Xythos Extends Doc Management

BOSTON -- Xythos Software, a leading developer of basic document management software, today announced that the Xythos/Blackboard File Bridge Extension is now available for customer download. The open source application was developed by Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT) to facilitate content exchange between its Blackboard and Xythos applications and to simplify user access to both academic systems. The File Bridge Extension is now available for other colleges and universities to use at no extra charge.

Millions of faculty and students rely on Xythos to manage and share their documents and content. Many of these same users also rely on Blackboard technology to support their learning management requirements. Often content stored in Xythos systems is related to Blackboard courses while content created in Blackboard is later archived and re-used with Xythos. The Xythos/Blackboard File Bridge Extension (File Bridge) enables instructors using the Blackboard system in their teaching to take advantage of features within their Xythos accounts, providing greater convenience and utility in distributing resources to students via their Blackboard course sites.

File Bridge also can be used to allow a group of instructors or an entire institution to distribute content within multiple courses, without proliferating copies of the content among multiple Blackboard course sites. File Bridge allows students and instructors with accounts in the Xythos system to quickly access Xythos from Blackboard without requiring a second login. File Bridge has become a valuable tool for our faculty and students’ work with Blackboard,” observed Brian Nielsen, NUIT Project Manager for Faculty Initiatives at the University. “It allows us to give our students easier collaboration options within their course sites, supports an active learning model that we are working to promote, and our faculty like the ease with which they are able to share their own electronic offprint collections,” he added.

Xythos Software Inc.