Vassar College Libraries

Home / Services / Reserves / Placing Material on Course Reserve

Access Reserve Lists
Request Student Assistant Training
Procedures and Processing
Types of Reserves
Types of Materials That May Be Placed On Reserve

Questions about Reserves? Contact the Reserve Office, ext. 5796, or email reserve@vassar.edu.

Accessing Reserve Lists

Access reserve lists in the online catalog by course or instructor.   Check lists occasionally for accuracy.  Report discrepancies to the Reserve Office.

Request Student Assistant Training

To request training in reserve procedures for your  student assistant, fill out the form included with the student assistant ID or contact Tracy O'Connor, Head of Circulation and Reserves (e-mail troconnor)  

Procedures and Processing

• New faculty members should come to the Reserve Office and discuss course lists before placing material on reserve.
• Fill out online Reserve Form or print form as completely as possible.    Print forms and addition cards are on shelving unit in Reserve Office.
• Give print forms to a Reserve Office staff member.  If using an online form, e-mail Reserve Office when finished.
• Mark each sheet with type of reserve from the choices below.  Use separate forms for different types. A separate form must be used for Files.
• Allow 2 weeks for processing lists at the beginning of the semester. At other times allow 1 or 2 days.  File material and personal copies take longer than Vassar-owned material.
• Lists are processed on a first-come first-served basis in this order:
  1. Lists with materials in hand
  2. Lists with LC call numbers
  3. Lists without proper call numbers
• NOTE:  Material brought to Reserve Office after 12 noon on Friday cannot be put on reserve for the weekend.  No material can be processed on Saturday and Sunday.  When the Reserve Office is closed,  leave materials at the Circulation Desk to be picked up by Reserve staff when the office reopens.
• To add items to an existing list, fill out an "Addition to Reserve List" slip for each title. Leave slips and any material with a Reserve Office staff member, not with student workers. Reserve staff will return date-stamped slip to you after processing material.  If you are adding 1 piece currently owned by the Library, you may e-mail reserve@vassar.edu and we will collect and add the piece to your list.

Types of Reserves:

Print Reserves

• Regular Reserves: Overnight and for 3-hour periods during the day.  When a book is requested for more than one course reserve, it will be placed on regular reserve.
• 3-Day Reserves:  3 days.
  
• Seminar Loan (for upper level seminars needing extended access):  2 weeks.
• Special Permission:  Faculty may grant special permission for students to borrow material for a longer period by contacting the Reserve Office during normal business hours.  Permission must be granted before the material is actually charged out to the student. If the material is on reserve for more than one course, all faculty involved must agree to the special loan period.

E-Reserves

For information about putting items on e-reserves, see E-Reserves.

Types Of Materials That May Be Placed On Reserve

• Books:  Any circulating book.  Reference books remain in Reference Room marked with a flag indicating course reserves. Arrangements may be made through the Reserve Office to have "Grille" and "Alumni Collection" books placed on reserve in Archives and Special Collections.
  
  Order books the Library does not own well in advance. Allow at least 1 month for domestic imprint publications and 2-3 months for foreign publications. Out-of-print works are rarely received in time to be placed on reserve during the semester.

  ---

• Periodicals: Bound periodicals may not be placed on reserve. If you wish to have articles copied, make arrangements through the department secretaries or Copy Center. Photocopies are treated as file material. Many journals are now available electronically and may be placed on e-reserve. If that is possible, we will only put 1 paper copy of the file on reserve. If you are using more than a small portion of a book, the actual book should be placed on reserve rather than individual files. Copyright permission must be secured for articles that exceed the allowable percentage of any book.

  ---

• Files: One copy per 10 students should provide ample resources for most assignments. Because of limited space the Reserve Room will only process 3 copies of any file title.  If student demand proves more copies are needed more will be added. When placing files on your reserve list please give &quota;FILE &quota;as the call number. You must provide a full bibliographic citation for all files.

  ---

• Personal Materials: Books, video tapes, etc. should be brought to the Reserve Office with your list or addition slips. The Library does not accept responsibility for personal material, but we do make your material sensitive to our security system.

  ---

• Microfilms, Microfiche, Video and Audio Tapes:  These are always put on regular, not 3 day, reserve. Procedure varies with type of material. Please contact the Reserve Office before placing any of these types of material on Reserve.

  ---

• NOTE:  No material borrowed through Interlibrary Loan may be placed on reserve for any reason.

We will store any files or personal copies that might be used for another semester. Since we do have limited storage, if you know material will not be used again, please collect it at the end of the semester.