Library

Reserves

Overview

The Access Services Department maintains a collection of reserve materials chosen by faculty to support their courses. Course reserves for all Simmons College programs, except the Simmons School of Management, are processed by and made available through the Access Services Departmart of the Simmons Library. For information about course reserves at the Simmons School of Management, please contact Linda Wolf, SOM Librarian, at 617.521.3851.

Course reserves may be:

  • printed materials, and some non-print media that are held physically at the Circulation desk and must be checked out, or
  • electronic materials that may be accessed on-campus or remotely via the online library catalog

Course reserves are organized by:

  • Course name and number, and individual faculty member. For example, in the case of a single course with multiple sections, each faculty member will have a discrete reserves course in the Library's online catalog

These guidelines are designed to:

  • answer your questions about placing items on reserve
  • address the use and reproduction of copyrighted materials

The Library will:

  • Process all reserve requests as soon as possible after receipt.
  • Communicate with the faculty in a timely manner regarding the status of ordered materials, or other items that are not expected to be available when needed by the students.
  • Inform the faculty of any other problems that affect accessibility of requested reserve materials.
  • Contact faculty regarding material that seems to be in high demand for a course, but is not included on a reserve list.
  • Provide feedback to faculty about reserve usage.
  • Assist faculty in making good faith determinations of fair use.

The Faculty will:

  • Submit reserve requests in a timely manner.
  • Provide single-sided, clean photocopies and complete citations for materials to be placed on reserve.
  • Be responsible for obtaining copyright permissions when needed, paying copyright fees as requested and presenting proof of copyright for materials requiring such permission.

Placing Materials on Reserve

Please submit a completed print or online version of the Reserve Request Form that includes all the items (books, personal copies, photocopies) you are placing on reserve. The Reserve Request Form is also available at the Circulation desk in the Library. Please include your name, the course information, number of students in your class, and select the loan period you prefer for the materials.

Types of reserves:

Library-owned books and music CDs: any book or music CD owned by the Simmons Library may be placed on reserve for a course.

You may either

  • bring the books to the Circulation desk with the Reserve List Form, or
  • fill out the call number, title and author information on the form and library staff will retrieve the books from the stacks.

Purchasing Materials for Reserves: If there is a book that the Simmons Library does not own that you would like to add to your course reserves, you may request that we purchase the item by indicating "Buy copy for Library" on the Reserve List Form. Only purchase requests for course reserves specifically should be sent to the Circulation desk.

Personal copies: books or other materials owned by Simmons faculty

If you plan to use your personal copy of a book or other item for your reserves, we will need to place a barcode somewhere on the item. If you feel uncomfortable with your materials being barcoded, we will try to make other arrangements. The library is not responsible for damage to personal copies. Items that are frequently photocopied usually develop problems with the binding.

Journal articles and book chapters: Electronic Reserves (E-reserves)

Photocopied journal articles and book chapters that have proper citations and meet copyright compliance may be put on reserve. Whenever possible, the library will create durable links to material in licensed electronic databases, or scan this material to make it available to students as electronic reserves (E-reserves).

Please provide the library with single-sided, clean copies of any materials that are to be scanned for E-Reserves. The items will then be scanned and saved as PDF (Portable Document Format) files.

If you know that an article is available in one of Simmons' licensed databases, simply fill in a complete citation on the Reserve Request Form and indicate the name of the database in which you found it.

The same copyright guidelines apply to both electronic reserves (E-reserves) and physical photocopied materials. Please see the accompanying statement on copyright for more information.

Help with logging in to ereserves.

Videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs:

Beginning Fall semester 2007, all video, DVD, and CD-ROM reserves will be located in the Beatley Library at the Circulation Desk. Personal copies of non-print media, or those from the library collection, may be placed on reserve. For CAS and SHS media reserves, contact Paul Engelberg, at x2767. For GSLIS and SSW reserves, contact Jenn Warner. Or, use the reserve request form to place videos, DVDs or CD-ROMs on reserve.

