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Welcome to the Blackboard 9 Data Archive Page

The process for transferring data from Blackboard 8 to Blackboard 9 is quite easy. You simply tell Blackboard to export your course, which will create a file in Blackboard that you can then save to your computer and import into a course or storage site in Blackboard 9. Detailed instructions for completing this process are listed below.

Transferring Your Course Data from Blackboard 8 to Blackboard 9

 Part 1: Export your course in Blackboard 8

For a video tutorials please click  here

To export your course out of Blackboard 8, follow these steps:

  • Log into Blackboard 8.

  • Go into the course you wish to export to Blackboard 9.

  • Click "Control Panel".

  • Click "Export Course".

  • Click the "Export" icon at the top of the page.

  • Check the boxes for all of the areas you wish to export (we strongly suggest you choose all areas)*.

  • Click Submit.

 At this point, the system will queue your request and send you an email once the course export has been completed.

 Once you've received the email that your export is complete, go back into the "Export Course" area..

 You will find a zip file listed.

 Right click on the file name, then choose "Save" when asked what to do with the file.

Save the file to your computer in a place that you'll remember, as you will need this file during the import process.

If you are going to export multiple courses from Blackboard 8, we suggest creating a folder on your computer and saving all of your course files to this folder. This will make the files easier to find later in the import process.

 Repeat this process for each course you want to move from Blackboard 8 to Blackboard 9.

 
Part 2: Import your course file into Blackboard 9

For a video tutorials please click  here  

Once you have all of your courses exported and the .zip files saved to your computer, you will need to import your courses into Blackboard 9.

 To import your course file, follow these steps:

  •  Log into Blackboard 9.1.

  • Go into the course or storage site you wish to import the data into.

  • Click on "Packages and Utilities" under the Control Panel area.

  • Click "Import Package".

  • Click the "Import Package" button.

  • Use the "Browse" button in the "Select a Package" section and choose the .zip file you saved to your computer from Blackboard 8.

  • Check the boxes of the items you want to import under the "Select Course Materials" section (we strongly suggest selecting all areas)*.

  • Click "Submit".

 As in the export process, the system will queue your request and send you an email once the course import has been completed.

Repeat for each course as necessary.

After you import a course, we strongly suggest that you check over the course to be sure that everything was properly imported into your course.

Due to differences in Blackboard 8 and Blackboard 9, it may be necessary to "clean up" the formatting of some of your course items.

 *Important note: Due to the way tests, assignments, discussion boards and other graded items interact with the Blackboard Grade Center, we strongly suggest that you choose to export and import all of your course areas at once. Failure to do so may result in missing test/assignment/discussion board deployments, and/or orphaned columns in the Grade Center (ones that do not reference any deployed items).

Storage Sites

Course instructors! To help facilitate your move from Blackboard 8 to Blackboard 9.1, you should have three general purpose storage sites available to them upon logging into Blackboard 9.1*. These storage sites will be in addition to any of your fall course shells.

If you need any additional storage sites, please contact USI Blackboard support at it@usi.edu and we will be happy to create those sites for you.

*Due to the process used to determine who is a current faculty member and who is not, it is possible that you may not have storage sites available in Blackboard 9.1. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please contact us at it@usi.edu with the number of sites you need and we will get those created for you.

 

Blackboard 8 Shutdown FAQ

Below are some answers to common questions regarding the Blackboard 8 shutdown.

Do I have to move any data from Blackboard 8 I wish to keep?

Yes. Once Blackboard 8 is shut down, the servers used to host Blackboard 8 will be formatted and repurposed. The data from Blackboard 8 will be forever gone.

Do I have to import my data from Blackboard 8 to Blackboard 9, or can I just keep the .zip file created during the export process on my computer?

While it is possible to keep your .zip file and not import it directly into Blackboard 9, waiting to do so may be a poor choice. If there is something wrong with .zip file, the file is accidentally deleted, or is corrupted after you save it to your computer, you may not know there is a problem until after Blackboard 8 is shutdown. Importing your data into Blackboard 9 immediately will allow you to verify that your data is intact.

When I imported my course into Blackboard 9, I received error messages in the confirmation email the system sent me. What should I do?

Look over the error messages. Most, if not all, error messages will look something like this: "Warning: An error occurred while persisting a tool setting entitled "Tool Title Here". The problem is most likely due to a mismatch between the set of Building Blocks installed on the source and destination systems." where the "Tool Title Here" actually lists a named value. These errors are normal and can be ignored. If you receive an error that you are not sure about, please feel free to contact Blackboard support. Please keep the email so a Bb support tech can see the exact error.

If you have questions about the Blackboard 9 transition that are not answered here, please contact either Jason Guerin (461-5327) or Walter Fisher (461-5389) between 8:00am and 4:30pm, Monday-Friday. If you cannot reach either Jason or Walter, or if you have a question after hours, please send an email to

it@usi.edu and someone will get back with you as soon as possible.