Policies

Niagara University Faculty may place course materials such as books, DVDs, and other physical items on Reserve at the Library for their students. These items will be maintained at the first floor Information Desk.

Students can access the materials during staffed hours within the Library as they are locked during unstaffed access hours. Reserve items may be checked out for two hours at a time. Reserve materials cannot be checked out for home use by students unless the Library receives direct authorization from the instructor.

*eBooks and other online resources can be embedded in your Canvas course pages. Please contact Katherine Rossi, Director of Faculty Development, at Send Email or (716) 286-8040 if you need assistance.

Reserve Guidelines For Faculty

To place books and other physical items on reserve, contact Melissa Langridge, Coordinator of Public Services and Assistant Library Director. You may also submit your information via this form.

The following information is required for reserve

• Your name, course title, course number with section, your phone number and e-mail address.
• The bibliographic citation for each item (author, title, publisher, ISBN (for books), published date)

Instructors usually provide us with copies of items to be placed on reserve. If you need an item that the Library does not own, please contact Samantha Gust, Head of Collections.

It generally takes 24-48 hours to process reserve material. It may take longer at the beginning of the semester. Please allow enough time to ensure that material will be available when students need it

The concept of "fair use" governs whether the Library can accept photocopied items for reserve. In particular the Library considers the following two factors as described in the U.S. Copyright Law:

• "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 market for or value of the copyrighted work."

A great deal of debate has occurred as to the practical implications of this wording but a number of guidelines have become commonly accepted by libraries:

• No more than 10% of the content of a single journal issue or book may be copied for reserve.
• Reserve readings should meet standards of "brevity, spontaneity, and cumulative effect" and should function as "supplemental readings."
• Articles placed on reserve cannot serve as de facto anthologies or course packs. Nor can reserve be used to substitute for the purchase of article reprints.
• Consumable works such as workbooks or test booklets cannot be placed on reserve.