Other items:

Arrangements may be made for placing other types of materials on reserve on a case-by-case basis.

Alternatives to filling out the reserves request form:

You will only need to fill out your name, the course information, number of students in your class, and select the loan period you prefer for the materials on the print or online Reserve Request Form if:

  • The photocopied materials you submit to us include a complete bibliographic citation on the face of the copy
AND EITHER
  • You bring the books or music CDs to the Circulation desk that you want on reserve
OR
  • You submit your own reserve reading list of books or music CDs to us that includes author, title and publication information.

Loan Periods

Use this guide to select the appropriate loan period for each item placed on reserve.

  • 2-hour loan: Materials may be checked out for up to 2 hours and are for in-library use only. We recommend this loan period for general use and large classes.
  • 3-hour loan: Materials may be checked out for up to 3 hours and are for in-library use only. We recommend this loan period for graduate level courses.
  • 24-hour loan: Materials may leave the library and are due exactly 24 hours from the time of check-out. Items may be renewed for another 24 hours, unless another patron has requested them.
  • 48-hour loan: Materials may leave the library and are due exactly 48 hours from the time of check-out. Items may be renewed for another 48 hours, unless another patron has requested them.
  • 7-day loan: Materials may leave the library and are due 7 days from the day of check-out. Items may berenewed for another 7 days, unless another patron has requested them.

Processing Time

To insure that your reserve materials are available to your students on the first day of class, please submit them at least four weeks prior to that date.

If you submit materials to us during the first few weeks of the semester, we will do our best to make them available as soon as possible, but please keep in mind that this is our busiest time of year. Requests are processed in the order we receive them.

Our turnaround time typically does not exceed two business days. Additional processing time may be required in the following circumstances:

  • During the first few weeks of the semester.
  • If library staff must search for, recall and/or order any materials for reserves.
  • In the case of vendor delays.

As soon as your request has been processed, you will be sent a confirmation email message that outlines the status of your reserve items, and that includes a link to your course's reserve list in the library catalog.

Removing items from Reserve

You may request that materials be removed at any time. All materials will be removed from reserves at the end of each semester with few exceptions. Personal copies will be delivered to the appropriate department's staff assistant.

If a course will be offered in the consecutive semester by the same faculty member, arrangements can be made to keep the materials on reserve. We ask that materials for longer-term course reserves be evaluated once each semester.

Items that may not be put on Reserve

  • Materials from the Reference Collection
  • Books from other libraries
  • Coursepacks "homemade" by the instructor
  • Photocopies of "consumable" works, such as workbooks and answer sheets.

Copyright

As a community of scholars, Simmons College subscribes to the belief that intellectual property rights should be respected and honored, and that fair and appropriate use of published materials is an obligation that all members of the Simmons community should observe. When required, it is the responsibility of the faculty member to secure permission for an item to be used on reserve. Copyright permissions are usually handled in the faculty member's home department.

Fair Use:

17 USC Section 107 establishes the principle, commonly called "fair use," that copyrighted works may be reproduced for certain limited, educational purposes without violating copyright law. The law states:

    Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified in that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship or research, is not an infringement of copyright.

    In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:

    • 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; and
    • the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

    The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

The collections of the Simmons Library are purchased for the non-profit, educational use of students and faculty. All library materials are acquired with the understanding that there will be multiple uses of a limited number of copies. The Library also pays a premium institutional subscription price for journals for the privilege of supporting multiple academic users.

The sole purpose of course reserves is to facilitate student access to readings as they prepare class assignments and/or pursue independent study and research. Course reserves is an extension of traditional library services and will be provided in a manner that respects fair use rights, the rights of copyright holders, and current copyright law.

In determining fair use, each and all of the four factors will be considered: purpose, nature, amount and effect. A good faith effort will be made to weigh and balance these, to conclude whether or not fair use can be applied. The library staff reserves the right to not place materials on reserve when they believe doing so would be in violation of copyright law.

