Anatomy in the Library: Anatomical Models on Course Reserves

In Fall 2015, the Engineering and Physical Science Library (EPSL) began lending anatomical models as part of its course reserves program. EPSL received a partial skeleton and two muscle model figures from instructors of BSCI105. These models circulate for 4 hours at a time and are generally used by small, collaborative groups of students in the library. This poster will look at the challenges and rewards for adding these items to EPSL’s course reserves.

Untangling Knots: Determining E-book Suitability for Course Reserves

E-books on their own are complex; they become even more so in the context of course reserves. In FY2016 the Resource Sharing & Reserves and Acquisitions units developed a new workflow for vetting requested e-books to ensure that they were suitable for course reserves (i.e. they permit unlimited simultaneous users) before posting links to them within the university’s online learning management system. In the Spring 2016 semester 46 e-books were vetted through this process, resulting in 18 purchases. Preliminary data analysis sheds light on the suitability of the Libraries’ current e-book collections for course reserves as well as faculty preferences, with potential implications for the Libraries’ ordering process. We hope this lightening talk will generate discussion about these issues among selectors, collection managers, and reserves staff alike.