Penn State University Libraries - Course Reserves

Course reserves consist of electronic and print resources made available by faculty for their students' use. Access to electronic reserve materials is via the CAT (Online Catalog) and can be downloaded or printed by enrolled students. If any problems occur, review Troubleshooting Electronic Reserves Problems.

To find materials on electronic reserve for courses:

Go to the CAT.

When the CAT homepage loads, click on the Course Reserves link near the top of the page.

Enter your user id and password.

At the Course Reserves search screen, search for your reserve materials by instructor name, course name, or course number. 

If an item is in electronic format, click on the provided link and a new window will open with the electronic item. Traditional reserve items, such as books or other printed materials, are available at the Circulation Desk.

Placing Items on Reserve

To place an item (books, cds, etc) on reserve in the Beaver Campus Library, please complete our campus Course Reserves Request form and bring any corresponding materials to the Circulation Desk. Requests for electronic reserves can be submitted through the Electronic Reserve Request Form. All requests will be processed in the order in which they are received. To ensure items are processed in a timely matter, it is recommended that requests be received at least two weeks before the item is needed. All reserves questions should be directed to Robin Schodt, rls49@psu.edu.

Guidelines for electronic reserves, such as articles available through databases, scanned articles and websites:

• Journal Article: We can scan/post no more than 2 articles from any single issue of a journal or magazine.
• Book Selections: We can scan/post no more than 15% of any single book or monograph.
• Full-Text Articles Available Through the E-Resource List: Reserves staff can create durable links to full-text articles available through many, but not all, databases.
• External Websites: We may create reserve links to any website or document that is freely available (i.e., does not require registration) online. To request a link, please include the url in the online Electronic Reserve Request Form. Photocopies are not required for links to external websites. (Please Note: We cannot be responsible for external websites/documents that are removed or relocated.)

Guidelines for placing books on reserve:

• Books "on-shelf" at the Beaver Campus Library may be brought to the Circulation Desk for fastest processing.
• Books that are checked out to users will be recalled by Reserves staff. Please note that materials recalled for course reserves require an additional ten days processing time to allow for return.
• Books available at other Penn State Library locations will be requested by Reserves staff and placed on reserve in the Beaver Campus Library. Allow one additional week for mailing.
• Personal copies of materials may also be brought to the Circulation Desk to be placed on reserve. Please note that the library cannot be held responsible for personal copies of materials that become lost, damaged or stolen while on loan for patrons.
• Please indicate what loan periods (e.g., 2 hours, overnight, 5 days) each item should be put on reserve.

Directions are available for linking a reserves list to your ANGEL course.

At the end of each semester, all items will be removed from the reserve shelf. If an instructor wishes to keep materials on reserve for the following semester, please indicate this on the request form. Some materials, due to copyright restrictions, may not be allowed to remain on reserve. If you have any questions, please call Robin Schodt, ext. 3794 or see the university's statements on general policy, copyright guidelines, and fair use.