Electronic Course Reserves (ECR) is a service provided for NSU faculty and staff to place reading materials on electronic reserve for your course(s). After the the ECR Request Form is submitted, you will receive verification that your request was received. The average request is processed and completed within 5 – 10 business days.
Copyright Guidelines for Electronic Course Reserves
The following statement concerning copyright restrictions will be prominently displayed in each ECR:
WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS
Pursuant to the federal Copyright Act (Title 17 of the United States Code), it is presumptively unlawful to reproduce, distribute, or publicly display any copyrighted work (or any substantial portion thereof) without the permission of the copyright owner. The statute, however, recognizes a “fair use” defense that has the effect of excusing an act of copyright infringement. It is the intention of Nova Southeastern University to act within the parameters of the fair use defense in allowing limited posting of copyrighted materials in Electronic Course Reserve areas such as this one. It is the intention of Nova Southeastern University, moreover, that such materials be made available solely for the purposes of private study, scholarship, and research, and that any further reproduction of such materials by students, by printing or downloading, be limited to such purposes. Any further reproduction of copyrighted materials made from this computer system may be in violation of copyright laws and is prohibited.
- Material in each Electronic Course Reserve is to be accessible only to students enrolled within the course.
- At the end of each course, copyrighted material (other than that for which permission to reproduce has been obtained from the copyright owner) will be immediately removed from the Electronic Course Reserve system and all access links will be deactivated.
- Materials created by the instructor, or created by other faculty members and/or students and used with their permission, may be freely placed in an ECR and retained thereon indefinitely. Examples of such materials include, but are not limited to, the following:
-
-Quizzes/Exams/Solutions
-Homework assignments
-Syllabi
-Study guides
-Bibliographies
-Lecture notes
-Student papers
-Visual aids
In addition, materials published by the federal government, or any agency thereof, is not subject to copyright restrictions and may be freely used.
- Material that is placed in an Electronic Course Reserve without obtaining copyright permission must be evaluated as a qualifying “fair use” under the Copyright Act, 17 USC 107, before placement.
- Materials placed in an Electronic Course Reserve are intended to supplement, not replace, textbooks or coursepacks.
Posted readings should not constitute more than 30% of the required readings for the course. Any requests that exceed this percentage will be considered to be an electronic coursepack. As such, the necessary copyright permissions must be obtained prior to posting.
For the purposes of this section, the word “course” refers to the teaching of a particular curricular offering by a particular instructor.
Uses of copyrighted material which require the permission of the copyright owner include:
- A journal article, magazine article, or book chapter intended for use for more than one course.
- Multiple chapters from a single book or multiple articles from a single journal or magazine.
Permission to use a copyrighted work may be sought in a number of ways:
- Contact the copyright holder directly.
- Through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc.
The library can also assist you by identifying and contacting the rights holder and requesting permission to use their material within the ECR. Associated fees or royalties will be assumed by the requester and/or the requesting unit.
Except as provided in paragraph 6, a course instructor shall, with respect to each item placed in an ECR:
- Provide proof that permission has been attained from the copyright owner or state in writing that no such permission is needed.
Faculty Guidelines
The information placed on ECR is protected under the Copyright Laws of the United States ( Title 17 U.S. Code ) governing the making of photocopies of copyrighted material. Please review the Nova Southeastern University Libraries’ Copyright Guidelines for Electronic Course Reserves (above) before submitting a request for an Electronic Course Reserve.
Requesting an ECR
Prior to submitting materials for inclusion in a course ECR, please complete the Electronic Course Reserves Request Form. At the end of the form, you will be asked to email an electronic copy of your selected readings (bibliography) to ECR Processing.
Submitting Materials to the Library
The person submitting the materials is responsible for reproducing those materials that are to be placed on ECR. Print or electronic copies must be submitted to the Alvin Sherman Library Document Delivery Department. Instructors in Distance Programs should mail print copies to the following address:
Document Delivery Department
Attention: ECR Processing
Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center
3100 Ray Ferrero Jr., Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314-1013
Electronic copies may also be submitted as email attachments to ECR Processing.
Please allow 5 – 10 business days for processing upon receipt of the print materials. Secure links to the ECR will be given to the instructor to distribute to the students.
Print Copies
Please help us reduce file sizes and processing time by adhering to the following requirements when submitting print materials:
- Clean, first generation copies of material in the best obtainable condition
- Maximum 40 pages (for each document submitted)
- 8 ½ x 11 paper
- No holes
- No staples
- Landscape or portrait, not both in same article
- A copy of the copyright page, or if that is unavailable, full bibliographic citation included
- Individual materials must be separated; bundled documents will not be accepted
Note: Print copies will not be returned.
Electronic Copies
Electronic files will be accepted on media or as an email attachment. Acceptable file formats are:
- Text (do not include hard returns, use word wrap)
- RTF – Rich Text Format
- PDF – Portable Document Format
- Microsoft Word
Deactivation
Access to ECR materials will be deactivated at the end of each course. Instructors must obtain permission from the publisher to place any copyrighted material on ECR for a longer period. The library must receive this verification to extend access to an ECR beyond the end of the course’s term.
In order to obtain copyright permission, please contact NSU Copyright Center or the Copyright Clearance Center.