10. Using a glossary Contents
10. Using a glossary
A glossary is a list of terms and their definitions. In general, a teacher prepares a glossary for students to explain terms to them, but Moodle glossaries are not only unilaterally created by the teacher; instead, students can also participate in editing them. The following two types of glossaries are available in Moodle.
In a main glossary, not only can you edit entries directly, but you can also export entries from a sub-glossary. Therefore, after all participants have added entries to the sub-glossary, it is possible to export the best ones to the main glossary to create a main glossary for the course. Since only one main glossary can be set for the course, it is recommended to place it in the topic section at the top of the course (the topic where the news forum has been set in advance).
If you prefer to set a glossary that anyone can easily edit, it is better to set up only one sub-glossary instead of a main glossary.
10.1 Creating a glossary
After launching edit mode, click "Add activity or resource", and click to select "Glossary" from the list of available activities/resources displayed.
This section explains the main settings "General", "Entries", and "Appearance". There are also other additional items related to evaluation. If you want to include glossary contributions in student evaluations, set those as well.
"General" settings
Enter the "Name" and "Description" of the glossary. The default glossary type is set to "Sub-glossary". There is also a "Main glossary" that can be used by exporting the entries created in a sub-glossary, but only one can be set for the course (see previous page).
"Entries" settings
An entry refers to each item added to the glossary. If you enable "Automatically link entries", identical term entries in the course will be automatically linked. Note that in addition to the settings here, similar settings are required when creating entries.
"Appearance" settings
In the "Full without author" Display format, "Last updated date" is displayed in addition to "Term" and "Definition". Attached files are displayed as links. "Full without author" will not display the author’s name, but if you also want to display it, select "Full with author".
In addition, there are also a "FAQ" that has "Question" and "Answer" headings added to the "Term" and "Definition" parts of the entry, as well as an "Entry list" that lists terms as links.
After adjusting all settings, select "Save and return to course" at the bottom of the screen to save the settings.
10.2 Using a glossary
Adding a category
To add a category, set a non-default value in the appearance settings. (In this case, "Full with author" has been chosen).
Entries are classified by "Browse by alphabet" or "Browse by date", but if you wish to perform other classifications, you need to create a category for the classification in advance (classified by "Browse by category").
To create a category, first click the glossary icon in the course to open the glossary,
A.Select the "Browse by category" tab.
B.Select "Edit categories".
C.Click "Add category" to proceed to the screen for adding a category, then enter the "Name" of the category to be added and click "Save changes"
D.The added category will be displayed on the screen.
Adding an entry
When you open the glossary of the course, the entries added so far will be displayed on the screen. To add a term,
A. Select "Add entry".
B. In the settings screen, enter the "Concept" and its "Definition". If you want to use an alphabetical order index, enter half-width alphanumeric characters in the term field.
C. If a category is set, select the category.
D. If enabled, the same word or phrase as the entry will be automatically linked when it appears in the course.
E. If Japanese characters are entered, they will be classified as "Special" and the index will not be usable. You can also select a category for classifying terms and attach a file to supplement the explanation as needed.
Importing and exporting entries
By using the import/export feature, you can link with other glossaries. When you select a glossary and display the glossary page, "Import entries" and "Export" are displayed on the left side of the screen. Use these to import and export entries.
Exporting entries
To export an entry, select "Export" and click "Export entry to file". You will then be able to save entries contained in the glossary as an XML file.
Importing entries
To import entries, select "Import entry",then select the XML file to be imported in "A. File to import", and choose from "Current glossary" or "New glossary" in "B. Destination of imported entries". Use "C. Import category" to specify whether or not a category is to be included.
If the import destination glossary is set to "New glossary", a new glossary containing the imported data will be created in the top topic (where the news forum is located).
10.3 Linking a sub-glossary and a main glossary
With Moodle’s glossary, you can export the entries contained in a sub-glossary to the main glossary. This allows outstanding entries from the sub-glossary edited by students to be reflected in the main glossary of the course. If you want to use category classification for the main glossary, you need to prepare the same category as in the sub-glossary in advance.
Exporting from a sub-glossary to the main glossary
In a sub-glossary, you can export an entry to the main glossary by clicking the icon at the bottom right of the entry. This icon only appears if a main glossary is available in the course.
Entries exported to the main glossary can only be edited in the main glossary and cannot be edited or deleted from a sub-glossary. However, if deleted from the main glossary (see below for how to delete), you will be able to edit and delete the entry again in the sub-glossary.
Deleting entries from the main glossary
You can delete an entry from the main glossary by clicking the "Trash" icon at the bottom right of the entry.
