Course Reserves

Course Reserves for Faculty

Faculty can place materials on their Course Reserve page for students enrolled in their course. Materials may be the personal property of faculty or the property of Gleeson Library. A list of Course Reserve materials can be viewed through the faculty’s Course Reserve page that is created in the library’s online catalog.

Gleeson Library is limiting fall 2020 and spring 2021 Course Reserves to online materials only. To comply with COVID-19 safety protocols and best practices, the library now requires more time to process Course Reserve requests. Estimated processing timelines are described on this page. Course Reserve requests are processed on a first come, first served basis.

Placing Materials on Course Reserve

• Follow best practices in academic fair use — The library will review all Course Reserves requests and only process those that follow best practices in academic fair use.
• Submit a Request Form — Faculty must complete and submit a Course Reserves Request Form.
  • Electronic Reserves materials — Faculty can submit electronic articles, scanned chapters, streaming media catalog links, and scanned documents when submitting a request. More information.
  • Physical Reserves materials — Books and other print materials can be submitted for scanning (restrictions apply, see best practices in academic fair use), but cannot be made available at the Circulation/Reserves Desk at this time. More information.
• Requests for purchase — If the library does not carry a title in an electronic format, faculty may request the library purchase it. Submit purchase requests 6 to 8 weeks before the semester begins. Requests are reviewed by the Associate Dean for Technical Services. A Course Reserves Request Form is required for any purchased request that is to be placed on Course Reserve.
  • Textbooks — In general, the library does not purchase textbooks. Due to COVID-19 and USF's move to remote learning for fall  2020 and spring 2021, the library has attempted to make textbooks available when possible, but there are many challenges with obtaining electronic textbooks. Colleagues at GVSU shared a statement that clearly describes these difficulties. For free and open alternatives to commercial textbooks, visit our Open Educational Resources (OER) guide and read our blog post about affordable textbook options for faculty.
• Submit a Request Form every semester — At the end of each semester, course materials are removed and the Course Reserve page is deleted.

Once your requests have been processed, you can link to your Course Reserves page in Canvas.

While the library strives to place all requested materials on Course Reserve, situations may arise where not all requests can be accommodated. The library will work with faculty whenever such instances occur. Contact gleesonreserves@usfca.edu with any questions.

Electronic Reserves

Articles, Chapters and Ebooks

• Articles and chapters in PDF format may be uploaded on the Course Reserves Request Form.
• If there is a book available in our ebook collections, the library can add a link to it on a faculty member's Course Reserve page.
• Estimated processing time: 5 – 10 business days.

Online Media

• If there is an online video available in our video collections the library can add a link to it on a faculty member’s Course Reserve page. Contact our Media Librarian to facilitate use of videos on Kanopy or other collections.
• Estimated processing time: 5 – 10 business days.

Physical Reserves

Library copy

• If a book or other print material is available in the library catalog, a scanning request (including specific page numbers or chapters) can be indicated on the Course Reserves Request Form.
  • Estimated processing time: 5 – 10 business days, depending on number of pages.
• Contact our Media Librarian to inquire about the availability of online access to physical media (DVDs, VHS, CDs).
  • Estimated processing or ordering time: 3 - 4 weeks.

Personal copy

• Faculty may provide a personal copy of a book or other print material to be scanned by the library after submitting a Course Reserves Request Form.
• A personal copy of a book or other print material should be delivered to the book drop or shipped to the library (see delivery/shipping information below) early enough to allow time for quarantining the material, and processing and scanning the material.
• Estimated processing time: 10 – 15 business days, depending on number of pages.

Delivery/Shipping

Deliver to Gleeson Library

• Faculty may deliver materials to the book drop outside of the main library entrance to be processed and scanned for Course Reserve. Please put materials in a sealed envelope or package and include a note.
• Faculty may also ship materials through campus mail or USPS / UPS to the following address:

Gleeson Library | Geschke Center
ATTN: Course Reserves
University of San Francisco
2130 Fulton Street
San Francisco, CA 94117-1080

• The library will quarantine all delivered/shipped materials for 5 days before processing the associated scanning request.

Returning Personal Material

• At the end of the semester, personal material placed on Course Reserve is returned through campus mail, USPS or UPS to the address provided on the Reserves Request Form.
• At the end of each semester, course materials are removed and the course Reserve page is deleted. Personal material is mailed to the address provided on the Reserves Request Form. All other material is returned to the library stacks. Submitting a Course Reserves Request Form is required every semester.