Guidelines for Print Course Reserve

All reserve materials at the science and engineering library are shelved in closed stacks behind the circulation desk. They are assigned reading materials, usually books or photocopies, placed on Reserve by NU faculty for current courses. This page details basic policies for faculty use of Print Course Reserve.

I. Submitting Lists

1. Complete either the print form (available at the SEL circulation desk) or the online form to submit your reserve requests. Lists may be sent to the SEL reserve email box or brought directly to the circulation desk at the science and engineering library. No requests will be taken over the telephone.

2. Submit your reserve lists for each course at least four weeks before classes begin for the new quarter. Lists will be dated as they are received and will be processed in a strict firs-come, first-serve basis. Collecting books and/or processing photocopies (and obtaining copyright clearance, if applicable) takes a considerable amount of time. The first half of every quarter is an extremely busy period, and any Reserve lists submitted late will be processed only as time becomes available.

3. If new books or additional copies of books need to be ordered, the request should be submitted at least eight weeks before the start of the quarter.

4. A maximum of 10 book titles per course can be placed on reserve earch quarter unless special arrangements have been made with reserve staff. To insure promt and accurate processing of lists each item must have a SEL call number. There is no limit for articles.

5. Journals are not placed on reserve. Photocopying is done by the requestor and one copy will be accepted for reserve.

II. Types of Reserve Materials

1. Northwestern University Library books, including materials from the main library and all NU branch libraries.

2. Photocopies of book chapters or articles from periodicals. (Please see the "Copyright" section below.) Reserve Services will not place a photocopied excerpt from a NUL book on Regular Reserve. Reserve Services will, however, post the excerpt electronically; see the main library Electronic Reserve guidelines for more details.

3. Personal (faculty) copies of books or other materials. If a NUL copy is available, Reserve Services will place that copy on reserve in lieu of the personal copy.

III. Circulation Periods/Withdrawl of Materials

1. Reserve Services offers loan periods of 2 hours, 1 day, or 3 days. Unless specified otherwise, materials will circulate for 2 hours.

2. Following the academic quarter, all books will be taken off reserve and returned to the appropriate library.

3. Photocopies will be archived in the Reserve Room unless faculty request to have them returned.

4. Personal copies are returned to faculty through campus mail following the end of the quarter.

IV. Copyright Restrictions

10% of one book or a single article from a journal/periodical issue can be freely processed. If you need to exceed these parameters, Reserve Services must request copyright permission from the publishers. Please note that publishers are generally more reluctant to grant copyright permission for electronic uses (for items exceeding Fair Use) than for Regular Reserve.

If you have questions, please call the Reserve staff (ext. 1-2908) between 9:00 am and 5 pm, Monday through Friday.