Course reserves are library materials selected by faculty to support their classes. Reserves materials can include physical and electronic books, physical DVDs, audio and video clips, journal articles, and other online resources.
Physical items are available at the circulation desk. Electronic materials are delivered via Blackboard or, sometimes, are available as eBooks or streaming videos.
Faculty
Professors can request materials for reserve at any time with our online form. To guarantee your materials are ready at the start of the semester, please submit your requests early! Generally, materials in the stacks can be processed within 2 business days. New purchases, missing items, and items that are currently checked out may take longer for us to process.
Students
Physical items that are listed as “on reserve” in our catalog are available behind the circulation desk. Ask us for a specific title and we will be happy to check that item out to you. Electronic reserves may be found in either our library catalog or through Blackboard.
Have you searched our catalog for an item that your professor has said is “on reserve” and you don’t see it in our collection? Let your professor know that the item is missing and to contact the Reserves Coordinator at Swem! Only faculty can request to put items on reserve.
Additional Information
Please review our policies for complete information, including our copyright policy.
Checking Out Reserves
Because reserve materials are needed by students and instructors throughout the semester, these items have a short checkout period.
- The checkout period is three hours for books and four hours for DVDs
- Electronic reserves through Blackboard may be used at your leisure
- Electronic reserves through the catalog (ebooks and streaming) are available on a limited basis dependent on user access
- Faculty may check out their own course reserve materials for longer
Overdue and Lost Reserves
- A reserve is lost if it is overdue for more than seven days. You'll be responsible for the overdue fees plus a replacement charge.
- Learn more about paying fines and fees.
Copyright Considerations
We can only digitize 10% of a video due to copyright restrictions. If you need to show a full video online, let us know. We may be able to purchase streaming rights. For more information, please review our copyright policy included in the course reserves policy.
Questions?
For more information, email swresv@wm.edu.