Reserve Information for Students

The Education and Social Science Library (ESSL) handles reserves for classes numbered 400 or above in education, political science, anthropology, sociology, social work, psychology, and speech communication. The library's reserves are designed to support classroom instruction. Books that are in high demand due to course requirements are removed from the general collection, placed in a designated reserve location, and given a limited loan period. The Reserve Area is located near the Reference Desk and behind the Reference section, and is open all hours that the Education and Social Science Library is open. Reserve journal articles are made available online, and hard copies can usually be borrowed from the Undergraduate Library Reserves Desk (located on the upper floor of the Undergraduate Library).

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR OBTAINING RESERVE MATERIALS

All Education and Social Science Library Reserve materials are available in print. Photocopied articles, book chapters, exams or lecture notes will also be available electronically. All items can be searched by Course and/or Instructor in the online catalog. One entry will be retrieved for all electronic reserves, which will be in the form "Electronic Reserve Materials for ______" (course/instructor). All other entries will refer to print materials. Click the electronic reserves entry and then "Click here to access electronic reserve material for this course/instructor" to view a list of electronically available material. If print materials are preferred, they can be found in the Reserve Area of the ESSL (if books) or at the Undergraduate Library Reserves Desk (journal articles, chapters, etc.). See below for complete instructions on obtaining print reserves and accessing electronic reserves.

ESSL Reserve Area Policies

  • You MUST have your I-Card to check out any Reserve materials.
  • Materials are loaned out for 2 hours, 24 hours or 3 days. A tag at the back of the book indicates the loan period.
  • Materials may not be renewed. A book must sit on the shelf for at least one-half hour after being returned before it can be checked out again by the same patron.
  • Holds will NOT be placed on any Reserve materials. All materials are strictly first-come, first-served.
  • Overdue fines are $2.00 per hour, or any portion of an hour.

How to Obtain Reserve Materials

  1. Search the online catalog by Course and/or Instructor for the items you need.
    Please note: If you do not find the item in the catalog, consult the red Reserve Folder near the Reference Desk or ask for assistance.
  2. Write down the complete call number for each item you need.
  3. Find the item in the Reserves Area. If you have any trouble locating an item, you can ask at the Reference Desk for help.
  4. Take the item to the Circulation Desk to be charged out to you.
  5. All Reserve materials must be returned directly to the Education and Social Science Library to avoid overdue fines.
  6. If the item is a journal article, chapter, exam, or lecture notes, you can check out a printed copy from the Undergraduate Reserve Desk.

Closed Reserves

Professors' personal copies of materials are sometimes placed behind the Circulation Desk. These items can be requested by title or class from the Circulation Desk attendants and checked out for two-hour, in-library use.

Reserve Course Codes

AFRST: African Studies AFRO: Afro American Studies ANTH: Anthropology AS ST: Asian Studies C LIT: Comparative Literature C&I: Curriculum & Instruction
EOL: Educational Organization & Leadership EOP: Educational Opportunity Program EPS: Educational Policy Studies EDPSY: Education Psychology EIL: English as an International Language ESL: English as a Second Language
GEOG: Geography HDFS: Human Development & Family Studies HRE: Human Resource Education IEI: Intensive English Institute LAST: Latin American Studies LAS: Liberal Arts & Science
LIS: Library & Information Science POLS: Political Science PSYCH: Psychology RELST: Religious Studies RHET: Rhetoric SOCS: Social Science
SOCW: Social Work SOC: Sociology SPED: Special Education SPCOM: Speech Communication WS: Womens' Studies

Accessing Electronic Reserves (and finding Non-Electronic Reserves) Tutorial

Whether a reserve item is in electronic or hard copy format, and whether it is at the Education and Social Science Library or the Undergraduate Reserve Desk, you will find it the same way: through the online catalog. The Undergraduate Library has prepared an excellent step-by-step tutorial outlining the procedure. (Please note that the policies listed at the bottom of this page are those of the Undergraduate Library, and not necessarily those of the Education and Social Science Library.)

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Quick Problem Solving

If you can't find your instructor in the drop-down list of instructors, or your course in the list of courses, it may be that the course is being team-taught by more than one instructor (or TA), or that the course is cross-listed by several different departments. Try scrolling through the lists and looking for the other instructor or department.

If you are accessing electronic reserves from home and find that, after clicking "View the document," all you get is a blank screen, it's likely to be a problem with Adobe Acrobat. Even if you have the latest version installed on your computer, try downloading the version at the bottom of the "View the document" page (it's free). This is a good first line of defense for most problems that people have with accessing electronic reserves from home.

If you are able to view the document from home, but the printed version comes out in unreadable block letters or in symbols, try choosing "print as graphic" or "print as image." If that doesn't work, there may be some incompatibility with your browser-if you're using Netscape/Mozilla/Firefox, try going through Explorer, and vice-versa.

If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Undergraduate Library Reserve staff at 333-3479 or mrc@library.uiuc.edu.

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