Course Reserves

Course Reserves are required and recommended readings for courses available through the library. Reserves can be found online in Avenue to Learn via our eReserves system, and as physical items that can be borrowed from the Mills or Thode Library Service Desk. 

For more information, visit our Reserves FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for Instructors or Students.

eReserves form

eReserves

About eReserves

eReserves is a service for instructors that provides free and easy access for students to all their reading materials in one list, integrated with Avenue to Learn.

Send us your reading list, and library staff will set up access to the readings for your course. We will ensure your content is accessible and compliant with copyright and license agreements.

More questions? Contact the Library at ereserve@mcmaster.ca

eReserves

  1. Send us your syllabus or reading list using the eReserves form.
     
  2. Library staff will set up the readings for your course. We will:
    • Scan and upload book chapters and articles
    • Provide persistent links to library resources, webpages, and open access educational resources
    • Acquire new books and eBooks for the collection
    • Purchase copyright permissions, where required and available
    • Ensure readings meet student accessibility needs
       
  3. Connect to the eReserves module in your Avenue to Learn course.
  1. If you have not yet done so, activate your course through Avenue to Learn.
  2. Go to "Content". If you do not have a module, at the bottom of the left hand side, where it says 'Add a Module', type in a module name and hit enter.
  3. Select a module by clicking on the name on the left hand side.
  4. Select (from the middle of the screen) the dropdown menu for "Add Additional Activities" or "Add Existing Activities".
  5. Select "External Learning Tools".
  6. Select "eReserves".
  7. Important: Once the eReserves link has been created, click on it to finish the configuration, then select the term and create the course.

Adding eReserves to your Avenue to Learn course: Step-by-step instructions (PDF) (mp4 Video)

Don't see your course in Avenue to Learn?

Your course may not be activated. After requesting a new course shell and developing your course, you will need to then activate your course. Please note it takes 24 hours to process.

Items found on eReserve

  • Links to library resources like databases, articles, and eBooks.
  • PDFs such as scanned book chapters, articles, and short excerpts.
  • Audio & video files.
  • Weblinks to publicly available resources.

Items not found on eReserve

  • Multiple chapters from a single print source. Purchasing permissions may be possible, depending on the extent of the work used.  
  • Online versions of commercial textbooks, which are often not available for libraries to purchase. We will explore our options to determine if the textbook is available as a library eBook.
  • Business cases licensed for individual use.
  • Materials that fall outside of copyright compliance or our licensing agreements. 

We understand that sometimes courses are assigned at the last minute. We never place a hard deadline or cutoff date on submissions for eReserve, and we always strive for students to have first-day access to, at least, the first few weeks of readings. 

However, we get busier with the start of term, and it may take longer to process your complete list. Early submissions are welcome and revisions can be made at any time.

If you are a new faculty member with a course reading list but without access to an Avenue to Learn course site or library online resources, we can help! We can begin setting up access to your readings in advance of your course site or MacID being active.

 

  • The library helps reduce your workload in preparing your course by securing access to items in your reading list.
  • eReserves alleviates costs to students and provides equitable access to resources. eReserves are always free to students and instructors.
  • The eReserves reading list integrates with Avenue to Learn, so students have everything they need in one place.
  • eReserves are easily edited, allowing you to submit early and make changes later.
  • No hard deadlines - we'll prioritize having your readings ready in advance of the lecture.
  • Our system saves past course info, letting us reactivate your readings instantly.

Please contact our Library Accessibility Services department at liblas@mcmaster.ca for more information.

We'd be happy to help further! Get in touch at ereserve@mcmaster.ca 

Print Reserves

About Print Reserves

Our Print Reserves service is still available, although we strongly encourage instructors to use eReserves over print reserves, when possible.  

Visit Print Reserves FAQ for more information about this service. 

Print Reserves are library or instructor owned items that are set aside for the short-term use of students.  These items are highly circulated and held on the reserve shelf behind the Services Desk in the library. 

  1. Instructors use the Course Reserve Request Form when you would like new or additional material to be placed on reserve
  2. Library staff will locate these items, and upload them to our Library Catalogue where they can be searched
  3. Commercial textbooks not held in the collection can be loaned to the library to place on reserve
  4. Visit the Course Reserves page to find out which courses or items are on reserve and at which library they are located 

 

Loan Period

The loan times vary depending on the preferences of the course instructor and demand for the item.

Many reserve items have 2-hour loans, but some are 24 hours or 7 days. 

