Course reserves - information for students

What's on reserve
The Social Welfare Library puts material on reserve for a course if requested by the instructor.  The purpose of short-term reserve is to ensure that everyone will have access to the material. This is especially true of high-use items.

Generally, only the required readings are on reserve.  Unless there is high demand for recommended readings, we will not put those on reserve. The reserve collection includes books, journals, photocopies of articles, and other temporary material.  In addition, we try to make copies of course readers available for reserve.  We will not have copies of exams, answer keys, or term papers unless they have been submitted by the instructor specifically for reserve in the current semester.

If you have trouble getting an item because it is in high demand or the class is large, please notify the library's reserves supervisor.  Please be aware that some processing time is required and that new material may not be immediately available after being introduced in class by the instructor.  If you cannot find an item, please do not hesitate to ask at the circulation desk about its status. 

Back to top

Loan periods
We will check out a maximum of 3 reserves items to you at one time.  The default loan period for reserve items is 2-hours, plus overnight checkout. The due time is calculated from the next half hour.  At 1:59, a 2-hour book will be due at 4 pm; at 2:01, it will be due at 4:30 pm.  If checked out within two hours of closing time, a 2-hour item will be due after we open the next business day.  Reserve items checked out overnight on Saturday will be due on Monday morning.  Reserve items may be renewed for an additional two hours, but renewals must be done in person.  Most reserve items may be taken out of the library.  However, some reserve items are library use only; these will be noted in the catalog.

Back to top

Most reserve items are shelved behind the desk.  Some journals are shelved in the open stacks; if so, you will see the note, "Open stacks."  OskiCat will indicate whether an item is checked out and when it is due.  There will also be a note if the item is on restricted circulation status, such as library use only.

If you don't find your course in the search results, it means no material has been put on reserve yet. It is possible material is being recalled from borrowers or the library is waiting for a newly purchased copy to arrive. If you don't find what you need, please be sure to ask at the circulation desk and we will do our best to get it for you.

Back to top

As a general rule, the library does not make a separate reserve photocopy of an article or chapter if it has the original volume in which these appear.  Instead, we  put the complete volume on reserve.  Be sure to read the complete entry in your syllabus to locate a reserve item.

Example:

Brekke, J. (1990) Crisis intervention with victims and perpetrators of spouse abuse. In H. Parad and L. Parad, Crisis intervention, book 2. Wisconsin: Family Service America.

Blumenfield, Susan. (1995) Reflections on effective leadership: strains and successes, strategies and styles. Social work in health care, 29(4), 21-37.

Back to top