Course Reserve Guide
General Information
Access
Concerns
General Information
Why use Course Reserves?
If you know that certain library materials will be in high demand in your
class, the Circulation and Reserves Department can adjust the loan periods
of those items to provide access to all the students who need them, not just
to the person who checks out the items first. Traditional Course Reserve
materials are available for student use in the library, for one to three
hours, with an option for overnight use. Items on Electronic Course Reserves
are available via the World Wide Web at any time of the day.
How do I put materials on reserve?
For traditional course reserves:
- Make a list of items you want to place on reserve.
- You or your work-study student should locate the materials in the library
and bring them to the Circulation Desk. If you have personal items, just
bring them to the desk.
- Fill out a Course Reserve for PRINT Form with your preferences for time limit, number
of items, and any special instructions. These forms are available from
any member of the Circulation Staff or from the work-study students at
the Circulation Desk.
- Supply a class syllabus with your reserve materials listed. This will
enable us to provide the best service both to you and your students.
For electronic course reserves:
- Bring original documents or single-sided photocopies to the Circulation
Desk and fill out a Course Reserve for ELECTRONIC RESERVE Form.
The items will be scanned. It is important for
the photocopies to be of high quality. Copies of poor quality will be difficult
to read as scanned copies.
- Or, submit electronic items via email attachment to rita.manning@allegheny.edu or
bring the items on a disk to the Circulation Desk.
- You do not need to supply a password; students will log into the system using their regular userid and password. They will have access only to courses they are registered for.
- Supply a class syllabus with your reserve materials listed. This will
enable us to provide the best service both to you and your students.
For videos:
- Bring a list of call numbers and titles to the Circulation Desk. The
Circulation staff will gather the videos for you.
- Fill out a Course Reserve for DVD, VHS or CD
Form. Reserve videos are loaned for 2 or 3 hours
and are available for use in the library. Normally, students are not
permitted to use videos outside the library.
- If you would like your students to use a video or videos outside the
library, please provide a class roster. The students enrolled in your class
will be permitted to take out the video like other overnight materials
- the item may be checked out no earlier than one hour before closing and
must be returned within one hour after the library opens the next day.
What is Electronic Course Reserve?
Book chapters and journal articles are scanned and made available online
through the Sakai course management system. This system allows students access to the items at any time of the day or
night, from any computer connected to the web. In addition to scanned items,
links to websites, jpeg files, music files, and Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
files can go on electronic reserve. To comply with copyright law, passwords
are used to access copyrighted items. Faculty members choose and distribute
passwords to their classes. Electronic reserves make use of Adobe PDF files.
Students who do not have Adobe
Acrobat Reader installed on their computers must first download this
free program in order to access PDF files on ERes.
To learn how to use Sakai, please consult an Instructional Technologist.
How can course reserves help your students?
- Students can work at their own pace -- early morning to late night.
- Students can use electronic reserves at any time of the day or night
from any computer with WWW access.
- Classroom materials and texts can be supplemented with current publications,
journals, and other media, without placing additional stress on a student's
budget.
- Students can complete assignments using as many different reserves as
they want.
- Students can be provided with an historic overview of a subject.
What items can be placed on Course Reserve?
Traditional reserve items:
- books
- photocopies
- videocassettes
- sound recordings and slides (please contact Media
Services)
- other types of printed or recorded materials
- Pelletier Library materials
- your personal materials
Electronic Reserve items:
- articles
- book chapters
- links to web sites
- Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access documents
- jpeg images
- syllabi
- handwritten documents, like answer keys
How long does it take for Course Reserve items
to be made available?
Processing for both traditional and electronic reserves may take up to
two business days. At the beginning of the semester, it may take longer.
Please plan accordingly. Early submissions are appreciated.
Access
What about interlibrary loan books?
It is against library policy and the I.L.L. code to place materials acquired
through interlibrary loan on Course Reserve. Books are loaned to Pelletier
Library for the personal use of the individual requesting the material. They
are loaned to the library as a courtesy, and we will not subject borrowed
materials to the added wear and tear of course reserve. However, a photocopy
of a specific chapter or section in an I.L.L. book can be submitted for use
on Course Reserve.
Can reserves be found using ALLECAT, the library's
catalog?
Yes! From the Library's home page,
choose choose "Reserves by Class" or "Reserves by Instructor" for hard-copy Reserves. Faculty and students
can always verify what is currently on reserve for a specific class. If you
have electronic reserve items, go to Sakai.
Will allowing a book to go out overnight limit
accessibility to other students?
No, an overnight reserve item cannot be checked out until one hour before
the library closes, and must be returned within one hour after the library
opens the next morning. Substantial fines are levied to insure that students
adhere to the time limits imposed.
How will accessibility to material be
improved using the Course Reserve system?
- Items on electronic course reserve are available at any time of the day
from any computer with WWW access.
- Items on traditional course reserve are available whenever the library
is open.
- Items on traditional course reserve are assigned a time limit for their
use, allowing more students to have access to needed material.
- Traditional reserve materials can go out overnight only per your instruction.
Concerns
What happens if the students complain that
a course reserve is always checked out?
Shortening the time limit you have chosen for your reserve materials, or
providing additional copies might resolve the problem. Time limits offered
are:
- 1 hour and overnight -- 1 hour no overnight
- 2 hour and overnight -- 2 hour no overnight
- 3 hour and overnight -- 3 hour no overnight (A three-day option is also available)
Tips for making course reserves less frustrating
for your students and for student assistants at the Circulation Desk
- Before preparing your syllabus check over the materials you are listing
as "On Reserve at Pelletier Library" or "On Electronic Reserve." Make certain
you have the correct title and author. It is important to identify individual
authors of articles within edited works or encyclopedias.
- Be sure to include all bibliographic information with journal articles
you place on reserve (journal name, author, volume number, issue number,
date, and pages). If you send a chapter or section of a book, please photocopy
the title page of the book, and add the publication or copyright date.
Having the correct information will allow us to identify and locate the
article, should it be necessary to replace pages lost during use.
Questions or comments?
Please contact Pam Majors at 332-3768
