Academic libraries have long offered instructors and students the service of Course Reserves. Traditionally, an instructor would place course readings at the university library which students could access during the library's operating hours. Such course reserves were kept behind a desk at the library and had a short check-out period (on average 2 hours) and were often library books, bound journals, or items from a professor's personal collection.
In the digital age, the University Libraries still offers traditional Course Reserves. An instructor can place physical materials on Reserve for their courses and choose a check-out period:
2 hours | 4 hours | 1 day | 3 days | 7 days
More importantly, the Libraries also offers Course eReserves for digital materials, which allow students to access materials 24/7 without leaving home. Course eReserves can play an essential role in providing access to affordable course materials, especially for copyrighted materials used under the fair use exception. This is because accessing the materials requires user authentication, which improves the argument for the materials being fair use. Learn more about UNC's Course Reserves today!
