Course Materials & Course Reserves
Course Reserves Info for Instructors
Course Reserves are physical and digital materials that have been set aside for a course. This may include materials such as physical textbooks, ebooks, and streaming media. Items on course reserve typically have shortened loan periods and, for physical materials, are typically placed near a service desk for easier access. “Closed” course reserves need to be requested from a service desk, while “open” course reserves are usually on a designated shelf for self-service. “Course Reserves”, “textbooks”, and “course materials” can be used interchangeably.
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Requesting Materials for Course Reserves
Information on submitting a request to the queue is below – please note that the process and policies are slightly different for students and for instructors. Reserve lists are processed in the order received, and turnaround time may be up to 2 weeks at the very beginning of a quarter. We recommend getting requests submitted early if materials will be needed for the first day of class!
Textbooks and DVDs
Instructors can request that we place textbooks, books, and DVDs on course reserve in the library so that students can access them for free.
Instructor Course Reserves Request Form
Policies for the Seattle campus libraries (excluding HSL)
- There is a 10 item limit per course. Please email [email protected] to discuss potential options if you have more than 10 required items for a course.
- For items that are not already in the collection and need to be purchased, we will default to ordering the electronic format (if available) unless otherwise requested.
- The Libraries are only able to purchase one copy of a requested item. However, we are able to place additional copies provided by the instructor or department.
- Personal copies may be placed on reserve at the owner’s risk. Personal copies will be returned via campus mail at the end of the quarter.
- Loan periods for items placed on course reserve will be one of the following:
- Textbooks and items for large classes: 2 hours
- Most other print items: 24 hours
- DVDs: 72 Hours
- Items will be placed on reserve for the full duration of the quarter, and cannot be removed earlier (with the exception of personal copies).
- Physical course materials for all 100 and 200 level courses will be located in Odegaard Undergraduate Library. Instructors for 300 level courses and above may request that their course reserve items be held at another library.
Policies for course reserves at other reserve units may differ – please refer to their respective policy pages for more information.
Streaming Media
While the UW Libraries support curricular streaming needs, the high cost of acquiring licenses for streaming videos imposes some limitations on what we are able to provide. Policies around streaming media licenses may change from quarter to quarter based on available funding. Please consider non-streaming options, as well as streaming videos that are already in the UW Libraries’ system, before requesting that the Libraries acquire the rights to stream new titles.
The UW Seattle campus library (excluding HSL) will purchase streaming rights for courses with the following criteria:
- Must be part of a UW degree-granting program.
- Must be required viewing for the entire class.
- Limit of 10 new streaming titles per course.
- Titles are purchased on a “first come, first serve” basis until the quarterly budget is expended.
Note: Licensing streaming content can take weeks/months to finalize, so please plan ahead.
UW Tacoma, UW Bothell, and the Health Sciences Library have their own request procedures and policies surrounding the purchase of streaming media:
UW Tacoma Reserves – Streaming Video
UW Bothell/Cascadia Reserves – E-books and Streaming Media
Health Sciences Library Reserves – Streaming Media Instructor FAQ
Student Requests
If a necessary book or movie assigned in class is not already on course reserve, students on the Seattle Campus (excluding HSL) can submit a request to place course materials directly to the libraries via the form below. Titles not already available at UW can usually be purchased as long as funds are available.
Student Course Reserve Request Form
Limitations:
- The Libraries are only able to purchase one copy of a title to be placed on course reserve and the item must be required for the course.
- There is a limit of 10 titles for each course.
Frequently Asked Questions
Processing time will vary depending on the time of the quarter and the number of requests in the queue. The queue is processed in the order received. At the busiest points of the quarter, there could be up to a two week turnaround time. If new items that are not already part of the collection need to be ordered, this may also extend the turn around time for those items.
Please contact the course reserves unit and we will get back to you as soon as possible with the status of your request.
Yes! Please fill out the Course Reserves Request Form so that we have a copy of the request. Physical materials can be dropped off or sent via campus mail to the library where the material will be on reserve with your name and the course.