Faculty FAQ

General Information

• How do students access course reserve materials?
  Some materials can be accessed directly from the ERes Course page, while others must be obtained at the Circulation Desk or through library databases. For detailed instructions, please see "Getting Started with ERes." To access ERes, students must obtain passwords from instructors.
• Can ERes be accessed off-campus?
  Yes, provided a student has a Library Barcode. Additionally, students will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on their computers to view and print scanned articles. Download Acrobat for free.
• Can students print items found in the ERes system?
  Yes. Scanned documents that have been posted to ERes or documents from other web sites that are available via a link in ERes, can be printed directly from the system. If the required reading is from a book, students must borrow the book from the Circulation Desk.
• Whom do I contact if I have questions about course reserve?
  Please contact the HS/HSL Course Reserve Unit at 410-706-7928 or, email Eres@hshsl.umaryland.edu.

Submitting Material

• How do I place material on course reserve?
  Faculty can submit requests through the online E-Reserve Submission form. Each semester, faculty members simply fill in the required information, attach a reading list or syllabus, and click "submit".
  
  Alternatively, faculty may submit a paper syllabus/course reading list to HS/HSL Course Reserves or send it via email to eres@hshsl.umaryland.edu. In order to expedite processing, please include your name, phone number, class size (required to obtain copyright clearance), course number, section and title, and the date items should be put on and taken off reserve. Full citations are necessary in order to accurately process the items. Items without a citation will not be put on reserve.
  
  (Faculty Guidelines, Online Submission Form, Paper Request Form)
  
  Once a reading list is processed, the faculty member will receive a password for the course. NOTE: Faculty members are responsible for distributing the password to students.
• When should I submit materials for course reserve?
  July 3 and November 23 are the usual deadline dates for submitting required readings for the fall and spring semesters, respectively. Syllabi/course reading lists received after these dates may not be processed in time to meet the needs of the students. (Current Faculty Letter)
• How long will it take for my materials to be added to course reserve?
  All or most of the required readings on syllabi/course reading lists received by the submission deadlines will be ready and accessible through ERes or at the Circulation Desk on the first day of classes. Lists received after the deadlines are processed in the order received with no exceptions. For students' information, faculty members' names, course numbers and the date the syllabus/course reading list was received by the library for processing is posted at the Circulation Desk.
• Is there a limit to the number of items I may place on course reserve?
  A limit of 50 required readings per course may be placed on reserve. Only one copy (photocopy or scanned) of a journal article is placed on reserve. One copy of a book per 40 students may be placed on reserve, to a maximum of three copies. Faculty members who feel they must exceed the limit of 50 items should contact the HS/HSL Course Reserve Unit no later than 10 weeks prior to the beginning of the semester and should have a required reading list to submit at that time. If a list exceeds 50 required readings, only the first 50 will be placed on reserve, unless the instructor indicates which 50 are required readings.
• What happens if the library does not own the material I wish to place on course reserve?
  If the HS/HSL does not own the material you request, we will attempt to obtain it. It may take six to eight weeks for a book order, and up to three weeks for an Interlibrary Loan order to be filled. Please note that the Library will purchase a maximum of two copies of a book for reserve use.
• What if the book I want to place on course reserve is checked out?
  HS/HSL Course Reserves staff will place a recall on the item. Patrons have 14 days from the day the recall is placed to return the item. If the item is not returned in a timely fashion, the patron is charged for replacement and a new copy is ordered for reserve.
• May I place books from other libraries on course reserve?
  No. The HS/HSL will place only materials owned by the Library or the instructor on reserve.
• Can I place personal material on course reserve?
  Yes. However, be aware that it is likely personal material will suffer wear and tear. Moreover, the Library must mark the item for reserve. It is unlikely that the material will be returned in the same condition as when it was given into the Library's care.
• Can journals be placed on course reserve?
  Bound volumes and unbound journal issues may not be placed on reserve. Individual articles can be copied and, "fair use" or copyright clearances permitting, placed on electronic or paper reserve.
• Can book chapters be placed on ERes?
  Copying of books is limited to no more than 10% of a book if it has fewer than 10 chapters; if a book has 10 or more chapters only 1 chapter will be copied. If using pages from different chapters, we will average the number of pages per chapter and limit our excerpts to no more pages than that average.

Copyright Issues

• Is copyright an issue in course reserve?
  Yes, copyright is an issue, particularly with journal articles that are copied or scanned for reserve purposes.
• Who is responsible for obtaining copyright clearance?
  The HS/HSL pursues copyright permission as a courtesy to our faculty, whereas some universities/colleges defer this responsibility to their faculty. However, there is no guarantee that copyright clearance will be obtained. The copyright holder's fees or stipulations may be outside the range set by the Library.
• If there are copyright fees, who is responsible for paying them?
  Currently, HS/HSL pays up to $50.00 per article for royalty fees invoiced by the copyright holder. The Library will only put articles that exceed $50.00 in royalty fees on reserve if the faculty member is willing to pay the remaining amount.
• What if copyright clearance is not obtained?
  If copyright clearance is not obtained, the faculty member will be notified of the options available, which may be to supplement the fees already paid by the Library, to place a hard copy of the article on reserve in the library, or to place an alternate reading on reserve.
• What about Fair Use? How do we determine if an item is fair use or not?
  We interpret Fair Use to mean that the first time an article is put on reserve, no request for copyright clearance is needed. The second time the same article is used for the same class by the same instructor during a subsequent semester, copyright clearance must be obtained.
• Does the HS/HSL use the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC)?
  Copyright permission will be sought when more than 3 articles from one journal issue are needed for a course. The HS/HSL will request permissions from either the CCC or the individual copyright holder and will pay fees up to $50.00 to obtain permission for a single article.

End of Semester Issues

• What happens to my course reserve material at the end of the semester?
  Scanned articles are archived at the end of each semester and books are returned to the stacks.
• Will my course reserve list be saved for the next semester?
  HS/HSL Course Reserves does not automatically keep items on reserve for the following semester. Faculty must contact Course Reserves if they are teaching the same course and want the same readings (scanned articles, books, etc.) on reserve.