e-Reserves: FAQ for Faculty

What is electronic reserves (e-Reserves)?

Reserve items are made available to students in electronic, rather than paper format. This means that they are accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, either from on or off campus. Since the items are viewed, downloaded, or printed rather than checked out, they are always available and cannot be lost or damaged. View a sample course.

How do I place materials on e-Reserves?

Scan the materials according to specifications and provide them to us as an electronic file, and we'll attach them to your course number usually within a few days. If you would like our staff to scan the materials for you, we will, but the processing delay during the busy part of the semester could stretch to weeks. For more information, see the complete Faculty Guidelines

Is there a limit to the number of items that I may place on e-Reserves?

Each course listing is limited to a total of 50 electronic items. This limit is necessary due to staffing and budgetary constraints. If more than 50 items are required, please contact the CU Bookstore about creating a "coursepack" for your class. For more information, see the complete Faculty Guidelines

May I place items on e-Reserves for longer than one semester?

E-reserve items will only be kept on reserve for one semester unless the instructor makes a specific request to keep materials on for an additional semester. We do NOT place electronic materials on “permanent” reserve.

Who handles copyright for materials placed on e-Reserves?

The University Libraries. Our Copyright Guidelines are available on-line.

What types of items (formats) may I place on e-Reserves?

Most anything that you are willing to scan, though there are a few exceptions, such as materials currently being marketed to students. For more information, see the complete Faculty Guidelines.

May I place on Reserve photocopies (articles, syllabi, etc) instead of, or in addition to, electronic copies?

No, due to staffing and budgetary constraints we will only place electronic files and library books (or professors' copies of books) on Reserve at Norlin Library.

What are the deadlines for placing materials on e-Reserves?

There are no firm deadlines, but in order to ensure that materials (whether electronic or library books) are available to your students in a timely fashion, please try to adhere to the following schedule if at all possible:

Spring Semester: January 1st
Summer Sessions: May 1st
Fall Semester: August 1st

What happens to my electronic files at the end of the semester?

Because our server space is limited, we delete all files at semester's end. Please keep a copy of the files you submit, if you intend to use them in future semesters.

How do students access e-Reserves?

Through Chinook reserve lists, just as they currently pull up listings of paper reserves. Students must enter their identikey and password in order to access the image. Some patrons such as Senior Auditors must enter their name, ID number, and PIN code in order to access the image.

Can students access e-Reserves from outside the library?

Some items on electronic reserves are links to full-text databases within the library catalog. If students are trying to access these items from off-campus, they may need to configure their browser properly for the vpn (virtual private network) or proxy server in order to do so.

Is there a charge for students to access e-Reserves?

No, however the Campus Printing Initiative requires most locations on campus to charge a nominal per-page print fee.

I don't have time to scan materials for e-reserves. Can someone do that for me?

We will scan materials into electronic files for you if you provide us with clean, single-sided photocopies. Since this is our lowest priority, turnaround time is significant: several weeks during the first part of each term. Please note that due to staffing limitations we do not scan directly from books or journals so you will need to provide photocopies of the material. Campus Imaging Services will scan directly from books, but they do charge a fee.