Requests for exceptions to this policy can be referred to the Access Services Librarian.

General Procedures:

  • The library will follow the principles of Fair Use when placing materials on course reserves, either in print or electronic format.
  • All materials placed on course reserves will be at the initiative of faculty solely for the non-commercial, educational use of students.
  • Only lawfully acquired materials (by purchase, license, fair use, etc.) may be placed on course reserves.
  • Whenever possible, the library will purchase print materials that it does not already own to scan for for electronic course reserves.
  • Longer works, such as complete books or substantial portions of works, or consumables such as workbooks, will not be scanned for course reserves without copyright permission.
  • Library staff reserves the right to request that faculty obtain copyright permission, before placing materials on course reserve, if the nature, scope, or extent is judged to exceed the reasonable limits of fair use.
  • Online searching and retrieval will be limited to course name, number, or instructor.
  • Access will be limited to current Simmons College faculty, staff and students.
  • A copyright notice will appear on photocopied works or on an intermediary screen for electronic reserve materials.
  • There will be no charge for access to course reserve materials.
  • Reserve materials will only be made available during the semester the course is being offered.

Copyright Compliance Guidelines:

Materials which are not subject to copyright restrictions:

  • Exams, lecture notes or other materials prepared by the faculty member
  • Government publications.
  • Materials in the public domain

Materials that may be placed on reserve when a course is being offered (these materials will be taken off reserve when the course is not being offered):

  • A chapter from a book (or up to 10% of the entire work).
  • An article from a periodical or newspaper.
  • A short story, essay or short poem.
  • A chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture from a book, periodical or newspaper.

Materials for which copyright permission should be sought before being placed on reserve:

  • More than one chapter from the same book (except when multiple chapters represent less than 10% of the entire work).
  • More than one article from a periodical or newspaper (unless the title is owned as part of the Library's collection)
  • Photocopies from works intended to be consumable in the course of study or teaching such as workbooks, exercises, standardized tests, test booklets and answer sheets.
  • Student papers.

In cases where permission from the copyright holder will be required for materials being placed on reserve, faculty may wish to consider the following options:

Using Student Work

Student work from current or past terms is also protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If you are placing copies of student work and/or performances on reserve, you must have written permission from that student. Removing names or other identifiers does not constitute copyright permission; the student's permission must be obtained in writing.

A special note about E-Reserves:

Electronic copying and scanning of copyright protected works for library reserve service and distance education are unsettled areas of the law which may be addressed by the courts and/or legislation. The Simmons Library will monitor legal developments to ensure that library services are in compliance with the letter and spirit of the U.S. copyright law. We must reserve the right to make changes in this policy, if necessary.

NOTE: This copyright information does not constitute legal advice. Specific questions about how copyright law applies to individual instructional or research use of copyrighted material should be referred to:

Meg Ragland
Associate Director for Access Services
Phone: (617) 521-2782
ragland@simmons.edu

 

Course Reserves Contacts

Access Services Department personnel: can help you with reserves or connect you with assistance

  • For SSW & GSLIS Reserves: Jennifer Warner, Library Assistant. 617.521.2779
  • For CAS and SHS Reserves: Paul Engelberg, Library Assistant 617.521.2781
  • Meg Ragland, Associate Director for Access Services: 617.521.2782

GSLIS West Course Reserves are handled by

  • Dixie Foster: GSLIS West Library Assistant 617.521.2828

SOM Course Reserves are handled by

  • Michael Wick: SOM Library Assistant 617.521.3847

Reference personnel: can help you locate articles in Simmons's licensed databases.

  • Rex Krajewski: Reference Librarian 617.521.2756
  • For SHS Faculty: Vivienne Piroli: SHS Librarian 617.521.2822
  • For GSLIS Faculty: Linda Watkins, GSLIS Librarian 617.521.2824
  • For SSW Faculty: Gianna Gifford, SSW Librarian 617.521.3905

Page updated: March 17, 2008

 

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