1. Home
  2. About KSL
  3. Policies & Procedures
  4. Borrowing & Electronic Access
  5. Course Reserves Policy

Course Reserves Policy

Contact course reserves staff with questions regarding these policies at SmithReserve@case.edu.

Physical Reserves

Kelvin Smith Library offers physical course reserves to faculty and instructors as an affordable and equitable method to provide materials to their students. The library provides controlled and secure access to these materials at the Service Center on the first floor of Kelvin Smith Library.  

After an item is placed on reserve, it is removed from general circulation, given a shorter loan period, and placed in the course reserves area at the Kelvin Smith Library Service Center. By using a shorter loan period, the library ensures greater availability of course materials to all students. Both print and audiovisual materials are eligible to be placed on reserve at the request of course instructors. 

Materials are automatically removed from course reserves at the end of each semester, returned to the general collection with standard circulation loan rules, and a new request must be submitted each semester for materials to return to course reserves. 

Kelvin Smith Library course reserves staff can provide service for classes within the College of the Arts and Sciences, Case School of Engineering, and Weatherhead School of Management. For course resource support in other schools, please contact your affiliate library’s staff.

Scope of Physical Reserves

As part of this service, course reserves staff can perform the following: 

  • Place materials on course reserves at the Kelvin Smith Library Service Center for the duration of one designated semester, including:
    • Items within Kelvin Smith Library
    • Items at other CWRU libraries
    • Personal copies
  • Request the purchase of materials to add to the library’s collection and place on reserve at the Kelvin Smith Library Service Center
  • Return personal copies placed on reserve via campus mail at the end of each semester

Request Submission Guidelines

Online Request Form

The online Course Reserves Request Form is the method for submitting new requests each semester. The form prompts instructors to provide their contact information, course information, and the specific items being requested and how they will be provided. It additionally requires instructors with personal copies on reserve to provide their campus mailing addresses.

To efficiently and accurately process requests, instructors must provide careful citations for each item which include title, author/director/composer, and library call number. If multiple editions exist, instructors are encouraged to include year and edition to ensure the correct item is placed on reserve.  

Incomplete request forms will need additional time to complete processing.  

Submission Deadlines

Kelvin Smith Library staff provide a recommended submission deadline, two weeks before the first day of classes. Staff strive to ensure that all standard course reserves requests submitted prior to the deadline are ready for the first day of classes, with some exceptions. All requests submitted after this deadline will be processed on a rolling first come, first served basis and will require 3-5 business days for processing. 

Exceptions:

  • Purchase requests may require additional time for purchasing and shipping. In some cases, the library may need to wait for the item’s release date.
  • Items currently checked out to a borrower will need to be recalled and will require the current patron to return the item to the library before it can be placed on reserve.
  • In order for personal copies to be included, they must be delivered to the library by the submission deadline.
  • Items that cannot be found resulting in a search and possible purchase request.

Number of Items Permitted

Instructors may place a maximum of 30 items on reserve each semester. This number reflects the total number of items per professor across all associated classes. If necessary, instructors may specify a date to remove certain materials in order to replace them with others.  

Cross-listed Course Reserves

Faculty members may submit requests on a first come, first served basis. If another request has been submitted for the same item, the second requestor will be asked to negotiate any terms for sharing that item with the first requestor. Items may be cross-listed for two courses, or removed from one course and added to another at a specified time during the semester. 

Course Reserves Circulation

By default, items on reserve are coded with a specific loan rule to ensure security and greater access to course materials. Print and audiovisual materials automatically circulate for 3 hours and may not leave the library.  

Overdue fines for course reserves accrue at a rate of $1 per hour. The maximum overdue fine is $30. 

After the semester concludes, all Kelvin Smith Library materials return to the general collection and standard circulation loan rules apply. 

Personal Copies

Instructors have the option of requesting their personal items be placed on course reserve. By submitting personal items for reserve, instructors acknowledge that the library will process them for circulation, which includes adding a removable label to the exterior. The library is not responsible for damage or loss of any personal copies on reserve, but will make reasonable efforts to ensure their safekeeping. 

Personal copies for reserve must be delivered to the Service Center, and instructors must fill out a drop-off form including contact information, course information, and their campus mailing address.  The library does not accept unauthorized copies or scans. 

Purchase Requests 

Instructors may request that the library consider an item for purchase in order to place it on reserve. They can indicate this request on the Course Reserves Request Form. The library does not guarantee that all requested items will be purchased. 

In order for the library to consider a request, the item must:

  • Be unavailable in the current collections of CWRU libraries
  • Be unavailable as an online resource through the library’s digital holdings

Copyright Compliance 

Course reserves staff adhere to Kelvin Smith Library’s copyright policy, and materials placed on reserve must fall under Fair Use in accordance with that policy. 

Instructors are strongly encouraged to read and understand the library’s policy regarding copyright and Fair Use when placing materials on reserve and when adding their own electronic resources to Canvas for student access.  

Course Reserves and Library Accessibility 

Accommodations are available for students who wish to use Kelvin Smith Library’s course reserves. 

Print reserves can be made accessible through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) available through software at the Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship. Documents scanned using OCR technology allows screen-reader compatibility and makes the text searchable. A research guide with specific instructions is available through the Freedman Center.  

Audiovisual reserves such as DVDs have captions available, and students may access them through the DVD or Blu-ray menu.  

For additional information about library accessibility, please visit the library’s accessibility webpage. Further resources can be found at the Office of Disability Resources (for student accessibility) and at the Office of Equity (for faculty and staff accessibility). 

Related Services 

Course resources through Canvas

Kelvin Smith Library staff do not provide services to scan or upload electronic course materials on behalf of instructors. Scanners are available on the first floor of the library, and staff are available upon request for instruction in their use.  

Instructors may upload supplemental materials in digital format directly to their courses in Canvas. For assistance with Canvas, [U]Tech can provide resources for training and support.

  Research Services librarian liaisons Each department has an assigned librarian liaison who is available to assist instructors in a range of services, including but not limited to: