Faculty Guide to ERes

Updated August 2007

What is ERes?
Advantages to using ERes?
Where is ERes?
Who can use ERes?
Is there any cost to using ERes?
What do I need to know about copyright?
Flowchart of the ERes Process
How do I get started? (open an ERes account)
I have an ERes account. How do I set up a course?
I used ERes for this course before. How do I reactive the course?
I've set up my course. How do I post documents?
I've updated my syllabus. How do I remove documents?
How do I see what this looks like? Can I make changes?
What do I tell my students?
How do students access the reading material?
How long will the materials be maintained in ERes?
More questions?

What is ERes?

ERes is CIIS' Electronic course Reserve reading system. ERes is an exciting opportunity to upgrade and simplify the process of placing readings on reserve for student use. Faculty members can create an online classroom space on ERes and place their course readings there. The readings are password-accessible to your students on or off campus, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. ERes facilitates copyright management as well, easing faculty concerns in this regard.

Advantages to using ERes:

ERes readings are available all the time, whether or not the Library is open
ERes documents may be read, downloaded, or printed by many students simultaneously
Readings and handouts can be distributed to the class through ERes rather than distributing photocopies
Once an ERes course is set up, it is easy to adjust and reuse it in later semesters
Links to web sites and electronic articles may be interspersed with "traditional" readings

ERes is located online. From the Library's web site at http://library.ciis.edu, select the ERes link from the left navigation bar.

Any part-time or full-time CIIS faculty member may post readings on ERes. Any student enrolled in these faculty members' class(es) may access the readings.

The use of ERes is free of charge to both faculty and students. Infrequently, there may be costs involved in obtaining copyright clearance for readings.

Most documents require no special permission to post on ERes. The ERes Cover Sheet for Scanned Documents helps you determine the copyright status of the document, and the Library approves all documents before they are posted.

Posting a set of documents on ERes invokes the same copyright concerns as traditional library course reserves or publishing a course reader.

Documents may be quickly posted on or linked from ERes if any one of the following conditions is met:

Document is in the public domain (published before 1932), or is freely available on the web

Document is from material owned by the instructor, the Library, or CIIS

Document comes from a subscription database (PsycArticles, WilsonSelectPlus, etc.) available through the CIIS Library web site

Document is unpublished material created by the instructor

Document falls within the definition of "fair use"

Fair Use

Use of copyrighted material for educational purposes in the classroom may be considered fair use if it meets both brevity and amount criteria:

Brevity:

If a complete article, story, or essay is copied, and the work copied is less than approximately 2,500 words; or it is an excerpt from a prose work and the amount copied is less than approximately 1,000 words or 10% of the work (whichever is shorter).

If a chart, graph, diagram, drawing, cartoon or picture is copied, and not more than one such illustration is copied per book or per periodical issue. (But there is some question about use of syndicated cartoons.)

If a short poem is copied, and the poem is less than 250 words and printed on not more than two pages; or if an excerpt from a longer poem is copied, and the excerpt is not longer than 250 words.

Amount

If no more than one short poem, article, story or essay (or two excerpts) are copied from works by the same author; and

If no more than three works or excerpts are copied from the same collective work or periodical volume during one class term; and

If making multiple copies for a class is done no more than nine times per course in the same class term; and

The copies are used in only one course, for one semester.

If the above conditions do not apply:

Permission in writing from the copyright holder is desired before the material can be legally posted on ERes. Documents without copyright permission may be posted conditionally for eight weeks, in order to provide time for the instructor to belatedly pursue permissions while providing students access. If you want to learn more about copyright considerations for faculty, see http://copyright.iupui.edu.

A visual flow of the faculty ERes process is available here.

To use ERes, you must establish an ERes account. Fill out the Open an Account online form located on the Library's Reserves web page (select Reserves from the Library's home page http://library.ciis.edu). Select an ERes username and password and write them down in a safe place. You need only do this once. The Library will notify you when your account is ready.

I have an ERes account. How do I set up a course?

To set up a new course, fill out the Add a Course online form located on the Library's Reserves web page.

