Emory Law School Website
ReservesDirect - what it is:
ReservesDirect is a secure, authenticated system, much like accessing OPUS or email. It is an online course reserves management system which allows:
- physical copies of items (videos, DVDs, audio materials, photocopies, books - owned by the library or by faculty) to be placed on reserve at the Law Circulation Desk for students to use
- electronic copies of materials (scanned articles, scanned book chapters, links to websites, links to articles held in Emory electronic journals, scanned copies of past exams and syllabi) to be placed on reserve. Students can access electronic materials at any time, from anywhere.
Benefits to students:
Once a student logs in to ReservesDirect, they will immediately see all classes for which they have registered. If those classes use ReservesDirect, the students will have immediate access to a list of materials they will need for class, even before the class itself has met for the first time. If the class uses linked to or scanned articles, the students will not have to worry about buying course packs (or leaving them at home or in their car) and can read materials any time they wish, either from the screen or they can print articles. All physical materials placed on Reserve will circulate for 2 hours at a time, allowing all students in the class who need to see a given item a chance to do so.
Comparison with using traditional course packs:
In addition to the convenience to students of posting reserve materials online rather than making a paper course pack for them to buy, using EReserves can save money as well:
Mode of delivery | Cost (per page, per student) | Cost to student | Cost to ELS | Repeat Cost | Reuse |
Course pack | $0.5 and up (usually $0.10-$0.25 per page | Cost of materials | Cost of compliance | Need to be re-copied and re-cleared each use | Faculty/IST must keep archive copies |
Linked content (Emory licensed databases) | Zero | Zero | Zero – already paid in license agreement | N/A | Some risk of discontinuation of a resource, need to re-link, though citation will remain intact |
Scanned content that falls within Fair Use | Zero | Zero | Zero, covered by Fair Use Guidelines | N/A | Reactivate via ReservesDirect |
Scanned content that falls outside Fair Use | $.05 and up | Zero | Zero – cost of compliance currently covered by an annual all-library fund | Need to be reactivated and re-cleared each use | Reactivate entire classes via ReservesDirect, ability to edit semester to semester |
It is worth noting that by using course packs, all materials must be paid for. No materials in a course pack are eligible for Fair Use, and all items must be copied for inclusion in the pack. However, ReservesDirect allows for articles available via databases licensed by Emory (as well as ebooks) to be linked to, making it unnecessary to pay for permission for these items.
It should be noted that there are finite funds set aside for paying for these permissions, so in cases where requests for scanned materials exceed Emory’s Fair Use Guidelines, staff will contact faculty to see if the amount of the reading can be trimmed down to stay within Fair Use and keep costs to a minimum, while still providing access to all course materials. This can usually be accomplished by supplementing the most vital electronic portions of readings with paper copies held at the Reserve Desk.
Benefits for faculty:
By submitting their syllabus/i to the Reserve Desk, not only does ReservesDirect improve student access to materials for their classes, but keeping track of course materials (not only for the current semester, but for future semesters as well) is made much easier. Once a course has been created, it can simply be reactivated for future use; individual items can be added or removed as needed. Reserves staff will apply for and track copyright compliance on all materials on for Reserve.
How to submit your course materials for next semester:
How quickly materials can be made available for your class depends on:
- the completeness of the list or syllabus you provide us with
- how readily available the materials are
- the time of the semester you submit them
While additional items can always be added at any time during the semester, but we ask that you provide us with a clean copy of your syllabus to work from (electronic or paper is fine). If you have paper or electronic copies of materials to give us, that will expedite the process. Items available at the Emory libraries will be made available within 3-5 working days (depending on time of the semester and size of the list) while items which must be recalled or obtained via library order or InterLibrary Loan will have more open ended completion dates.
For complete instructions on how to log in to ReservesDirect as well as how to submit materials for classes, please see the Faculty page on this website.
If you would like demonstration of how ReservesDirect works, please contact Felicity Walsh 7-8211 fwalsh@emory.edu.