Comparisons and advocacy

Maybe you can take a staged approach to it.

In the first year don't put any reference material up there. You already have that (I hope) in some sort of workable state outside of Moodle. Instead focus on the activities. Put forums, quizzes, glossaries, databases, blogs and databases into action. These will be fun and seen to add value as they are not just repackaging existing content. These can also be easier to set up than putting a lot of reference material in.

Before you do this though, come up with some guidelines for content, naming standards etc. A consistent look and feel will improve things considerably.

Once you get them working with it in this way and they are familiar with it it will be easier in subsequent years to say, ok now it's up to you to add other material.