Blackboard Learn Administration

Intended more for the IT side than for the go-between of sys admin and faculty/students. This isn't very clear in the documentation.

Helpful, but remember, the common sense here may not be applicable to the standards at your school.

I was hoping this book would become a bible for us as we moved from an older version of Bb. Instead, it is only a collection of rudimentary help information that can already be found inside the Bb GUI.

I've been installing, configuring, optimizing and maintaining Blackboard Learn instances since the release of 9.1 (single app servers and now multiple app server installations). Prior to the release of 9.1 (starting in 2005), I had administered WebCT servers. Over the years, I have searched and searched through the various help documents published by Blackboard, to find needed information. This, at times, has proved to be a very frustrating experience (although they have made significant strides in the last few years, it still can be cumbersome to find the information you need QUICKLY). This book places information that I would have searched for over the past years in once convenient place.Starting with Planning and Installing Blackboard, Terry Patterson systematically works through all aspects of a Blackboard Learn installation. In this book, he covers Setup and Customization, creating and administering courses, users and enrollments, roles, tools, utilities, security, reporting, optimization, authentication, data integration, building blocks, web services, LTI, troubleshooting, log file searching, disaster recovery, and much more.I honestly wish I had had this book years ago. This book would have made my life a lot nicer when dealing with Blackboard!

Having been a Blackboard system administrator since 2008 I will agree with other reviewers that his would have been nice to have. It gives great instructions for helping setup and maintaining your Bb system. Now that I have a copy it will set on my shelf (actually on my computer but that didn't sound as good) so that I can refer to it as needed.

This book is very good introductory book for Blackboard Learn administrators. For Blackboard Learn administrator who possesses many years of experience or new o the job, this book will give good overview of Blackboard administration job and basic skills set.

Terry Patterson's Blackboard Learn Administration book filled a huge gap between the vendor documentation and the needs of the New Blackboard System Administrator! No where does there exist a more comprehensive set of "How to" instructions, nor a better single source of the "Why to."Experienced Blackboard Administrators will tell you that Blackboard is a finicky animal and the care and feeding of such can be a precarious position. Learning to manage the system is not trivial and it is often accomplished through trial and error. Thankfully, there is now a usable manual for the uninitiated!Patterson begins, as expected, with the basics of setting up the Learn system, filling in the questions a new administrator won't be able to find anywhere else. But, he informs beyond the simple install steps and delves into the full tasks of administration including what I believe are the most important points: Processes and Maintenance.It's been a long time since I was a new Blackboard Admin and every bit of knowledge I now possess was gained through many (wasted!) hours of research, parsing of listservs, phone calls to other institutions and pestering Blackboard Support. Patterson pulls his repertoire together in one reference and how-to guide aimed at making even an experienced Blackboard Learn Administrator more successful with Learn administration tasks.After nearly 7 years of administering Blackboard Learn, I still found several sections with fresh perspective and new instruction. Patterson really shows his expertise in his section entitled "Security, Reporting, and Configuration in Blackboard Learn." He explores issues that are not strictly Blackboard Learn, but are absolutely needed information for the Learn Administrator.Overall, this book has critical value for a new Blackboard Learn Administrator (both GUI Administrator as well as Application Administrator) as well as significant value the more seasoned Blackboard Learn Administrator. This book should be on the shelf of every Blackboard Administrator. For its purpose, this book unequivocally rolls a six.

As I've spent the last year and a half self-teaching all the ins and outs of this convoluted LMS, I pretty much review this as somewhat of a newbie to Blackboard Learn administration, I will reiterate the other reviews in saying that I wish I'd had this book when I started on this great adventure. It would have made all that time so much more efficient. Terry has done a fabulous job of breaking down the basics into easily understandable step-by-step instructions, and I look forward to trying out his tips and tricks on the advanced topics. I would also have to say that this book is a perfect complement to  Blackboard Essentials for Teachers  and I plan to recommend that they both be required reading for all new support staff at my institution. Reading these will provide answers to just about any question faculty could throw at you.Thank you Terry Patterson and Packt Publishing!!!