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Placing Items on Course Reserves

Faculty can request that materials be placed on reserve by using the library Course Reserves management system (Ares) in Blackboard. All reserve materials must adhere to Montgomery College's  Use of Copyrighted Materials Policy and Procedure (PDF, Get Adobe Acrobat PDF Reader.-Link opens in new window.) .

Accessing Course Reserves via Blackboard

  1. Log in to your MyMC account and click on the link for Blackboard. Under "My Courses," select the course for which you want to request or access reserves items.
  2. In the Blackboard course, select "Library Course Reserves" from the left menu. This will open the Ares course reserves module.

If the "Library Course Reserves" link is not available in the left menu bar, you can always find course reserves under the Tools menu.

If you want to request reserves items before your course is available in Blackboard, go to any previous course you have in Blackboard, select "Library Course Reserves" from the left menu, then select "Current and Upcoming Courses" under the "Instructor Tools" menu, and choose the appropriate course.

Placing Materials on Course Reserves

You can request that items be added to any current course you are teaching.  You can upload items, request that library employees pull items from the shelves or scan up to one chapter or 10% of a library-owned book, bring materials to the library to be put on reserve, or request that the library purchase an item to be put on reserve.  You can also clone reserve items from previous coursesnew window to a current course.

  1. Access the Library Course Reserves system as described above and select the appropriate course.
  2. Under the Item Tools menu, select Add Reserve Items.
  3. Choose the type of material you would like to add.
  4. Complete the form, providing as much information as possible.
  5. Under the "How will this item be supplied?" portion of the form, if supplying a personal copy, indicate that and bring the item to the service desk at your campus library.

The library requires five business days to process items on reserve.

Electronic documents can also be submitted via Library Course Reserves and should be limited to course readings and similar materials.  Syllabi, tests/quizzes, handouts, etc. are not eligible to be placed on reserve but should instead be uploaded directly to the content area of your Blackboard course. 

Other Features of Library Course Reserves in Blackboard

Item Tags

Learn how you can help your students sort your reserve items with tags.

Faculty can "tag" any reserve item to identify weeks, topics, papers etc.

For example, one article can be tagged "Week 1," "Napoleon," and "midterm" to help student sort materials. Faculty can add tags either while filling out their initial request or later on by clicking on an item from their item list. Faculty and students can also make their own personal tags on items which cannot be seen by anyone else.

Processing Status

View the status of your reserves request.

Once you have submitted your reserve items, they will display in a list within your account. You can check the processing status of items in your list, making any changes as needed.
Email Alerts

Learn how you and your students can get email alerts with updates about your reserves items.

You can register for e-mail notices through the Library Course Reserves Management system. An e-mail will be sent to you whenever your course reserves are updated by you, your proxy, or library reserves employees. Your students can also sign up for this feature so they can learn when reserve items are available.
Student View

See the course reserves interface in Blackboard from a student's perspective.

If you would like to review how students will see your course reserves list, select "Switch to Student Mode" in the Library Course Reserves menu. Please note that students will only see course reserve items that are available.
Reserve Item Usage

Get data on how many times your reserves items are accessed.

The "Reserve Item Usage" option under the Item Tools menu allows you to view the number of times reserve items are accessed. By selecting "Show Detailed Usage," you can see what day each item was accessed.
File Upload

Learn how to make electronic content available immediately. 

Faculty can upload files directly from their computer into the course management module by clicking on "Add Reserve Item" and then "File Upload." Uploaded files are available immediately and faculty are responsible for ensuring adherence with Montgomery College copyright policies.
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