Course Materials: Related Library Services
Fondren Library Service Desk is now accepting course reserves for spring 2025.
The Course Materials department and the Access Services Manager have established this policy. We respectfully ask you to adhere to this policy. Any special circumstances should be brought to the attention of the Access Services Supervisor for Fondren Service Desk/Course Materials, Heidi Vieira. You can contact her at hjv1@rice.edu or 713.348.8895
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Readings for Rice University courses are placed on Course Reserves only at the request of an instructor or by an instructor’s designated proxy.
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Electronic copies of items (PDFs, videos, etc.) hosted by the library are subject to copyright law. Items will not be made available to students until the rights to do so are legally secured, and new rights must be secured each semester an item is hosted.
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Materials may be added to Course Reserves at any time during the semester as deemed necessary by the course instructor or their designated proxy. Requests made at the beginning of a semester may take up to two weeks to complete. Requests made during the semester are usually available within two business days (Monday through Friday).
- Preference will be given to electronic resources (e-books, CDL copies, and other digital items) in keeping with Rice University's policies promoting health and safety and Fondren Library's initiatives to promote greater sustainability and equitable access to patrons.
Policy Rev. 02/2025
About Controlled Digital Lending
Course Material encourages the use of eBooks and eResources for course reading lists. Many books already exist in eResource or eBook form. That is our first choice when receiving a request for a title to be in Course Material. Otherwise, we can scan any physical copy of a book, provided that Fondren Library owns the book, within the limitations of Copyright laws, to provide another option for accessing a book digitally.
- First, we request that you determine whether your course material can be met if we scan only 10% or less of a book. This works well when there is only a chapter or two of interest.
- If the required pages needed exceed 10% of the book for scanning, we scan the entire book in a process called Controlled Digital Lending. Widely used in academic libraries, CDL means that the book can be accessed online by your students for two hours at a time, just like a physical book on reserve.
- We will set aside the physical library copy for your course reading list. This copy will not be available for checkout throughout the semester.
Suggest a Purchase
We welcome suggestions for purchase of library materials. Suggestions will be reviewed by a librarian against several factors, including: appropriateness of the material for Fondren Library's collection, available funding, and origin of the suggestion. Please fill out the Suggest a Purchase form.
Video Digitization
OIT is implementing changes around faculty requests for VHS/DVD digitizations. Please contact your subject librarian to learn what streaming options are available for your class before requesting digitization from the course reserves team. If there are no streaming options, the librarian will help you determine if one of Fondren's VHS or DVD items may be digitized. For more information please go to OIT digitizing or email teaching@rice.edu
- Please allow at least four weeks to process your video. During the week before and the first three weeks of the semester, processing times can take over four weeks.
- If permissions are granted, only a copy that was lawfully made and is owned by the course instructor or by Fondren Library can be considered for digitization.
- Fondren Library media can be requested for a longer-than-standard checkout period at the circulation desk or can be renewed online while we digitize the media.
- InterLibrary Loan or rental materials cannot be digitized, neither in full nor clips.
- Format: Blu-ray, DVD, or VHS tape
- Unless otherwise specified, the main video with original-language audio and without subtitles will be digitized
Streaming Video Resources
Many Streaming Video Resources are available from Fondren Library. Links to the streaming videos can easily be placed within your Canvas course for student access. For more information, please go to Rice University OIT Video Streaming.
Copyright
There are limitations on digitizing items for your course due to copyright law. For a comprehensive understanding of the subject, including the concepts of Copyright and Fair Use, you can refer to the Copyright and Fair Use LibGuide, Office of Information Technology Digital Copyright Compliance, and Rice University Copyright Policy.
We prioritize and strongly encourage using eBooks for library course materials use. Please contact the library course materials' team or your subject librarian to discuss electronic options for your course. The course materials' team must review all course materials that may need copyright clearance. You may also contact Course Materials' supervisor, Heidi Vieira, at hjv1@rice.edu or 713.348.8895 For more information.
