Reserve Guidelines for Faculty

The Course Reserves service allows faculty to place materials on reserve. 

To place a reserves request, please log into Canvas. For further information, see How to Submit Course Reserve Requests.

The Library can make individual book chapters, journal and newspaper articles, audio and video clips, etc., available for electronic reserve. E-books may also be requested if an entire work is needed. If an e-book is unavailable but the item is owned by Princeton, it may be possible to make it available through controlled digital lending. Items owned by other institutions or obtained via Interlibrary Loan or Borrow Direct cannot be placed on reserve. The primary function of course reserves is to assure that students and teachers have timely access to course-related library resources. 

The Library complies with all applicable copyright laws. The following standards apply to the use of copyrighted works as electronic reserves: 

  • inclusion of materials on electronic reserve will be at the request of the instructor, or his or her designate, for educational purposes only;
  • the Library must possess a lawfully obtained copy of any material requested for use as e-reserves;
  • each e-reserves selection will include a citation of the source publication and a form of copyright notice;
  • access to e-reserves will be terminated at the end of each semester following final examinations;
  • Library reserves staff will investigate whether materials requested as e-reserves are available through an electronic database and will provide stable links to such readings when possible;
  • the Library, with the advice of the Office of the General Counsel, will ascertain that the quantity of material requested for use as e-reserves from any source does not exceed current fair use guidelines and will seek permission from the rights holder for any request exceeding fair use;
  • Library staff will remove materials available through the e-reserves service at the conclusion of each semester;
  • Interlibrary loan and document delivery (Article Express) are for individual research purposes only. These services should not be used to obtain items for reserve, and items acquired by these services should not be redistributed, posted, or make available to others;
  • The Library will not charge students for access to e-reserves materials.

General purchase requests not related to reserves should be made by submitting a Purchase Recommendation