Skip Navigation

Library

A. C. Clark Library

Bemidji State University
1500 Birchmont Dr. NE #28
Bemidji, MN 56601-2699

Phone: (218) 755-3342
Toll-Free: (800) 860-0234

FAX: (218) 755-2051

The A. C. Clark Library is a member of the Federal Depository Library Program.

Send a comment

Placing Items on Course Reserve

Table of Contents

What Are Course Reserves?

The library encourages faculty to use the library's course reserve services to make available to students materials used in support of specific courses. Faculty may place personally owned items on course reserve (often referred to simply as "on reserve"). Instructors may also request that specific library holdings be placed on course reserve. Typical items placed on course reserve are books, videocassettes and DVDs, course notes and articles. At the instructor's request, the library will recall an item from any borrower should it be needed for placement on course reserve. The library does expect that all items placed on reserve are in compliance with copyright laws. For information about placing items on course reserve, please call the Circulation Desk at 755-3345.

Return to Top


Placing an Item on Course Reserve - Items Owned By The Instructor

  1. Identify the item or items you wish to place on course reserve.
  2. Obtain a "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve" form for each title you wish to place on reserve. Forms are available online in MSWord format or Adobe PDF format or you can request a hardcopy version at the Circulation Desk of the library.
  3. Complete a "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve" form for each title you wish to place on reserve. You only need one form for each title, even if you have more than one copy of the item to be placed on reserve.
  4. If you have photocopied items you wish to place on course reserve, please clip, staple, or put them together in unlabeled file folders in a manner which reflects how you plan to have your students use them.
    • You do NOT need to send them to the library in file folders. If you had placed an item on course reserve during a previous term and you still have the item in the same barcoded folder used before, you may continue to place an item on course reserve in the same folder as before.
    • The library will supply any necessary folders and will label them based upon the informaton you supply on the "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve" form.
    • For examples of different scenarios for organizing photocopied material, see the section on Some Different Course Reserve Scenarios.
  5. Have the item(s), complete with the "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve" form(s) delivered to the Circulation Desk on the 3rd (main) floor of the library. Please allow two working days for material to be processed. Also, if you send an item via campus mail (address: Library Circulation Department, Campus Box 28), please remember that it may take an additional day or so before the item is available for use.

Should you wish to check if an item you requested for course reserve has been made available for course reserve use, or if you wish to check an item's reserve number so that you can announce it to your students, go to the BSU Library Catalog and from the "Libraries and Collections" pull-down menu, select Course Reserves. You can then search using any combination of your last name and keywords from the course title and/or title of the item.

Please note that any personally owned item placed on course reserve will have a reserve ID number and a barcode affixed to it. In the case of files, library staff may also need to attach additional labels or notes.

Please do not place on course reserve any personally owned item which you would deem irreplacable or which has some other special value to you. When you place a personally owned item on course reserve, you are exposing it to potential damage or loss. While such occurrences have been infrequent, they do nonetheless happen. Should a borrower lose or damage a personally owned item, the library will bill the borrower accordingly based upon the estimated value you listed on the "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve" form, and you will be reimbursed upon payment by the borrower.

Return to Top

Placing an Item on Course Reserve - Items Owned by the BSU Library

  1. Using the BSU Library Catalog, identify the BSU-owned item or items you wish to place on course reserve. Make particular note of each item's call number and title.
  2. Obtain a "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve" form for each title you wish to place on reserve. Forms are available online in MSWord format or Adobe PDF format or you can request a hardcopy version at the Circulation Desk of the library.
  3. Complete a "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve" form for each title you wish to place on course reserve.
    • You may submit this request electronically. To do so you will need to edit a copy of the MSWord version to provide the necessary information for each item. Once you have done this, send an e-mail, with the file(s) attached, to dnarum@bemidjistate.edu. Upon a staff member reading your e-mail, you will get a confirmation of the receipt of your request. Please allow two working days for material to be processed.
    • To submit a request in hardcopy format, have the completed request form(s) delivered to the Circulation Desk on the main floor of the library, or if you can spare the extra time, they can be sent to Circulation Department of the library via campus mail. The Library's box number is 28. Please allow two working days for material to be processed.
    • May we suggest that if you are visiting the library to select items to place on reserve, stop at the Circulation Desk, pick up some blank forms, and complete them as you find the items you wish to place on reserve. Then bring the form(s) and the item(s) to the Circulation Desk. This will help get the items on course reserve faster.

Should you wish to check if an item you requested for course reserve has been made available for course reserve use, or if you wish to check an item's reserve number so that you can announce it to your students, go to the BSU Library Catalog and from the "Libraries and Collections" pull-down menu, select Course Reserves. You can then search using any combination of your last name and keywords from the course title and/or title of the item.

Please note that no item will be placed on course reserve with a loan period greater than it normally has. For instance, a periodical issue may not be placed on reserve for more than 1-day loan. For an overview of loan periods of typical classes of library materials, se the library's Circulation Policies for Commonly Borrowed Materials.

Return to Top

Some Different Course Reserve Scenarios

Compilation of Course Notes (or quizzes, answer sets, etc.)

