Definition and Purpose of Course Reserves
Course reserves are materials (including books, AV materials, journal articles, electronic resources, instructional equipment and non-book items) chosen by the faculty to support class instruction. The materials are maintained in a separate location within a library, and access to the material is more restricted than is the access to items in general circulation.
The purpose of a reserve collection is to:
- Support the needs of a defined group of patrons within the Grinnell College community (usually a class)
- Provide timely, convenient, and efficient access to high-demand materials; and
- Protect materials that are at a high risk of theft or vandalism.
Several of the general principles that govern the acquisition of materials for the Grinnell College Libraries support the use of the material in the course reserve system. In particular:
- All collections in the Grinnell College Libraries, regardless of format, are acquired by the College for nonprofit educational purposes by students, staff, faculty and authorized users.
- All library materials are acquired with the understanding that there will be multiple uses made of the item.
- With journals, the Grinnell College Libraries frequently must pay a premium institutional subscription price, which may be many times an individual subscription price, for the privilege of supporting multiple academic users.
The Libraries' course reserve systems are a traditional library service that will be provided in a manner that respects the rights of copyright holders and the limitations to those rights as specified in current copyright law.
Refer to the links at the left for information on placing books and articles on physical or electronic reserve. For reserve requests concerning videos, CD's or streaming, please refer to the Burling Media Room webpage.
