About Course Reserves

Course Reserves include books, photocopies, movies, and other items that instructors place on reserve so that all students enrolled in their classes have access to required and recommended materials. Other works such as style manuals and documents relating to UMW are on Permanent Reserve.

Use our Catalog Search to find Reserve items. In order to narrow your search to only include Reserve items, use the Location limiter in the left-hand column to select “Request at Circulation.”

To Place an item on Course Reserve

1. Turn on "Library Reading List" in Canvas
2. Fill out Course Reserve Material Form

Once those steps are completed the library will complete your request. Requests are completed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

• Where can I check out and return reserve materials?
  

  A valid EagleOne card and a patron account in good standing are required for Reserve check-out. Course Reserves are held at the Simpson Library Circulation Desk. Course Reserves are available from when the library opens until 15 minutes prior to the library’s closing. Reserve materials must be returned to the Circulation Desk if the library is open. For after-hours returns, a book drop is available on the front wall of the Simpson Library building.

• How long can I use materials that are on reserve?
  

  Reserve lending periods range from 2 hours to 2 weeks, depending on the instructor’s preference. Reserve items cannot be restricted to building use. If a 2-hour Reserve item is checked out within 2 hours of closing or a 6-hour Reserve item is checked out within 6 hours of closing, the item will be due back when the library reopens. There is no limit to the number of Reserve items that can be checked-out at one time. Holds and Recalls cannot be placed on Reserve material. Reserve material cannot be renewed, but may be checked out again if no one is waiting for the item.

• Are there overdue fines for materials on reserve?
  

  Yes. Charges for overdue Hourly Reserve materials are $1.00 per hour (or any part of an hour) per item. Charges for overdue Daily Reserve materials are $1.00 per day (or any part of a day) per item. Charges continue to accrue when the library is closed. There is no maximum charge for overdue Reserve items.

• What materials may be placed on reserve?
  
  Reserves materials may include items from Simpson Library's circulating collections (e.g. books, DVDs) as well as faculty members’ personal copies. Personal copies should be brought in with the list of items to be put on reserve. Personal items may sustain damage or loss. A barcode will be affixed to items placed on reserve, which in most cases cannot be removed without damage to the item. Please be aware that the Library cannot replace lost or damaged personal copies. Photocopies made by the library for Reserve will be charged to the faculty member’s department. The Library staff will only make copies of library-owned materials. Materials borrowed through Interlibrary Loan, checked-out from another library, or rented from a retail source will not be placed on Reserve under any circumstances. All items placed on Reserve must be in compliance with copyright law. See the section on Copyright Restrictions for Reserve Materials for further explanation. If Simpson Library doesn’t own your course materials, we can purchase them. Fill out our Purchase Request Form to request a purchase.
• Can the Library purchase items to be placed on reserve?
  

  Yes. If Simpson Library doesn’t own your course materials, we can purchase them. Fill out our Purchase Request Form to request a purchase

• Notes about older editions.
  

  Please be aware that older editions of some textbooks may be out of print or completely unavailable for purchase. To ensure that your students have access to the required materials, the Library will generally acquire the most recent edition of a required textbook. If you have questions about this, please contact lgreeley@umw.edu.

• Placing materials on reserve.
  

  To place an item on reserve, use the online Course Reserve Material Form. You may choose a loan period of 2 hour/overnight, 6 hour/overnight, 24 hour/overnight, 2 day/overnight for each item. See the Borrowing Reserve Materials section for a more detailed explanation of loan periods. The choice of loan period should be based on class size, length of assignment, time allowed before assignment is due, whether the material is required or recommended, and the number of copies available. Items on Reserve for the same course can have different loan periods, and the loan period can be changed if it becomes evident that the loan period that was initially chosen is either too brief or too long. Persons requesting that items be placed on Reserve must have a patron record that is in good standing in the library’s database. To ensure that materials will be processed and available for use, lists must be submitted at least seven days prior to the date students will first need access to them. Processing will be done on a first-come, first-served basis. The Library staff will pull library-owned materials as time allows.

• Removing materials from reserve.
  

  All titles will be removed from Reserve at the end of the semester or session (after the last day of finals). Items may be removed from Reserve before the designated expiration date; however, all circulation statistics will be lost. Personal materials that have been on Reserve will be sent to the faculty member’s office, via campus mail, shortly after the expiration date. You will be asked to pick up any item(s) that is too large, heavy, or fragile to be sent through campus mail.

• "Library Reading Lists" in Canvas.
  

  The “Library Reading Lists” feature is a new reading list management tool in Canvas. This tool allows teaching faculty and library staff to work together to create reading lists containing library materials and outside resources. Instructors must turn on the Library Reading List tool, then the library will add course reserve materials to the list. Instructors can create lists of relevant, up-to-date materials gathered from a range of sources including the Library collection, Internet (Amazon, etc.) and multimedia resources (YouTube, etc.); easily manage and update course resources based on their course needs; and look at statistical usage of materials by students. To learn more, visit Simpson Library's online guide to Library Reading Lists in Canvas.

• Copyright Restrictions
  

  Each photocopy placed on Reserve must include publication information (author, title, year) and contain the publication’s copyright statement. Book chapters must include the title and author(s) of the chapter as well as the title and author(s) of the book. Any photocopies not including this information will be returned. No more than five copies of any one photocopied item may be put on Reserve. The person placing the material on Reserve must secure permission from the copyright owner if any photocopied material is to remain on Reserve for more than one semester, even if those semesters are not contiguous and if the material is not owned by the Library. A personal copy of a photocopied article and any article obtained through Interlibrary Loan may be placed on Reserve for one semester. Permission must be secured from the copyright owner if the articles are to remain on Reserve for more than one semester. Copies for Reserve must meet the criteria of brevity, spontaneity and cumulative effect:

  • Brevity — (1) “Poetry: (a) a complete poem if less than 250 words and if printed on not more than two pages, or (b) from a longer poem, an excerpt of not more than 250 words. (2) Prose: (a) either a complete article, story or essay of less than 2,500 words, or (b) an excerpt from any prose work of not more than 1,000 words or 10% of the work, whichever is less, but in any event a minimum of 500 words.”
  • Spontaneity — (1) “The copying is at the instance and inspiration of the individual teacher, and (2) inspiration and decision to use the work and the moment of its use for maximum teaching effectiveness are so close in time that it would be unreasonable to expect a timely reply to a request for permission.”
  • Cumulative Effect — (1) “The copying of material is for only one course in the school in which the copies are made. (2) Not more than one short poem, article, story, essay or two excerpts may be copied from the same author, nor more than three from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term. (3) There shall not be more than nine instances of such multiple copying for one course during one class term.”
  • Prohibitions –(1) “Copying shall not be used to create or to replace or substitute for anthologies, compilations or collective works.” (2) “There shall be no copying of or from works intended to be ‘consumable’ in the course of study…” (3) “Copying shall not substitute for the purchase of books, publishers’ reprints or periodicals,…” or “be repeated with respect to the same item by the same teacher from term to term.”

Questions about reserves?

Please contact Laura Greeley, Reserves & Circulation Supervisor