Make sure to return your reserve items on time - late items accrue fines quickly! Read more about Course Reserve fines and rules.

Items found on Print Reserve

  • Books owned by McMaster University Library
  • Books owned by the instructor, lent to the library for the duration of the class
  • Videos
  • Any other material that the instructor wishes to make available to his or her students for which copyright permission has been obtained 

Accessible Format

Please contact our Library Accessibility Services department at liblas@mcmaster.ca for more information.

Fines and Rules

Custom Courseware

Custom Courseware (print & digital)

We have transitioned the majority of courseware over to the eReserves program. Printed courseware is no longer available for the majority of courses. If you have previously discussed an exception with the Campus Store, please contact courseadoptions@mcmaster.ca.

Why eReserves? 
As more course materials are being made online, instructors are increasingly opting for course materials from library electronic resources, open educational resources or other online tools. eReserves is a new service offered by the University Library that can support the delivery of electronic course material to students. 

How do I transition my Custom Courseware to eReserves?
Library staff would be happy to help you make this transition. Visit the eReserves tab to learn more. 
 

Open Educational Resources

Open Educational Resources

  • What is an OER? UNESCO (n.d.) defines Open Educational Resources (OER) as "teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions".
  • OER benefits:
    • Textbook affordability is a serious issue: Many students are unable to purchase required textbooks due to prohibitively high costs, or will avoid taking courses with expensive required texts (Martin, Belikov, Hilton, Wiley, & Fischer, 2017; Skowronek, 2017)
    • OER efficacy literature indicates that assigning open textbooks has been found to result in student performance that is equal to, or better than that of students assigned commercial textbooks (Jhangiani, Dastur, Le Grand, & Penner, 2018)
    • Post secondary students taking courses utilizing OERs are able to achieve comparable learning outcomes while saving a subsantial amount of money (Hilton, 2016)

Learn more about locating and using OER at McMaster:

References

Hilton, J. (2016). Open educational resources and college textbook choices: A review of research on efficacy and perceptions. Educational Technology Research and Development 64, 573–590. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-016-9434-9

Jhangiani, R. S., Dastur, F. N., Le Grand, R., & Penner, K. (2018). As good or better than commercial textbooks: Students' perceptions and outcomes from using open digital and open print textbooks. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), n1. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/207185/

Martin, M., Belikov, O., Hilton, J., Wiley, D., & Fischer, L. (2017). Analysis of student and faculty perceptions of textbook costs in higher education. Open Praxis, 9(1), 79-91. https://www.learntechlib.org/p/180267/

Skowronek, D. (2017). Textbooks on open reserve: A pilot project. College & Research Libraries News, 78(11), 607-611. https://doi.org/10.5860/crln.78.11.607

UNESCO. (n.d.). Open Educational Resources (OER). https://en.unesco.org/themes/building-knowledge-societies/oer

 

Copyright and Licensing

Copyright

The Library is here to provide support for instructors and staff on copyright compliance as well as ensure course readings respect McMaster licensing agreements. 

eReserves can contain: 

  • Links to licensed resourced from the Library's electronic collection that comply with licensing agreements.  
  • Links to online articles and websites after library staff have checked the site's terms of use and copyright notice. 
  • Scanning or copying of materials must comply with Copyright and Fair Dealing guidelines. 
  • Non-licensed materials after permissions have been secured by library staff (normally there is a fee associated with a permission). 

Please keep in mind when using copyrighted materials within your course readings, you can copy or upload the following:

  • Book: 1 chapter or 10% of the book.
  • Audio-visual material (i.e. video, sound recording): 10% of the work.
  • Journal Article: an entire article (Linking to Library online resources or Internet resources, where possible, is preferred).
  • Visual Work (i.e. cartoon, chart, diagram, photograph, or other image): an entire work.

More questions? Contact the Library at ereserve@mcmaster.ca

 

 

Finding Resources

Finding Resources

How Library Stuff Works: A series of short, engaging videos on a range of topics to help you understand, find and use the library and its resources.
Library Guides: General guides to help you with your research skills, and course specific guides to help you with relevant resources and services. 
 

Finding Online Course Materials (Instructors)

The Library provides access to a range of resources, along with help guides containing tips on how to find:

Looking for supplements or alternatives to paywalled Library resources? Consider finding and using Open Educational Resources (OERs) or other open access content. VIsit the eCampus Ontario Open Library to view high quality collections of open textbooks and other course materials or to use Curator, a guide for assessing OERs.

Need more help or have questions? Visit our help page or email us at ereserve@mcmaster.ca.