Select a password that the students will use to access the course online. This ensures that only the students registered in your class can access classroom materials and maintains copyright compliance. An easily spelled word in lower case or a simple number (no dashes) is best.

Email to reserve@ciis.edu a copy of your syllabus that includes full bibliographic citations to readings, in order.

The Library will notify you when your course is ready.

To reactivate a course, fill out the Reactivate Course online form located on the Library's Reserves web page. A new password must be assigned to the course. The Library will notify you when your course is ready.

Your user account and course must be set up before you may post documents.

Follow the steps below to post your documents. Make sure you've sent your syllabus first, then send each document in the order that it is assigned to your students (to the extent that this is possible). Do not combine documents or chapters. One chapter = one document, even if you have several chapters from the same text.

Enter data for each individual document into ERes system. See Working with Documents in the ERes System.

Begin with your syllabus. Next enter each document or chapter individually. One chapter = one document, even if you have several chapters from the same text.

For web-based documents, add the URL/page address under "Web Link." Consult the Working with documents in the ERes System guide for proper entry of web page addresses. Some special steps are required for documents from CIIS Library's password-protected databases.

Email documents to Systems Librarian (not necessary for web-based documents) for clean-up and copyright check.

For documents that are already in digital/electronic format (Microsoft Word, PDF, PowerPoint, etc.):

Complete the Add an Electronic Document online form located on the Reserves page of the Library's web site.

For documents that are printed on paper (books, articles, etc.):

Obtain/create a crisp, clear copy on 8.5x11" paper

It pays to use the crispest, clearest copy possible. If the photocopy that you have is difficult to read, it will be very difficult for students to read online. When possible, work from the a first-generation copy. If photocopying, close the photocopier's cover to eliminate black space on the copy. This will preserve toner when the document is ultimately printed.

Print and complete a Cover Sheet for Scanned Documents for each document. Cover sheets are located on the Reserves page of the Library's web site.

Create a digital PDF copy, either by scanning at home or using the Mission St. 4th floor hallway photocopier's scan function. (See Scanning and Sending Documents Using the 4th Floor Copier) Place the cover sheet before the first page of the document. Scan each document separately from the others. Scan cover sheets and documents into PDF format and email to Systems Librarian.

Use the document feeder when possible. When copying on the glass, close the photocopier's cover to eliminate black space on the copy. This will preserve toner when the document is ultimately printed.

Email scanned documents (with cover sheets) to reserve@ciis.edu.

If the item in question is not owned or subscribed to by the instructor or by the CIIS Library, it may be necessary to pursue copyright permissions from the publisher.
The Library will quality-check documents, review the documents' copyright status and post them within two weeks of submission. Documents without copyright permission will be posted conditionally for eight weeks, in order to provide time for the instructor to pursue permissions without delaying access to the readings.

Allow at least two weeks' turn around time. You will be notified when your documents have been posted.

Use the Remove a Document form to remove ERes documents from your course. It is located on the Reserves page on the Library's web site.

How do I see what this looks like? Can I make changes?

You have a great deal of control over your course site, if you wish to exercise it. You may create folders for weekly readings and/or order your documents as you desire. Consult the Working with Documents in the ERes System guide for details.

When your course first meets, tell your students that the reading materials are or will soon be online. Write the Library's web address (http://library.ciis.edu), the word "ERes," and the password that you have chosen on the board. Better yet, if you are distributing a syllabus in print, include this information on the syllabus.

How do students access the reading material?

Students can access ERes at any computer with an internet connection. They go to http://library.ciis.edu select "ERes" from the left navigation bar, select "Electronic Reserves & Reserve Pages," and select your course. Students will be prompted for the course password that you gave them in the first class meeting. It is the instructor's responsibility to give the password to the students.

Students accessing material on ERes will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader software. This software is free and downloadable at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. All CIIS computers, including those in the lab and Library, have this software loaded already. Course materials can be viewed on the computer screen, printed or saved.

Courses will be archived at the end of the semester. Contact the Systems Librarian if you wish to extend availability of course readings.