Course Material Reserve

This page contains information intended for any teaching faculty, including adjunct instructors, who wish to place materials on reserve for a course offered through the George Mason School of Law. These forms and guidelines are provided to assist teaching faculty with the process of making materials available through the library for use in conjunction with specific law courses. Here we provide the following:

• Course Reserve Guidelines
• Reserve Request Forms
• Information on Electronic Reserves

Note: Materials placed on reserve are protected by US Copyright Law (U.S.C. Title 17). Faculty members must read and sign a copyright liability statement for all materials placed on reserve. This form is available below. Some resources on copyright can be obtained through the Copyright Assistance Office here at George Mason University.

Course Reserve Guidelines

What

All reserve requests require the following:

• Completed Course Reserve/Copyright Form
• Completed Bibliography Form
• Adequate copies of reading materials, taking into consideration class size

Forms are available at the law school circulation desk. Electronic versions of these forms appear below.

When

Requests should be submitted preferably 2 weeks prior to the start of the semester, with the appropriate forms attached. Please allow for processing time before informing a class about reserve materials. Every attempt will be made to process reserve item requests within 24 hours of the time the request is submitted, but processing time may vary, depending on workload and volume of requests.

How

Books that are owned by the library should be pulled off the shelf and handed over to the circulation staff, along with the completed forms. Circulation staff may be available to assist with the removal of such books from the general collection, providing the request is accompanied by the appropriate form. If the library does not own a copy of a requested book or where an item is missing, faculty will be promptly notified. The faculty member should make a formal request for a book purchase, by filling out the Book Purchase Recommendation Form. Suggestions will be forwarded to the acquisitions department and the requesting faculty member will be notified of delivery dates. If this book will be used in a course, please indicate that information on the form.

Limits

Up to 30 journal articles and photocopies per semester. For multiple class readings over the course of the semester, it is recommended that readings compiled and sold as course packets go through the University Copy Center. However, if the preference is that the material be distributed from the Circulation Desk, it should be photocopied, collated and placed in a binder or file folder with correspondingly appropriate labels - for example “Readings, Week 1”.

Return of Personal Copies

At the end of each semester all reserve photocopies and personal books will be returned to individual faculty.

Contact Information

Christine Ciambella at (703) 993-8111 or cciambel@gmu.edu.

Forms

Forms are available at the circulation desk in the library, and electronic versions of these forms are available as follows:

• Bibliography Form
• Copyright Form
• Book Purchase Recommendation Form (online)

Completed forms should be returned to the circulation desk.

Electronic Reserves (E-Reserves)

The E-Reserves program is coordinated by staff at the Fenwick library on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University. Complete information, including copies of required request forms, can be found on their web site here:

E-Reserves at GMU

Once materials are placed on the E-Reserves system, they will be available electronically to students, with access provided through the University Library Catalog. An instructor will receive a unique password for materials for his/her class, which can be distributed during class.

The guidelines for electronic reserves are, in large part, similar to the Law Library guidelines which appear above. See also the E-Reserves guidelines.