You can explore Scholar at http://www.scholar.comwithout an account, but to get access to the full functionality of Scholar and to save your own resources you will need an account on Scholar. Accounts are created after the Blackboard Scholar server plugin (called Building Block on Academic Suite or Powerlink on CE6/Vista4) is installed on your server. Your administrator can get the correct server plugin, which are free, in the Download Centre, Behind the Blackboard. When enabled, these plugins will expose Scholar to users on your learning management system. To understand how Scholar works, see:
How Does Scholar Work?
How Does Scholar Work in a Course?
The first time a user clicks on a link or a tab to Scholar, on their Blackboard learning management system, they will be presented with a Scholar Account Creation form. A Scholar account is needed for the following reasons:
- to allow them to use Scholar from the learning management system
- to allow individuals to access their Scholar account at http://www.scholar.com
- to allow individuals to associate their Scholar accounts with other institutions they either currently work at or may work at in the future.
The Scholar Account Creation form will ask the individual to select a Desired Scholar Login name and a Desired Scholar Password. Scholar Login names are for life, so they should be selected carefully. The user can not change their Scholar Login name after creation. Individuals can retrieve their Scholar Passwords providing they enter a valid email address and provide a Password Hint. Passwords and Password Hints can be changed by the user after creation. After account creation, everytime an individual clicks on a link or tab to Scholar, inside the learning management system, they will be seamlessly authenticated through to Scholar.
When an individual moves to another institution which also has Scholar installed, rather than fill out a new Account Creation form, which would create you a second and unnecessary Scholar account, the user simply clicks on the Already a Scholar Member link and enters their Scholar Login and Scholar Password. This will associate a Scholar account with the new institution's Blackboard learning management system and allow seamless access from this new institution's learning management system.