Course Reserves
Browse Course Reserves Listing
The Library’s Course Reserves service provides students access to common course-related materials, such as textbooks, course readers, media (Blue-Ray, DVD, VHS), e-Books, and less common materials, such as bones. Materials in Course Reserves generally have a shorter loan period than regular Library material, allowing more students access to the material during the semester.
Information for Students
- Students must present a valid photo ID (Red ID, Driver License, Passport) in order to borrow course material.
- Students must provide Library staff with the material’s call number at the Circulation Desk.
- Search for call numbers at: https://reserves.calstate.edu/sandiego/
- You may only check out up to three items at a time unless approved by Library Circulation staff.
- If there are multiple copies of the material available you can immediately check out the material again.
- An item with a red strap cannot be checked out overnight.
- Material in Course Reserves typically has a loan period of two or four hours. Sometimes there are items with checkout periods of one day, three days, seven days, or 28 days.
- In order to re-checkout material with a two hour or four hour checkout period, you must wait 20 minutes after returning the material.
- In order to re-checkout an item with more than a one day loan period, you must wait until the next day.
- Two hours before the Services Desk closes, you may check out reserves material for an overnight loan. Items will be due an hour after the library opens the next day. (4 hours before the Services Desk closes, if the item is a 4-hour loan)
- Course Reserves Fines and Penalties: https://library.sdsu.edu/borrowing/fines
- Appealing Library Fines: https://library.sdsu.edu/borrowing/fines/appealing-library-fines
Information for Faculty
The Course Reserves service allows instructors to make course material available for a short loan period. We offer loan periods of two hours, four hours, one day, three days, one week, and 28 days. The material provided must be owned by the SDSU Library, the course instructor or the course department. We cannot accept material that is borrowed from resource sharing (Interlibrary Loan, Circuit, CSU+) or any other library.
The subject liaisons have monetary allocations to buy monographs that support student and faculty research, but it is possible that the liaison could use these funds to buy a Digital Rights Management (DRM) - Free or Unlimited Access eBooks that could be used in a course. Several books, especially commercial textbooks, are not available with these licenses, and the liaison may not have enough funds to purchase these books in addition to the monographs that support student and faculty research. Email the liaison for your discipline by checking the Subject Specialist list to explore the possible options. If the monograph is not available for purchase with an Unlimited Access or DRM-Free license or there are not enough funds available for the purchase, please contact the SDSU Bookstore.
To remove material from Course Reserves, complete a Course Reserves - Item Removal form.
| Type of Material | How to Add to Course Reserves |
|---|---|
| SDSU Library Owned Material |
If the material to be placed on Course Reserves is owned by the SDSU Library we ask that the Instructor/TA pick up the material from the stacks and turn it into the Circulation / Course Reserve desk for processing.
|
| Personal Material | If the library does not own the material and you would like to provide a personal copy to Course Reserves, simply drop off your material to the Circulation/Reserve Desk in the Library along with a completed Course Reserves - Add Personal Items (PDF download) form. |
| Work belonging to a Current or Former Student | In order to place student-authored or -created material on Course Reserves, the SDSU Library requires instructors to include a signed release form from the student (PDF download) with the material to be placed on Course Reserves to comply with the terms of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the 1976 Copyright Act. |
Considerations in Preparing Materials for Course Reserves
Fair use guidelines apply to materials (whether or not they are copyrighted) the first semester they are available via Reserve Services. In order to meet fair use guidelines, the material item must be one of the following:
- 1 poem, short story, or essay from a collected work
- 1 article from any one journal issue or newspaper
- 1 chapter from any one book
- A chart, graph, diagram, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper
- A short excerpt not to exceed 10% of work without chapters or articles
Reprographic machines in the library for public use are the responsibility of the. Notices similar to the following will be displayed on all unsupervised copying machines in the University Library:
NOTICE: The U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S. Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of the copyrighted material. The person using this equipment is liable for any infringement.
The Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproduction of copyrighted materials. 17 USC Section 107 establishes the principle, commonly called "fair use," that the reproduction of copyrighted works for certain limited, educational purposes does not constitute copyright infringement.
Four factors are considered in the determination of fair use:
- The purpose and character of the use including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
- The nature of the copyrighted work
- The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
- The effect of the use upon the potential mark for or value of the copyrighted work
Local guidelines are outlined in the SDSU Copyright and Fair Use Policy under the Copyright Act of 1976.
The Library policy incorporates only those policies and procedures which copyright law clearly intends libraries to perform. The University Library policy is to operate within both the spirit and letter of the law blended with the criteria for fair use.
Faculty members have the responsibility of knowing the law on copyright.