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Course Reserve Information for Faculty

Reserve Locations

  • Cabell Library, Media & Reserve Services, third floor ( Processing assistance only )
  • Cabell Library, Circulation Desk, first floor
  • Tompkins-McCaw Library, Service Desk, first floor
  • Electronic reserves: collection of digitized materials and links to resources, available online

Form

Materials Accepted

  • Library-owned materials from the circulating collections
  • Instructor or department owned materials including books, e-books, textbooks, journal articles, exams, lecture notes, AV media, computer software, electronic files, and other materials
  • Reproductions of materials with copyright permission, such as journal articles, chapters from books, and music pieces from sound recordings
  • VCU produced works such as reports and conference recording
  • Web-based resources such as links to faculty web pages, government resources, and public domain resources

VCU Libraries reserves the right to reject for Reserves any material that it deems violates Copyright Law. Faculty members are responsible for acquiring permissions beyond those provided by the Copyright Act.

Collection Management will consider purchasing any materials that are not in the Libraries' collection.

Submittal

  • Course Reserve requests require a form for each semester, see Forms above.
  • Materials delivered must be accompanied by one of the following: 
    • a print out of online reserves form submittal screen or email receipt
    • online form request number
    • PDF reserve request form
  • Determine circulation loan period: 2 hr., 24 hr., 72 hr., or 7 days . There is an additional loan choice for media formats: 4 hr. loan. Note: when more than one instructor chooses the same item, the loan period will be the shortest requested.
  • Provide complete citations for each item.
  • Submit materials in first use priority and indicate the assignment "start" and "end" date. This allows prioritized processing at the beginning of the semester.
  • Electronic Reserves:
    • Physical originals or copies:
      • Provide original books, journals, and documents for scanning or digitizing. Originals are preferred for the best quality reproduction.
      • Photocopies should include a copy of the document's title and copyright page.
      • Disc labels or case must include the title to appear in the reserves catalog, work citations, and a copyright statement.
      • Long documents will be divided into short segments to allow for faster downloads.
    • Digital originals or copies:
      • Examples may include works "born digital" or digital copies made by the faculty, i.e. MPEG-4, mp3, pdf, avi, or wav files
      • Files may be delivered on disks or emailed as attachments. Include brief information concerning course number and abbreviation, online form Request Number, and file names. Media & Reserves Services: libjbcmrs@vcu.edu; Tompkins-McCaw: libtmlcirc@vcu.edu
      • Contact your reserves coordinator if you have questions or want to explore other methods of digital file submittal, such as a file hosting service such as Dropbox or VCU's Blackboard Content System.

Processing Time

  • Materials are processed in the order of receipt.
  • Processing time:
    • 1 week at the beginning of a semester
    • 3 working days during slower periods
    • Longer time periods may be required for recalled materials or new purchases
  • A memo of confirmation will be emailed to the instructor upon completion of processing.
  • Check the Course Reserves Catalog to review your course listings.

Additions and Removals

  • To add an item or take an item off an existing course, use the Course Reserves Request Form
  • To take a Course off reserve, deactive through the Course Reserves Request Form.  You can indicate the return method for your personal items:  campus mail or pick up from the reserves service desk.

Duration

  • If the same material is used for another semester, you must reactivate the course through the Course Reserves Request Form.  Otherwise, your course will not display within the Reserves Catalog for the next semester.
  • Materials not reactivateded will be removed from Reserves.  Personal materials will be sent to the instructor's campus address.
  • At the end of the semester, you will receive a email reminder to update your Course Reserves.