The instructor places an expandable file (or 3-ring binder) on course reserve. Each week he or she then adds copies of notes, or handouts from the previous week. The library will assign a single reserve ID number by which students may request the item throughout the entire term. When sending materials to be added to the folder, please be sure to indicate the instructor's name and the reserve ID number for the folder to be updated. Near the end of the term such files can get quite large, so it may be necessary to add an additional file or folder, which would be given a new course reserve ID number.

Variant use: The instructor sets up and empty file on course reserve. After each test, he or she sends a copy of an explanation of the answers to the Circulation Supervisor, with a request that it be placed in the folder and that the older item be discarded or returned to the instructor.

Photocopied Readings

The instructor has 8 readings which he or she has assigned students to read during the course of the term. There are two readings for each of four topics. Here are several ways the instructor can choose to have the items on reserve.

  • Group each pair of readings by topic and give each group a topic name. When filling out the "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve," use each topic's name as the title of each grouping. The library will place each group of readings in a separate folder, using the topic name as the title of the item doing a Course Reserves search in the BSU Library Catalog.
    • Advantages: Keeps readings together by topic so students get the correct pair of readings for a topic.
    • Disadvantages: Students trying to search for item by using title of an individual reading may not recognize or find while doing a Course Reserves search in the BSU Library Catalog.
    • Recommendation: If using this option, make certain the syllabus indicates the topic name for each pair of readings; also, it's good to include (or announce) the course reserve ID number. This option usually works best for courses conducted as small seminars.
  • Place each reading on course reserve separately. The library will place each reading in a separate folder, using the reading's title as the title of the item doing a Course Reserves search in the BSU Library Catalog.
    • Advantages: Likely easier for students to search for item on in the BSU Library Catalog.
    • Disadvantages: Students need to give more attention to discerning which titles form a pair of readings.
    • Recommendation: This option works best with larger numbers of students, especially if there are multiple copies of each reading.
  • Place all of the readings on course reserve as a single package. The library would put all items into a single folder, using whatever title the instructor supplied on the "Request to Place Items on Course Reserve" form. This approach is not recommended. Students have a difficulties determining the correct readings, the contents of the folder are difficult to manage and individual titles can easily become lost, and one borrower can tie up all of the readings so they aren't available for others.

Return to Top

Frequently Asked Questions About Completing the Request to Place Items on Course Reserve Form

Can I place an item on course reserve for only a part of a semester?
Yes. Simply use the "until ___/___/___" part of the form to indicate the date at which you would like the item removed from course reserve.
If I have a single copy of an item on course reserve for two courses, can it have one loan period for one course and a different loan period for the other course?
No. You could, however, put a second copy on course reserve with a different loan period.
I co-teach a course with another instructor. Whose name should be listed as the instructor for the reserve request?
You may list both names. The library will enter both names into the course reserves database so the item can be found using either instructor's name. As the course reserve ID number is keyed to the course instructor's name, it would be best if one instructor is identified as the principal instructor for course reserve purposes.
What does the loan period "3 Hour - may leave library" mean?
The borrower may check out the item for three hours and take it out of the library. If the item is checked out within three hours of the library's closing time, its due date/time will be one hour after the next opening of the library. For instance, such and item checked out during the typical semester at 3:20 p.m. on a Saturday will have a due date/time of 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, if that is the next day the library is open.
How many copies of a title should I place on course reserve?
Because of a number of variables, there's no easy answer to this question. You need to consider if the use of the item is required or simply recommended, and if so, by how many possible people. Also you should consider the amount of reading to be done from a given folder or volume and how much time is available between the time an item is assigned and when the test, quiz, discussion, etc. referring to it is to take place. Finally, if the item is a required textbook, is it on course reserve because no copies are available for purchase, or is it on course reserve to accommodate the student who has lost his or her copy or cannot afford the text? Generally speaking, the bigger the pool of potential users and the greater their need for the item (required vs. recommended), the more likely there is a need for additional copies of the item.
Can I place a book I requested through interlibrary loan on course reserve?
No, this is contrary to the rules and protocols governing interlibrary loan service.
Can I place a DVD I rented from a video store or service on course reserve?
No. As such an items is neither your property nor owned by the library, we have found this to be impractical and fraught with potential liability issues.

Once I've placed an item on course reserve, may I as the instructor check it out for class purposes for a period longer than the loan period I selected when placing the item on reserve?
Yes. When checking out the item, leave a written message for the Circulation Supervisor requesting an extended due date. She or he can adjust the due date accordingly.

Return to Top

Suggestions from the Library Staff

If you plan to direct numerous students to a specific volume or issue of a periodical, please request that the item be placed on course reserve, preferably with a loan period of 3-hours, in-library-use only.

Please be sure to include the course number and the desired loan period when submitting your request to place an item on course reserve. When this information is missing it usually results in a delay of at least half a day while we try to contact you to supply the information.

Please do not announce the use of a reserve item before checking to make sure it has become available as a course reserve item. If students know a library-owned item will be a course reserve reading before the library has had a chance to put it on course reserve, it is likely to get checked out before we can get to it, which simply makes it more difficult to get it on course reserve promptly.

The library encourages you to announce your course reserve items' reserve ID numbers to your class or put them in your syllabus. These numbers look something like this: B-123-456 (for an item located on the course reserve bookshelves) or F-123-456 (for an item kept in the course reserve files).

Return to Top