Electronic Reserve Copyright and You

Electronic Reserve (eReserve) systems are a boon for students and faculty alike: having only one online place where professors can post class readings, homework, the solutions, class notes, film, music, as well as any other materials students need to do well in class. The online system also offers the faculty an easy way to update and disseminate course materials to students. The goal of any efficient eReserve system is to make life a little easier for both students and faculty while not over-burdening the staff who are tasked with running it. However, making a system easy for faculty to use and for students to access but also secure enough to keep out non-university affiliated people is a daunting but achievable task. This presentation will demonstrate the best practices of an eReserve system like the one at the West Virginia University Downtown Campus Library. I will discuss the methods that I use to efficiently create, upload, and post files to the password-protected site. These files are not only from print sources, but music, film, and video files as well. The presentation will also cover the most common “help-desk” questions that I and other library staff receive and the best way to solve patron problems. Most importantly, Copyright and Fair Use issues will be covered in-depth, as they are of paramount importance to all concerned, especially with the addition of media files to the eReserve system