The University System of Georgia supports instruction with electronic reserves and similar electronic services. The primary function of these services is to assure that students and teachers will have timely access to course-related library resources.

The Board of Regents' Policy on the Use of Copyrighted Works in Education Research explains in detail the rights of copyright holders, which are balanced by limitations on those rights under federal copyright law. The University System of Georgia also provides a checklist tool to be used to determine whether an intended educational use of copyrighted material is covered by fair use tenets.

Physical reserve items are housed at the Information Desk and are available during library hours. Circulation periods for print reserves are determined by the course instructor. Information about what items an instructor has placed on reserve is available through GIL, the Library's catalog.

Electronic reserve materials can be accessed by students who are enrolled in a course. Course pages containing copyrighted material are password protected. Instructors will distribute the password information to students enrolled in the course.

Guidelines for Putting Materials on Reserve
(For Faculty)

Faculty are encouraged to place reserve requests a week before the next semester to ensure availability at the beginning of the semester. During the semester, faculty should allow for three working days for reserve items.

What can be placed on print reserve?

• Physical copies of books, audio CDs, or videos.
• Items must either be owned by the library or be your personal copy.  Personal copies must be legal obtained. (Example: no recordings from television)
• Student produced works.  (Instructor must have signed permission from the student on file.) 
• The library may limit the number and extent of materials that can be placed on reserve.  If multiple copies of an item exist in the library, at least one must remain in circulation.

What can be placed on electronic reserve?

• Electronic versions of journal articles
• Parts of books
• Course notes, exams, problem sets, etc., to which you own the copyright. Please submit in PDF or Word format.
• Course packs cannot be put on reserve – they must be purchased by students enrolled in the course.

At the end of the semester all items will be removed from reserve and re-shelved or returned to the instructor.

How to Submit a Request

1. Use the Electronic Journal Locator or, for a book, check GIL.
2. Determine if the item is in the public domain. Books published prior to 1923 and government documents fall into this category. Some items released under a Creative Commons copyright may permit course use – you must read the license to determine if electronic reserve is a permitted use.
3. Use the Board of Regents' Fair Use Checklist to determine if your use of the item for the course is considered fair use. You must print and save a copy of the completed checklist for your records.
4. If none of the above options apply, you must obtain permission to use the item from the copyright holder (generally the publisher). Evidence of permission must be submitted to the library with your reserve request.

Step 2

Submit a signed printed copy of the Reserves Request Form along with all materials to be placed on reserve.  We highly recommend you retain a copy of this form for your records as well.

Please provide all information requested on the Reserve Materials List form, including complete call numbers and complete bibliographic information. Please make sure that the way titles are noted on your syllabus is consistent with the way they are noted on your reserve request.

Personal items will be given a security strip, a label, and a barcode.

Electronic reserve materials will be assigned a password given to the instructor to give to students enrolled in the course. You may distribute this password ONLY to the students enrolled in the class.