About Course Reserves 

Course Reserves is a library service offered to instructors to make materials easily available to their students. The primary function is to ensure that students and instructors will have timely access to course-related library resources. Placing items on reserve offers a convenient way to temporarily group together and provide student access to high-demand physical and electronic resources.

Library and instructor-issued physical materials, such as books, article copies, lecture notes, syllabi, DVDs, CDs, etc., are retained for Course Reserves at the first-floor main Circulation desk. Additionally, this desk provides access to some miscellaneous reserve items such as calculators and geometry sets. Loan periods for Physical Reserve materials vary from 1 hour to 7 days.

Scans of library materials or personal copies can be placed on eReserve for easy electronic access within Fair Use limitations under copyright law

All materials placed on Course Reserves are listed in the GIL Catalog. Both physical and electronic reserve items are found on Course Reserves in the GIL@VSU Library catalog located by instructor name and/or course number and then by author and title. 

 

Instructors 

Instructors can request that library materials be pulled from the library’s collection, provide their own personal copies for use, or request that resources be purchased for use on Course Reserves (some restrictions apply and availability is not guaranteed).

Reserve Request Forms are available at both Circulation desks and in the Interlibrary Loan suite. Please fill out both sides of the request form, making sure to indicate the length of time a student should have the material upon checkout and when the material should be removed.

If filling out the pdf reserve form, please highlight Closed Reserve or Open Reserve and how many hours or days for the length of time a student can check out the item. These forms can be submitted via email to smshirle@valdosta.edu or circ@valdosta.edu.

 

Physical Materials

Physical materials to be placed on Course Reserves should be dropped off, with the request form if one has not been submitted via email, at the first floor main Circulation desk or in the ILL suite Reserve Drop Off location. Hardcopy book chapters and articles should be submitted to be scanned in the Interlibrary Loan suite, office 2636.

Typically acceptable formats for electronic reserves are documents such as class notes, articles, and single chapters from books. We will scan everything possible within the limits of the Fair Use clause of Copyright Law.

Please note that Odum Library does not take responsibility for copyright clearance or permissions. Copies of Fair Use guidelines are also available with Reserve Request Forms at both Circulation desks and in the ILL Suite.

 

Electronic Documents

Electronic documents should be submitted in pdf format to smshirle@valdosta.edu or circ@valdosta.edu. These resources will be accessible online through the GIL catalog via an instructor-issued password.

Reserves are not renewable and must be reactivated every semester.

 

Students 

Physical Reserve items are available to students for limited check-out periods at the library’s first-floor main Circulation desk. Only one hourly reserve item may be checked out at a time. Students may only check out more than one overnight reserve item when the instructor’s permission is given. Students should return Physical Reserve items directly back to the 1st-floor main Circulation desk when or before the time they are due.

Electronic Reserve articles and chapters are accessed online through the GIL catalog via an instructor-issued password

 

Copyright Compliance 

The University System of Georgia Board of Regents Policy on the Use of Copyrighted Works in Education and Research explains in detail the rights of copyright holders, which are balanced by limitations on those rights under federal copyright law. The University System of Georgia also provides tools to be used to determine whether an intended educational use of copyrighted material is covered by fair use tenets. The Valdosta State University Library Course Reserves system follows the University System of Georgia Board of Regents Policy on the Use of Copyrighted Works in Education and Research. See also the Warning Concerning Copyright Restrictions.