E-Reserve Frequently Asked Questions
What are e-reserves?
What material is
appropriate for the e-reserve service?
How do I submit reserve materials
for e-reserves?
How do my students access the e-reserve
readings online?
How is copyright clearance handled?
How can I incorporate my
e-reserve readings into Illinois Compass?
How long will it take to process
my e-reserve readings?
Can I drop off material for e-reserves
at any point in the semester?
Can I carry material over from one
semester to another?
What happens to the print copies I
bring in for processing?
Who should I contact if I or my
students are having difficulties or questions?
What are e-reserves?
- Electronic reserves, or e-reserves, are course reserve readings that are made accessible electronically, either by linking to existing digital versions of the content or by scanning print materials and making them accessible as .pdf files.
- Research indicates that students read more of the assigned material if the readings are available online.
- E-reserves are searchable through the library online catalog by course or instructor, and are accessible from any UIUC terminal, through the proxy server, or from any connection after verification of UIUC network ID and password.
- Students can view and/or print the material 24 hours a day from any Internet-connected computer, eliminating the need for multiple print copies and accomodating differing study habits.
- Faculty and instructors can reuse material from semester to semester and for multiple courses more easily than was ever possible in the print reserve environment.
What material is appropriate for the e-reserve service?
- Course reserve materials such as journal articles, book chapters, lecture notes and exams are now automatically processed as e-reserves rather than placed on reserve in print. Lengthy in-print works, such as complete books, are not placed on electronic reserves. If there is any question as to the suitability of the material you would like to put online, please feel free to contact Mary Laskowski.
How do I submit reserve materials for e-reserves?
- Forms and accompanying photocopies for e-reserves can be dropped off at the Undergraduate Library Service Desk or mailed to the Information Processing & Management unit at the Undergraduate Library, MC-522.
- Please submit readings as early as possible, as
material is processed in a first-in first-out manner. It is never too
early for us to start processing e-reserves for subsequent semesters.
We typically receive the majority of requests around the beginning of
the semester, which creates a massive backlog, so we greatly appreciate
early submissions.
- If you are requesting that print materials be processed
as electronic reserves, you will need to provide the photocopy, as we
do not have sufficient staff and receive too many requests to offer
photocopying as a service. One clean copy is necessary
for each reading. Alternately, if you know the material is already
available in electronic format publicly on the Internet or through one
of the library's subscription full-text databases, you can send us
through email (uglprocess@library.uiuc.edu) the URL or citation information including database and we
can link to the pre-existing electronic copy.
- Please provide your full name, campus address, phone
number, course information and e-mail address on the E-Reserve Request
Form (pdf
or Word)
or syllabus. All e-reserve materials will be linked to your full name
and course on the website. Also, it is very important that we be able
to contact you about your material in case a question or problem
arises. If your course is team-taught and you would like materials to
be cross-posted, please provide the names of all instructors.
- If you prefer, you may submit a copy of your syllabus
instead of filling out the bibliographic portion of the E-Reserve
Request Form, as long as the syllabus includes all of the pertinent
information.
- If you have lecture notes, exams, or other material
already an electronic format such as a Word document, Excel
spreadsheet, or PowerPoint presentation, you can send us the file as an
attachment and we can use those directly instead of scanning a
photocopy.
- If you submit photocopies for electronic reserve, it is
with the understanding that students are not simultaneously required to
buy a course packet of these same materials. If the course packet is an
optional purchase, however, you are welcome to submit the material for
electronic reserve.
How do my students access the e-reserve readings online?
- You and your students may access e-reserves via the Online
Library Catalog or Directly.
In both cases the material is accessed by course and instructor. If
accessed directly, the list retrieved does not include any print
materials such as full-length books you may have also placed on reserve.
- E-reserves can be printed either inside or outside of the library.
- If printed within the UIUC library sytem, payments may be made either at the Undergraduate Library desk or charged directly (online) to your student or faculty account.
How is copyright clearance handled?
- Copyright clearance is taken care of by Information Processing & Management staff for any items we identify that exceed fair use. It is the responsibility of the faculty/instructor to provide clear and complete bibliographic information for each item placed on reserve to facilitate this process. We use that information to determine whether or not we own the source material, to purchase the source if not owned, and to request copyright clearance if required. Should copyright clearance be denied, or if the fee is unreasonable, we will take down the e-reserve item in question and notify you that we have done so, though this is rare. The official library Practices for Electronic Reserves are available on the library administration website.
How can I incorporate my e-reserve readings into Illinois Compass?
- We can provide you with a simple link to the readings we
have processed
(ex. http://www.library.uiuc.edu/ereserves/item.asp?id=####) to incorporate your e-reserve list into Illinois Compass. - If you are using Illinois Compass for your course there are several options for how to incorporate e-reserve materials. The simplest way is for us to provide you with the static URL for the combined list of all the e-reserve materials we have processed for that course and you can add a link to the course resources which will take your students to that online list of readings which are then individually accessible (sample above). The other option is for you to use that list and all of the individual links contained within it to add links to individual readings on your course syllabus or within different learning modules. Please note that all material is taken down at the end of each semester due to copyright concerns, and therefore there may be periods of time where the static URL provided is not functional. If you are linking directly to individual readings you must use the link to the bibliographic information page rather than linking directly to the .pdf file, as the .pdf file locations are subject to change. Material will remain accessible as long as we have a course/instructor currently linked, so please remember to notify us from semester to semester if you want the material carried over to the following semester, otherwise it will be taken down.
How long will it take to process my e-reserve readings?
- The amount of time required to process electronic reserves varies according to the time of semester. If you have reserve readings that need to be accessible on the first day of class, please give us at least three weeks before the start of the semester as that is our busiest period. If you have reserves to be processed throughout the semester we can usually process them within one or two business days provided we are already through the beginning of the semester rush. It is never too early to give us new reserve processing for the next upcoming semester or to notify us to carry over material from a previous semester.
Can I drop off material for e-reserves at any point in the semester?
- Yes, we will gladly process electronic reserve material throughout the semester. In fact, as the semester progresses the amount of time required to process the material is significantly reduced, so if you know in advance that portions of your readings will not need to be accessible until later in the semester we would greatly appreciate knowing that so we can concentrate on the time-sensitive material at the beginning of the semester.
Can I carry material over from one semester to another?
- Yes, you can easily carry over material on electronic reserve from semester to semester, it is simply a matter of notifying us that you want the material relinked for the following semester. You should receive an email from us within the last six weeks of each semester asking if you want material carried over or taken down at the end of the semester. Please note that all readings are unavailable during intersessions due to copyright concerns.
What happens to the print copies I bring in for processing?
- All photocopies will be shipped back to your departmental office approximately two weeks after we finish processing them. Please contact us at uglprocess@library.uiuc.edu if you need special arrangements for return of print copies.
Who should I contact if I or my students are having difficulties or questions?
- If you or your students are having any technical problems, please check out our E-reserve quick problem solving guide, as it covers most of the common problems. If your question isn't answered or you need further clarification please feel free to contact the Undergraduate Library Information Processing and Management staff at uglprocess@library.uiuc.edu or 244-3773. As a general rule please refrain from contacting individual staff members, as they may not be best equipped to answer your question and may not get your message for several days if they are out of the office.
