EDIT: 2021. Blackboard is phasing out support for building blocks entirely.
We recommend that you plan to transition to LTI if you have not already.
The Stirling Oscelot Blackboard Learn Building Block is no longer maintained by Simon Booth at the University of Stirling.
This article explains how to identify if you are using this integration and what to do about it.
Background
This plugin was written by Simon Booth of the University of Stirling and was based on an earlier plugin written by Talis. It was customised heavily by Stirling to suit their specific needs.
The plugin is hosted at Oscelot.org and the most recent version is 1.2.1.
The University of Stirling are no-longer able to maintain the plugin as of August 1st 2017 as their attention is focussed on implementing a new learning environment which is not based on Blackboard Learn.
Talis thank Simon Booth for work on this plugin which has benefitted many in the Talis community.
How to tell if you are using this plugin?
The Talis Aspire plugin will be visible in Blackboard in the System Admin >> Building Blocks >> Installed Tools with the vendor name Oscelot Next to it.
What does this mean?
If you use this block and encounter any issues, you will need to raise a support ticket with Talis.
Talis recognises the importance of integrations with learning systems as being the main way in which students find and access their reading lists. Talis will help diagnose any issues that may arise if you are using this plugin and suggest potential routes to a fix should code changes be required. However, this plugin is not tested against any future versions of Blackboard.
This plugin has not been tested in Blackboard versions Q4 2017 and upwards, nor in Blackboard Ultra.
Simon Booth has made the plugin available in an Oscelot GitHub repository.
What to do next?
You may wish to consider an alternative method for embedding reading lists in your Blackboard Learn site. Talis Aspire has a Learning Tools Interoperability based tool that provides a similar way to ensure students see the reading list that they need without the academic's intervention.
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