Instructor Support for Educational Systems

How do I check whether literature is already available through a link and how do I add these to the concent?

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In this article, you can read how you can check whether a document is already available through a link and how you can add these to the content of your course.

When you wish to reuse materials in teaching, please be aware of Copyright Law and possible costs that may be involved. Specifically for Brightspace we recommend you use the three options listed below to implement materials in your course. In all three cases you are always obliged to cite and refer correctly.

In case there is no link available to the document, you must upload the document to the Copyright Repository. See here for hands on guidance.

Leiden Catalogue

    • Go to Leiden Catalogue and search for the document.
    • If the document is available in the catalogue you can copy the permalink and past it as a weblink/hyperlink in your course. See here for a manual on how to add weblinks to the content of your course.

Future development has been planned for a seamless Brightspace integration. In that you will be able to place links from the Leiden Catalogue directly from your course into your content. Moreover, the Leiden University Library is working on a Single Sign On experience, so that both students and instructors do not have to log in again when opening a resource

Open Access Publications

  1. Go to creativecommons.com, https://doaj.org/, https://www.openaccess.nl/en  or another open access website and search for the document. 
  2. If there is a Open Access link available you can place the link as a weblink in your course. See here for a manual on how to add weblinks to the content of your course.

The Copyright Repository is a part of the Learning Object Repository (LOR) within Brightspace. This repository is nothing more than a collection of copyrighted documents. Moreover these documents are not available via a link to the Leiden Catalogue or any open access database.

The Copyright Repository is meant as a last option in case there is absolutely no link available to the document.

  • Go to your Course
  • Click on Content and go to the desired unit/lesson.
  • Click on Add existing
  • Click on LOR
  • Search for the document. You can use the Advanced Search option to refine your search.

If the document is already available in the Copyright Repository, it is possible to directly place a link to this document in the content of your course. The next steps will show you how to do this.


  • Select the document and click Next.

  • Leave the selection at Dynamic Link to Newest Version and click on Next.
  • Click Create Topic.
  • The document is now correctly linked and visible in your course.
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