Information for Students

Traditional course reserves
Electronic course reserves

Traditional course reserves

You will be able to find a variety of materials at the reserve desk in the library. Your instructor will be able to tell you what materials should be on reserve. Be sure to bring your ID with you when you ask for an item at the desk as we will not be able to charge out any materials to you (for any length of time) if you do not have your ID. Your professor will have decided upon a loan period for the reserve materials, such as 2-hour, 3-hour, or overnight.

You will be able to check a list of reserve materials that we have online, by looking in the Reserve Room in the online catalog (you can search by course or instructor). If you cannot find an item that you think should be available, please ask the circulation desk assistant to check our shelves, as it may have be located in a different location or under a different title than you expected. If it is not in the computer, it is not yet available on reserve.

Materials that could be at the desk include books, journal articles, problem solutions, films, or other materials. When asking for material, simply ask for the item by course number and author or title.

Photocopy machines are available in the library and you can either use coins, bills or a copy card at 10 cents a copy. We also have a number of VCRs and DVD players for students to use to watch films that are placed on reserve. Films may also be taken out of the library to be viewed, even if the loan period is 2 or 3 hours.

Fines accrue quickly at the reserve desk and start at $2.00/hour for items that are returned late. For this reason, we print a receipt with every reserve transaction that gives you the exact time that the item is due.

Some materials are available electronically through our electronic reserve system, but not everything. We will make items available electronically if it is possible and we will inform your professor when something is available in that format. Your instructor should be able to tell you where your reserve material is, but if you have questions, please talk to someone at the reserve desk.

Electronic course reserves

What are electronic course reserves?
How to find out if items are available electronically
How to view items in electronic reserves
How to print items in electronic reserves
What to do if problems arise
Passwords
How to give feedback on electronic reserves

What are electronic course reserves?
Bertrand Library makes some reserve materials available over the web in such electronic formats as jpg, gif, MSWord, pdf, text, and html. This means that you can access them from any computer in your residence hall, in a lab, or in an office here on campus, or if you dial in through the Bucknell modems. You will be able to view these files, print them, or download them to your computer for later use. You can set up bookmarks for your classes or search for items by course, department, or instructor through our ERes system, which offers an easily searchable index that anyone familiar with basic internet navigation can use. Not all materials are available electronically, due to factors such as copyright considerations, file size, or legibility, but we use the electronic format as the default, and we place everything that can be scanned or linked on e-reserves.

How to find out if items are available electronically
Your instructor will know if material can be found in ERes. You can also quickly check either in our ERes system or in the online catalog. Materials are not usually placed in both locations.

How to view items in electronic reserves
From any machine in a lab or in a residence hall, or after you have connected to campus through the Bucknell modem pool, go to the ISR home page on the web. (From the Bucknell University home page, click on Academics, then Library/Computing on the left sidebar.) Within the ISR home page, look for a link named "E-reserves" in the center of the page, under the Library Research heading. At this point, you can see the main ERes page. Here, you can search by instuctors, departments or courses by clicking on Electronic Reserves and Course Materials.

By following the links, you will come to a list of materials that are available electronically for a certain course. You can choose any item on the list - old exams, problem solutions, weblinks, journal articles, etc. - and you will find email connections to professors or TA's, course announcements, and other course information.

How to print items in electronic reserves
Most items will quickly print to most printers, but there are always variances across campus in browser software, in the power of different machines, or in the memory available to different printers. If you have any problems printing items, please contact the ERes manager.

What to do if problems arise
If you cannot find materials on-line that you think should be there, please check again soon. The processing of reserve materials, including scanning them, can take several days. Many items are in PDF, a format that requires the free Acrobat reader. (See the acrobat page for more info.) Some articles are available as links to databases that can only be accessed if the database recognizes you as being part of the Buckenll community. If you are using another Internet Service Provider, however, you won't be allowed access to these databases. If you have other questions, please read the FAQ or contact the ERes manager at the reserves desk.

Passwords
Each ERes course has password protection in order to limit access to the materials that are online. The password comes from your professor and your professor should be able to give it to you. Students and staff who work at the circulation desk, reference desk, or tech desk will not be able to give you your course password if you have forgotten it, so please ask your professor or other class members if you need a reminder.

The password course protection allows us to also open up ERes beyond the limits of the Bucknell campus or modem pool. This makes it possible for users who are not on campus or using the Bucknell dial-in to still access their materials - for example, users who prefer their own ISP or who are at home over breaks could still get to their online assignments.

How to give feedback on electronic reserves
If you have any comments or suggestions concerning e-reserves at Bertrand Library, please contact the manager of the Electronic Reserves system. There is a link on every course page within ERes. We are very much interested in finding out how to better serve students with our ERes system.