally forgot to archive my course before the course deletion.* *Is there any way I can get my content back?*
	What is the Current Policy on retaining older Blackboard courses? Courses in Blackboard will be kept online until the next year’s version of the course has ended (e.g., fall 06 courses will be deleted at the end of the fall 07 semester). You can read the policy in full by clicking on this link. *Archiving and Exporting Bb Content.* How do I archive an old Blackboard course? Instructions are available here. Who should I call if I have problems or questions? The STARs have been trained in the archive process. You can reach a STAR at 582-4444 or your local STAR station. You can also use the Help Desk Request form . Am I required to archive my old courses? No. Archiving an old Blackboard course is optional. If you already have the documents and records from your course in your personal files there is no reason to archive an old Blackboard Course. Can I archive a current course? Yes. You do not have to wait until the semester is done. I only want to save the syllabus, a few Word files and PowerPoint presentations. Should I still archive my course? No, in this case it is better to use Export Course and choose only the elements you want to backup. In this way the export file size is smaller and cleaner as you are not saving all of the Blackboard settings and other Blackboard-only data files. Your content can them be easily edited and uploaded to newer Bb courses How do I check to see that the archived or exported course file actually contains the items from my course? A Blackboard course archive is only a Zipped file, which is like an archive box that holds many files. Some of the files you will recognize right away as Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations. Other files are data files used by Blackboard to make discussions and other tests. You can unzip the archived course by double clicking it. Use either Zip Genius or WinZip to open the archive. Return to top index
	Using Archived Content I archived my course and now I want to use the [PowerPoint, Word, Excel etc..] document included in the course. How do I do this? A Blackboard course archive or Course export file is only a Zipped file, which is like an archive box that holds many files. You can unzip the archived course by double clicking it. Use Zip Genius or WinZip to open the archive. Find the files you want by looking at the icons and file names. Right click on the file and choose "save as..." to the My Documents directory. I archived my course and now I want to restore it in its entirety to an existing course. How do I do this? This is not recommended, so exercise caution. A restored course archive can change the settings, grade book, menu buttons and cause duplicate content in an existing course. So, if restoring a course archive to an existing Blackboard course is not recommended, how do I get the material back into Blackboard? Use the Help Desk Request form to make your request.. An Instructional Technologist will contact you to determine which of several restoration procedures will work best for you. Return to top index
	Problems Archiving I am connected to the Internet from off campus over a voice modem. Why am I having problems archiving my course? You may not have enough bandwidth to successfully download the course content. Try again from on campus. You can also try the Course Export function from the Control Panel of your course. I get a blank screen after a long wait. I am connected over broadband or I am on campus. Why am I having problems archiving my course? Try the refresh button on the Browser session – is the download link there now? I still don’t see the download link after I press refresh. What should I do next? Your course may be too big and your browser is timing out. You should try to export the course in two smaller zip files instead of one large one. Be advised! Student contributions to a course are not preserved in a course export. Control Panel > Export Course> 1. Choose Content Discussions etc but not Tests and Pools. Repeat for 2^nd file - choose tests and pools only. I am connected over broadband or on campus and I tried to export my course into two smaller files but it is still failing. What should I do? You should submit a Help Desk Request form Be sure to include in the report the exact course ID with section number and semester. Instructional Technologists can use administrative tools to archive your course. Please allow at least 3 work days for the procedure to be completed. I totally forgot to archive my course before the Blackboard purge. Is there any way I can get my content back? No. The data are gone. However you can use the Help Desk Request form to request assistance in building a new section of the course. Return to top index