Instructors can use the Library Courser Reserves system to help their students access course materials. The library is transitioning to a new course reserve system for the Winter 2027 semester. See the Library Course Reserve Guide for Instructors for guidance on using the new system.
- Why use Library Course Reserves?
- How to use Library Course Reserves
- How to request streaming media for your course
- Get assistance
Why use Library Course Reserves?
For your students:
- The Library Course Reserves system enables student access to a wide range of course material such as e-books, book chapters, journal articles, streaming media, websites, course notes, and your own copies of textbooks and other materials.
- Gives students an easy-to-use, customizable interface for viewing course reserve readings from within their course on CourseLink.
- Ensures that course materials are compliant with current accessibility standards, so that all students have equitable access.
For instructors:
- It's easy to locate and copy course reserves lists used in previous semesters, or create completely new ones.
- Integration with Omni, the library’s catalogue, allows you to search for and click on library resources to instantly add them to your reading lists.
- Reading lists can easily be organized by week, topic, unit, or whatever categories you prefer.
- Explanatory notes and instructions for students can be added to individual readings.
- PDFs can be annotated by students using the integrated PDF annotation tool, if you choose to enable this feature.
- All course content submitted to Ares will be copyright cleared and any necessary copyright permissions will be obtained and paid for.
- Digital versions of course reserve books are made available whenever possible (some titles are not available electronically due to publisher restrictions).
- Print books may also be placed on reserve, and may be borrowed by students for 4 hours, 1 day, or 3 days, depending on the type of material and instructor preference.
How to use Library Course Reserves
You can either log into the new Library Course Reserves system through CourseLink or from the library website.
How to request streaming media for your course
Faculty and instructors need to submit streaming media requests in Library Course Reserves system as early as possible when planning a course that will include digital media. Please allow up to 3 months for digital rights to be investigated and for materials to be digitized and made available.
Existing streaming services will be checked to see if the film/media is already available, and if so, it will be linked to your Library Course Reserves list. Otherwise, we will attempt to license an online version of the title. A DVD may need to be purchased to enable the content to be digitized.
Requests for educational streaming access to titles being hosted by single-subscriber services (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney + etc.) cannot be fulfilled.
See Using Copyrighted Works for Teaching Purposes for more information.
Get assistance
We can answer your questions about:
- Using the Library Course Reserves system to create course reserve lists for courses.
- Accessing Library Course Reserves from CourseLink.
- Placing required textbooks on course reserve.
- Obtaining and paying for copyright permission when required, so book chapters, articles and other materials can be provided to students.
- Ensuring that course materials meet the current accessibility standards, as required by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
- Providing stable links to full text articles in e-journals or e-books.
- Enabling access to course reserve lists for teaching assistants.
- Copyright and licensing issues in support of teaching and research.
- Purchasing or licensing a digital alternative to print materials you have placed on course reserve.