Barr Smith Library Reserve collection policy

What is kept in the Reserve collection

The Reserve collection contains items that are in very high demand, that is, essential and required reading only. This covers:

• Items for tutorials, seminars, assignments or essays where a number of people must read a book in a short time (for example, one week) or when a restricted choice in topics is offered.
• Two copies of lecture notes or course readers that are sold to students by Departments (as required by the University Council).

One copy of an item per 100 students is normally put in Reserve. Beyond 300 students, the number of copies is determined by the appropriate Research Librarian, based on the time in which the item is to be read and the likelihood of students being able to purchase copies (for example, a required item may be out of print, not readily available from bookshops, or very expensive).

Exclusions from the Reserve collection

The following are not kept in the Reserve collection:

• Material which supplements essential reading and is useful in developing a greater understanding of the issues surrounding a topic. This is usually designated on reading lists as background, further, preliminary, useful, recommended additional, suggested readings or references.
• Print copies of web articles or resources: Departments should supply URLs directly to students.
• Photocopies of journal articles or book chapters: provided there are no copyright restrictions, the Library's Digital Resources Management Centre will digitise the required journal article or book chapter, and will establish a link to it in the Library Catalogue. A link to the item may then be made from MyUni when required. Full details of this process are on the Digital Resources Management Centre website.

Books not accepted for Reserve are kept in the Main collection. The first copy, bought from the Department's book allocation, is normally available for 14 day loan; extra copies, bought from the multiple copy fund, are normally available for 7 day loan.

How to request an item for the Reserve collection

Academic staff should send Reserve collection requests to their Research Librarian by email or by highlighting items on a reading list.

Reserve requests should be sent well before items are needed - by 19 December or 30 June for items needed by the start of each semester.

Requests should include:

• course name, course number, number of students
• the requester's surname and initials
• full bibliographical details of the item
• the date the item is needed/no longer needed for Reserve