Summary
The book tool is a resource that allows instructors to organize content in a sequential format that is easy to navigate through a table of contents. It is an alternative way to display content such as collections of text, webpages, Youtube videos, etc., through the creation of a multi-page resource in a book-like format. If enabled, students can print the whole book, or sections of it. Books are useful for displaying content that is lengthy, in-depth, and may be broken down into sections.
Add a book
- Log in to GauchoSpace and enter your course site.
- Click Turn editing on.
- Select the week/section block in which you would like the book, click Add an activity or resource, and in the All tab select Book.
- Provide a name for your Book and a description, if desired.
- Click Save and display. A page for adding your first Chapter will be displayed.
Understanding Book Settings
To locate Book settings, click on your Book resource and click Edit Settings on the right hand side of the screen.
General
Name: Required. What the students will see when selecting the link from your course's homepage.
Description: This is where you tell your students what is contained within the book.
Display description on course page: Select this if you want the full description (above) to also appear on your course page under the name of the book.
Appearance
Chapter formatting: Use this drop-down to select how the chapter formatting will display.
- None: Chapter and subchapter titles have no formatting.
- Numbers: Chapters and subchapter titles are numbered 1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, ...
- Bullets: Subchapters are indented and displayed with bullets in the table of contents.
- Indented: Subchapters are indented in the table of contents.
Style of Navigation
- TOC Only: Book navigation is possible only in the Table of Contents menu on the upper right.
- Images: Arrows can be used to navigate to other chapters.
- Text: Text with the chapter name is used to navigate to other chapters.
Custom titles: Normally the chapter title is displayed in the table of contents (TOC) and as a heading above the content. Custom titles allow you to have a different page header and index entry (chapter title). If you enable custom titles, then no title will appear on the page unless you manually add one within the content area of the page.
Tip: If you choose to enable custom titles make sure you style it consistently throughout the Book. Creating custom titles can be beneficial for accessibility compliance.
Common module settings
Visible: Use the "Hide" setting to prevent the book from appearing on the course page. You may change the setting at any time.
ID number: If the activity is not included in any grade calculation, then the ID number field may be left blank.
Restrict Access
You can limit access (i.e., ability to see) to a resource by adding conditions. More information on conditions can be found in the help page on Restricting access to specific users.
Activity Completion
If your course is set-up for completion tracking, then the activity completion setting will appear. For information on how to set up your course with Activity Completion, please see this article.
Be sure to click Save and Display or Save and return to course after making any changes.
Building Your Book
Adding Chapters
After you complete the settings for your book, you may begin adding content by adding pages (i.e., chapters) to it. To add chapters to your book click on the “+” in the table of contents block, which is found on the right side of the screen.
Chapter title: Each Chapter title appears in the Table of Contents as a link to open that page. There is an option to enable custom titles from the book settings page.
Subchapter: You can designate a page as a subchapter of an existing chapter. Your Book can have as many chapters and subchapters as you want, but each chapter is limited to two levels, chapter and subchapter.
Content: Enter your text and media content for the chapter here. This field allows you to use formatting tools, embed video, add images, and link to both internal and external internet resources.
Note: All chapters consist of one page, which will scroll if necessary.
Tip: If you paste content directly from your original document in Word, the formatting from these programs may interfere with the HTML code in the editor. We recommend copying the content and pasting it using the paste from word tool in the text editor.
To use the paste from word tool:
- Copy the text you wish to use.
- Expand the formatting toolbar by clicking the Show More button.
- Click the Paste Special icon.
- Paste the content into the paste special content box.
- Select Paste from Microsoft Word or whatever is appropriate for your source.
- Click Complete Paste.
Managing Chapters
Once you create a chapter or subchapter, icons will display in the table of contents next to its name allowing you to edit it.
- To move a chapter, use the arrow keys to go Up and Down.
- To edit a chapter, select the Edit (gear) icon.
- To delete a chapter, use the Delete (X) icon.
- To hide a chapter from student view, click the Show (open eye) icon. This toggles to a Hide icon. Click the Hide icon if you want to display it again.
Viewing and (Preventing) Printing Books
Books may be navigated by clicking on the chapter or subchapter name in the table of contents. Students may also move through the book by using the arrows located to the top-right of the content area.
In order to print the entire book or just one chapter, use the Administration block on the side of the screen and click Print Book or Print This Chapter.
Sometimes an instructor may not want a student to have the print capability. In order to disable students’ ability to print your book, follow these steps:
- From the Book’s Administration block on the right side of the screen, click Permissions.
- Select the student role from the Advanced Role Override drop-down menu:
- Find the Print book capability and select Prevent.
- Click Save changes.
Importing Web Content
You can import web (HTML) files directly into your book as chapters or subchapters. To do this, collect the html files you wish to import into a single, zipped file. Then follow these instructions for importing your chapter.
- Click the name of the book you want to add chapters to.
- Click the Add chapter (+) icon next to any existing chapter to add a new chapter, which will appear below it.
- In the Book Administration block on the right hand side, click Import chapter.
- Choose whether each HTML file or folder represents one chapter.
- Choose the zipped folder of a single or multiple html file(s) you want to import into the book.
- Click Import.
Tips for importing chapters and subchapters:
- Place the title of a chapter (or subchapter) into the <title> tags of the head element of the HTML file.
- To upload subchapters, add "_sub" to the end of HTML file or folder names.
- Chapters are sorted alphabetically using filenames; by starting file/folder names with numbers you can control the order in which the files appear as chapters (or subchapters) in the book. Alternatively, you can change the order through the Table of Contents block once files are imported.
- Multimedia and images may need to be added separately through the text editor after importing the html content.