Course Reserves: Faculty

Procedures for placing Physical Materials on Reserve:

Salisbury University faculty may request that materials be placed on course reserve for the current or upcoming semester.  You may bring personal materials (or library books you already have in your possession) to the Library Service Desk at the GAC, or request that we pull library-owned items for you from the stacks.  (If a requested item is already checked out, we will recall the item for you, but be aware that the patron has 2 weeks to return the item!) 

If you come in person to the desk, our staff will assist you in entering all needed information into our online request form (such as your name, course number, course name, item title, loan period, etc.)  You can also submit this information on your own via our Course Reserves Online System (or click on "Request Item" to the right). 

If you want to put a book on reserve that the library does not own, you should immediately contact your department's library liaison, and ask if the book can be ordered for Reserves (this depends on your department's available funds).  Your librarian may be able to do a rush order, but book orders can take months to arrive and be processed.  Note that books obtained from other libraries via direct borrowing (Maryland System schools) or ILL usually are not permitted by the copyright policies of the lending libraries to be placed on reserve at other universities.  

You are also free to place any other physical course materials that you have created on reserve.  Please note that papers or projects authored by students may be placed on reserve only if accompanied by a Student Copyright Permission Form.

Procedures for sharing Electronic Materials with your classes:

Since our transition to a new course reserve system in Fall of 2017, all electronic material that you wish to share with your students is hosted on your Canvas/MyClasses course pages (not a library server).  You place files or links on your course pages, and they are available automatically and reliably to students who log in and are officially enrolled in your course.  (Please note:  We do not have the staff available to digitize/provide scanning services of books or articles.)    

The responsibility remains with you to use good faith in following copyright law as you post and share material with your students.  Please make sure you are aware of basics covered in our quick guide, "Course Reserves and Copyright." 

For more detail, you can consult Salisbury University Libraries' Guide to copyright for faculty.

The role that library staff can play in this process is twofold:

• Access services staff can assist you in the "Copyright Review" process.  This includes determining if your desired material can be freely shared under "Fair Use" guidelines -- if not, we will submit requests for copyright permissions on your behalf, and pay the associated fees (within our budget) -- but you need to initiate requests for this service by using our Online Request System!  
•  If you do not have access to the source that you wish to use (ie. if it is not in your possession, or available full-text via our databases), we can assist you in placing ILL order requests through our Interlibrary Loan Department.  Most ILL article and chapter requests will be delivered to you as PDF files via your SU email from lending libraries.   (Note: if this step is necessary, it may also be necessary to apply for copyright permissions.)  

If you plan to post an article or book excerpt on Canvas, and would like to be sure that you are complying with copyright guidelines, please use our online request form to start the process.  There is a simple questionnaire at the top of the form to help you decide if you need to submit a request to us.  (For example, you do not need to submit any request to the library if the material is already paid for via library database subscriptions, if it is open-access or in the public domain, or if you are completely confident that your use falls under the "Fair Use" exclusion of copyright law.) 

If you do decide that you need to submit a request for permission to use material, our online form asks you to provide key bibliographic information and course enrollment numbers.  We will immediately begin a copyright review for you, and be back in touch with you by email!

If you need library assistance (ILL) in obtaining an article or chapter to post on Canvas, you should indicate this when you fill out the item request form online in the comments field at the bottom of the form.

Upon receiving a request, Access Services staff will begin to process the order; if needed, we will apply for copyright permission from the copyright holder, and pay any required copyright fees associated with your item, within reason. 

Submission Deadlines:

Requests for reserve items that students will need to access at the start of the semester should be submitted at least 2 weeks prior to the beginning of the semester to ensure adequate time to process items or secure copyright clearance if needed.

Reserve requests during the semester should be submitted at least 3 business days prior to the first date the students will need to access the materials.  

Items are usually processed in the order requests are received.  At the beginnings of terms, the number of requests can be high.  If you request a large volume of material at these times, staff may follow up with you to find out the dates that the items will actually be needed, so that we can prioritize processing requests.

If you have any questions or need assistance with Course Reserves, please contact:​

Abigail Horton

Course Reserves Assistant

aehorton@salisbury.edu

(410) 548-2386

Amy Jones

Head of Circulation

amjones@salisbury.edu

(410) 677-5478

To submit a request for an item that you have not had on reserve before (or one that was used before Fall of 2017), click the "Request Item" button in the Faculty menu on the course reserves homepage (or in the box above).

To re-request an item that is currently on reserve, or that has been on reserve for you in the past, click the "Faculty Login" button on the course reserves homepage (or above). Once you complete the log in process, you will see a list of all the items you have requested in the past, and you can re-request an item from there without having to re-enter the item's detailed information.

You may ask that a physical item be kept on reserve continuously as a "Permanent Reserve" if it is for a course that you teach repeatedly.  Permanent Reserves will stay active until you notify the library that you no longer need the item for your class.  If it is a personally-owned item, you may retrieve it and have it removed from Course Reserves at any time.