Electronic Resources in the Virtual Learning

Journal of InterLibrary Loan and Document Delivery includes electronic
reserves within its remit and has published a number of special editions
dedicated to the topic. However, in the UK, the expansion of such
services has been slow because of the need to obtain copyright clearance
for all materials. Developments have been largely led by JISC initiatives
and in particular the launch of a national service, HERON, now run by
Ingenta UK.
Universities adopt a variety of approaches towards providing access to
core readings in electronic format, and the marked differences between
the US, UK and Australia are largely shaped by copyright law in the
respective countries, which is discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.
Some universities have developed their own in-house electronic reserve
system. In-house systems have the obvious advantage that they can be
tailored to meet the needs of individual organisations and can be as
sophisticated or as simple as the budget allows. Electronic reserves can
also be developed using features within library management systems, e.g.
the ‘reserves’ module within the Voyager library management system.
Software developers have also realised the growth in interest in this area
and a number of ready-made electronic reserves systems are also
available, such as ERes. A seemingly unlimited combination of these
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The digital library
approaches is also possible, such as linking ERes to WebCT, or the
Voyager reserve module to Blackboard. Of the software that is available,
Docutek Information Systems’ ERes package (which recently launched
version 4) is the most popular in the US. It is designed to allow academic
libraries to establish Electronic Reserves and to manage copyright-
protected documents online.
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Together with other modules in the
DocuLib suite, libraries can compile and manage collections of Internet
resources, post time-sensitive information, and create and administer
surveys online. DocuLib and ERes can also be used to create course
websites, course-specific discussion boards and live Internet chat rooms.
US electronic reserves
Electronic reserves systems were established in many US academic
libraries in the 1990s, e.g. in North Western University Library,
Illinois.
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The Library has integrated its short loan collection, known as
‘reserved readings’, into their library catalogue, which uses the Voyager
Library System. A combination of lecture notes, articles and readings for
courses are also included on the system. Access is limited to members of
the university using an authentication system to prevent external users
from gaining access to copyright controlled material in the collection.
Similarly, San Diego State University operates an electronic course
reserves (ECR) system using the ERes software, which provides a ready-
made electronic reserve delivery system.
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As well as the electronic
reserves system, ERes contains lists of useful websites and chat areas for
staff and students. Lecturers are able to add material by e-mailing the
ECR coordinator. Care is taken to operate within the copyright
legislation and the system is only available to members of the University.
Within these systems, files are usually stored in Portable Document
Format (PDF) and accessed using browser software such as Netscape
with Adobe Acrobat Reader. An example of this approach is Duke
University, where the Electronic Reserves system provides access to
supplementary course reading materials required in support of the
curriculum.
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To obtain a copy of scanned documents, printing must be
undertaken using a system supporting PDF. Copyright law in the US is
such that many librarians allow material to be placed on electronic
reserve for one year without requiring copyright permission. This is
undertaken through the Fair Use clause (see Chapter 4, pp. 82–3 for
more detail).
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Electronic Resources in the Virtual Learning Environment