This paper presents a review of the literature on the effectiveness of Blackboard system, its uses and limitations in information management and highlights the ongoing debate of it. A critical evaluation of Blackboard system literature reveals a good number of academic views, studies, theories, models and experiences regarding the virtual learning environment. The extant literature shows that the world of information management is always in flux as it is being impacted on by the learning technology such as blackboard system. Blackboard system now has a recognised presence in the information management of the education system. Now the question is: how effective is this Blackboard system? The article will explore, in part, how blackboard is designed as suitable learning models in terms of learner cognitive engagement and constructivist perspective, resulting in the effective Blackboard system. It will further cover to review the effectiveness of Blackboard as an aid to pedagogy. Finally, the article will also present a comparison between Blackboard and other LMS such as Moodle to explore the effectiveness and limitations of the Blackboard for better academic information management.

The development of digital libraries has changed the handling and access to information. Using such a library involves a computer-human interface as well as commands and search strategies to retrieve information. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a digital library in an institution of higher education that serves approximately 75,000 students. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a total of 206 participants (structured interviews, popup questionnaires and transactional log analysis). Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used for quantitative and qualitative data. Online journals were the most commonly used resources while reference resources were least used. The usability and information retrieval capacity of the library was good. However, there was a need to improve the user interface of the digital library, create more awareness and subscribe to more online journals to meet the information requirements of the users.

The current study aimed at measuring the efficiency of Blackboard in developing the collaborative and individual learning skills for Taibah University students. Moreover, it sought to unravel the differences (if any) in the effectiveness of the system in developing the above-mentioned skills according to the change of the user (student, staff member), gender (male, female), and the change of college to which the user belongs (scientific, humanitarian). The study adopted an analytical descriptive approach as it suits the nature of the study and its variables. Doing so, the researchers have built a learning tool which consists of two lists of e-learning skills; the first is for the individual e-learning skills and is divided into three main focuses including 45 paragraphs, and the second for the collaborative e-learning skills and is divided into three main focuses including 26 paragraphs. The study sample consisted of members of staff, students (males and females) distributed across colleges of Taibah University (n= 17). The study came up with some results of which the most significant were: the Blackboard’s efficiency in developing the individual e-learning skills for the students is high with an efficiency average of..... And its efficiency in developing the collaborative e-learning skills for the students is also high with an efficiency average of.. Which reflects the importance of integrating the electronic systems within the learning and teaching processes and underlines its positive role in achieving the quality learning at low cost and effort. In addition, the study came up with the absence of indicative differences statistically in developing the individual and collaborative e-learning skills as per the user's change (student - member staff), or per the gender’s change (male-female), or per the sort of college change to which the user belongs (scientific - humanitarian). The study recommends the conduct of periodic assessment processes for the system’s efficiency in developing students’ various learning skills and calls for conducting similar studies to determine the necessary technological requirements for developing Blackboard on the basis of the individual and collaborative e-learning skills.

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Archiving and digital document management in educational institutions are not amply studied despite the active use of technologies for these purposes. In this research, a qualitative descriptive case study has been conducted to examine how digital archiving and document management are organised at Taibah University to address the needs of researchers, professors, administrators and students as well as to guarantee secure storage of and access to data. The selection of the case study design has allowed for in-depth analyses of the strategy for managing and archiving data in the selected institution. The interpretation of data with reference to the previously formulated propositions have indicated that Taibah University follows a certain strategy for managing electronic documents, but they do not use a unique data management system. Furthermore, archiving is applied only to a limited number of documents and security of stored data is guaranteed according to the University’s policies.