Blackboard 9.1 Learn: Archiving Your Course/Organization Why Archive your Course/Organization? Courses: Lets you save course content. It s important to do this prior to the Annual Course Purge from Blackboard. For example, during Fall 2014, all courses from academic year 2011 (Fall Term 2011, January Term 2012, Spring Term 2012, and Summer Term 2012) will be purged from Blackboard as part of the annual Blackboard maintenance. Organizations: Leaders are surveyed annually to confirm which organizations are active and retained. Inactive organizations will be purged. Provides a safety precaution in case a Course/Organization becomes corrupted. Lets you remove a retired Course/Organization from your active Course/Organization content area. Points to Remember Important: Once you have begun the Archive process, you must NOT work in the Course/Organization you are archiving until you receive and review the confirmation email that the archive process is complete. Important: Do NOT unzip an archive package or remove files from the package. Doing this will corrupt the archive file. You can run the Archive process more than once without harm. Note: The steps in this documentation reference a course but also apply to an organization. If you are archiving an organization, please substitute organization where ever course is used in these directions. Details for Creating a Blackboard Course/Organization Archive Archiving your Course is a two- step process. Before you archive the old (source) Course you must prepare it by using the Move Files to Course Files utility. This section describes: How to use the Move Files to Course Files utility to prepare your Course or Organization for archive. How to then use the Archive tool to backup your Course or Organization. 1
Step 1: Preparing your Course or Organization for the Archive Process 1. In Blackboard, from within the source Course (that is, the Course or Organization that you want to backup), navigate to the Course Management - Control Panel area, located in the bottm left panel. 2. In the Course Management Control Panel area, choose Control Panel > Packages and Utilities > Move Files to Course Files. 3. In the Move Files to Course Files utility page check the Selecting this option will add all content in this course to Course Files checkbox. 4. Select Browse to open the Content Collection. In the Content Collection window, use the Up arrow to view your course list, select the destination course (should be the same as the source course). Check the box next to the course name. Click Submit to continue. 5. Select Submit as seen below in the graphic. 6. You will receive an email from the system when this step is complete. Proceed to the next step only after you receive and review this verification email. 2
Important: Once you have begun the Move Files to Course Files process, you must NOT work in the course or organization you are archiving until you receive and review the confirmation email that the process is complete. You can run this Move Files process more than once without harm. Step 2: Archiving your Course or Organization Note: Firefox is the preferred browser for this Blackboard process. If you have issues with this process while using Safari, try using the Firefox browser. Also, remember that if you are archiving an organization, Blackboard will display the word organization instead of course. 7. In the Course Management Control Panel area, choose Control Panel > Packages and Utilities > Export/Archive Course. The Export/Archive Course selection page appears. 8. In the Export/Archive Course page, choose Archive Course. The Archive Course page opens. 9. In the Archive Course page (below), consider the following: a. This is the ID of the course that you will archive. b. Important: Under File Attachments, accept the default options; i. Copy links and and include copies of the files in the course default directory and files outside the course default directory. 3
10. Click Submit to archive this course. The Export/Archive Course page displays a Success message. Archive Confirmation Email 1. In several minutes, you will receive an automated email from the Blackboard Admin letting you know the Archive file is available. 2. After you receive the email, review it for errors. If it does contain errors such as broken links or missing files, please call the Service Desk at 2-4242. 3. If the email indicates the archive process was successful, you must download the file to your local machine and manage the course backup file as you would manage any backup of important data. Download Archive File 1. To download the Archive file, within Blackboard go to Control Panel > Packages and Utilities > Export/Archive Course. The Export/Archive Course page appears showing the archive zipped file (xxx.zip)in the list. 2. In the Export/Archive Course page (see graphic below), right click on the ArchiveFile_ link and choose either: a. Firefox: Select Save Link As (See graphic below) b. Safari: Select "Download Linked File As...". 4
3. A Save Dialog box opens with the option to save the archive file. Browse to the location where you want to download the file. In this example, the file will be saved to a Backup course folder. Make note of the folder you choose. 4. Select Save. 5. The archive file is saved to the folder you previously selected. You can now take any additional steps needed to backup your course archive file as you would any important file (for example, copying it to a removable storage drive). 5
Optional: Copy the Archive to Blackboard s My Content Area The My Content Area located in Blackboard is an online resource for storing your course content. You can access the My Content Area using Web Folders or by going to the My Content Area in Blackboard using the Web browser. The advantage to doing this is that the Archive file remains in Blackboard in an area that is regularly backed up by administrators. If you are unfamiliar with the My Content Area, go to Blackboard Help and review the Content Management: Getting Started document.. The following topics may be useful: Setting up Web Folders Using WebDAV for Windows XP Making New Folders 6