Course Reserve Information & Policies

For Students | For Faculty

For Students

Finding reserve items
You may search for reserve items on Bridge (http://bridge.carleton.edu/) by course or by instructor.

Loan periods for reserve items
Materials may be placed on two-hour, four-hour, or three-day reserve. Two- and four-hour reserve items checked out less than two hours before closing may be kept overnight and must be returned the following day less than one hour after the library opens.

Renewal of reserve items
Three-day reserve items may be renewed once. Two and four-hour hour reserve items may not be renewed.

Late fees
Two-hour reserve materials are often in high demand, and are thus subject to late fees as follows:

  • First two hours overdue: $2.00 per hour
  • Each additional hour: $5.00 per hour, up to a maximum total fee of $29

For Faculty

Placing material on reserve
Materials to be placed on reserve at Rolvaag Library should be brought to the Reserve Desk (adjacent to the Circulation Desk on the 3rd floor), where a reserves form must be filled out for each distinct item. (Only one form is required for multiple copies of an item.) You can also print the reserves form and fill it out, then bring it to the library with the items you wish to place on reserve.

Please plan ahead! Reserve items are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Every attempt is made to place items on reserve in a timely manner; however, it may take up to a week for items to be processed at the beginning of a term, so plan accordingly. Also note that reserves are not processed on weekends.

If you have questions
Inga Velde coordinates reserve activities at Rolvaag Library. Reserve items are processed during her office hours, which are Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you have questions related to placing materials on reserve, she may be reached at x3454 or velde@stolaf.edu.

Questions about placing items on reserve at Glasoe Science Library should be directed to Deanna Olson at x3099 or olsondd@stolaf.edu. Questions concerning reserves at Halvorson Music Library should be directed to Linda Frost at x3209 or frost@stolaf.edu.

Check online reserve records
After reserve materials are processed, please take the time to check your personal class reserve record on Bridge (the Carleton-St. Olaf joint online catalog at http://bridge.carleton.edu/) for accuracy. By checking your course on-line, you can verify that your course materials are available for your students.

What may and may not be placed on reserve
Items that may be placed on reserve include most St. Olaf and Carleton Library materials, personal copies of books and periodicals, and photocopies for electronic reserves (subject to copyright restrictions). Although every attempt is made to secure personal copies, we cannot guarantee the safety of all items.

We do not place the following categories of items on reserve:

  • Interlibrary Loan materials
  • books from libraries other than St. Olaf and Carleton
  • rented videorecordings and Carleton copies of videorecordings
  • special collection materials.

Types of reserves
Rolvaag Library offers four types of reserves:

  • 2-hour reserves for high-demand material
  • 4-hour reserves, typically used for media with run times over 90 minutes
  • 3-day reserves for supplemental/optional materials
  • Electronic reserves (e-reserves) for photocopies.

Electronic reserves
Due to the ease and convenience of electronic reserves, photocopies provided will automatically be scanned and placed on e-reserve unless there are compelling reasons not to do so. 

Photocopies of materials in the public domain (e.g., government documents and materials for which the copyright has expired) may be freely placed on reserve.

Photocopies of copyrighted materials may be placed on reserve under certain conditions, which are discussed in the Faculty Handbook's “Copyright: Basic Information & Guidelines.” Examples of photocopies that may be put on reserve without the copyright holder's permission include:

  • a single chapter from a book or conference proceedings
  • a single article from a periodical or newspaper
  • a short story, short essay, or short poem, whether or not from a collective work

Use that falls outside of the college's “fair use” copyright guidelines requires written permission from the copyright holder. Permission should be sought from the copyright holder well in advance of the time the material is to be placed on reserve. For information on securing permission for such use, contact the Print Center (x3382) or the Book Store (x3048).

When submitting photocopies for scanning, include the title page and the copyright page of the source. Journal articles typically have full citation and copyright information on the first page; if not, the full citation must be provided. Make sure your copies are complete (check pagination), clean, and unstapled.

Accessing electronic reserve materials
Students may access electronic reserve materials only for courses for which they are registered. The materials may be accessed in the course folder created for your class on the L: drive in the following ways:  

  1. From St. Olaf-owned PCs, click on “My Computer” and select the L: drive. From Macs, connect to "Classes."
  2. From student-owned PCs and Macs on campus, access is the same as from a St. Olaf-owned computer (as long as you have installed the necessary software: see http://www.stolaf.edu/services/iit/resnet/).
  3. From off-campus, follow the instructions at http://www.stolaf.edu/services/iit/documentation/remotefiles/ to access the “Classes” from either PCs or Macs.  

Photocopies scanned for e-reserves are available online as PDF files. To open these files you will need Acrobat Reader, which may be downloaded at no cost from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

Videorecordings
Videos and DVDs may be put on reserve for student use by filling out a reserve request form, just as for other materials. Some restrictions apply: videorecordings from Carleton's collection may not be put on reserve, and copyright restrictions prohibit rented copies and personally recorded copies from being be placed on reserve. If you wish to make use of a recording of a broadcast program, contact Jim Stanoch (x3047 or stanoch@stolaf.edu) for assistance well in advance of the airing of the program to be taped.

Faculty may check nonreserve videos and DVDs out of the library for seven days. If videorecordings are needed for in-class screening, they should be “booked” well in advance by filling out a “Video Booking Form” at the circulation desk.

Removing items from reserve
Typically, items are taken off reserve at the end of each term. If you would like the reserve expiration date to be earlier or later than the end of the term, please write that date on the reserve form. Reserve materials owned by the library will be returned to the general collection after the expiration date. At the end of the term, all personal materials not picked up will be delivered to your department office.