Access Services: Services For Faculty

To place library or personal materials on reserve, please complete the Course Reserves Request Form.

To request digitization of part of a book for placement on e-reserves, please complete the Request for Digitization of Reserves form.

The purpose of library course reserves is to make required class readings available to students.

UHCL Faculty may place both print and electronic materials on reserve for student use at:

• Neumann Library
• UHCL Library at Pearland

Print Reserves

Faculty may:

• Provide personal copies of class readings (books & articles) for inclusion in the course reserve collection.
• Request that UHCL library-owned materials be placed on reserve.

If the library does not carry something that you need, you can recommend purchases for your field by completing the Suggest a Book form. Please allow three weeks for us to order and process requested materials. You will be notified if the book is out of print or otherwise unobtainable.

Electronic Reserves

Neumann Library can make your course reserves (journal articles, single book chapters, or class notes) available online for your students through our e-reserves system.

If the material is available through the library databases, we will create a persistent link to the article.  If it is not, we can also take your digital material or scan your print material. These passworded documents will be available to your students anywhere they have access to the Internet.

To maintain compliance with U.S. copyright law, UHCL sets limits on the number and duration of materials that can be placed on reserve without written copyright permission.  Please view the U.S. Copyright Compliance box for a full explanation of the library’s policies.

Alfred R. Neumann Library complies with U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The “Fair Use” exception to copyright law allows non-owners of copyrighted work to use such works for educational, research, or non-profit purposes in limited instances without copyright permission.  Four factors are evaluated in determining fair use:

• The purpose for which the work is used
• The nature of the work
• The amount of the work used
• The effect of the use of the work’s value

Neumann Library may refuse a reserve request if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of the copyright laws.

Library Rules for Reserves

Neumann Library will generally place the following materials on reserve without obtaining copyright permission:

• Any materials available in a UHCL database
• One article per issue of a journal not owned by Neumann Library
• One chapter, short story, short poem, essay, chart, or diagram from a print work not owned by Neumann Library
• One chapter or 10% of a print work not owned by Neumann Library
• Two chapters or 20% of a print work owned by Neumann Library
• Government publications
• Works in the public domain

A faculty member who wishes to place material on reserve that does not meet the criteria listed above is responsible for obtaining permission from the copyright holder.  Sample permission letters can be viewed here:

• Columbia University Copyright Advisory Office
• University of Texas -- Austin Libraries

Placing a student project on reserve for more than one semester requires written permission from all students involved in the project.