By placing educational materials on course reserve, faculty members can further the mission of Open Education Week and can promote the use of affordable course materials for students. The DePaul University Library can place a variety of educational materials on course reserve, including books/e-books, book chapters, journal articles, website content, digitized films/clips, and e-videos. Students can access these materials for their courses in the course reserves system.
Although the DePaul Library has prioritized electronic reserve materials for several years, electronic reserve resources were crucial at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic nearly two years ago. For written materials, the library prioritized e-books (especially e-books with unlimited user access), articles, and book chapters. Additionally, the library promoted book use through HathiTrust and the Internet Archive. For video/audio materials, the library continued to digitize items from the library’s collection, along with licensing films and documentaries from streaming services such as Swank, Kanopy, and Academic Video Online.
During winter quarter 2022, the DePaul University Library has placed 6,346 items on course reserve. One instructor who has used the course reserves system to promote affordability is Professor Lisa Barcy from the College of Computing and Digital Media. Professor Barcy has placed over 300 digitized films and clips on reserve for her Animation History and Practice (ANI 422) course. This enables Professor Barcy’s students to have easy and affordable access to these important video resources.
If you have any questions regarding course reserves, please contact your department’s Reserves Assistant or email reserves@depaul.edu.