University at Albany Course Reserves

Direct links to electronic material can be placed in your course, or material can be uploaded as a file (e.g., PDF, Word Document).

When uploading files, please adhere to the following guidelines:

• Scans must comply with copyright and fair use. For more information, see the Libraries' copyright guide.
• Photocopying of copyrighted materials for Reserve use is permissible only within limits suggested by the Copyright Law of 1976 and the fair use guidelines.
• A single copy of an entire article, an entire chapter from a book, or an entire poem is typically acceptable. 
• If scanning the material yourself, be sure to include the title and copyright pages.

Once you have created or obtained the scan, the file can be uploaded to your Brightspace course. For further assistance on uploading content, please contact CATLOE at (518) 442-5521 or teachingandlearning@albany.edu.

For guidance on obtaining links to articles and ebooks, which you can place in your Brightspace course, please see Stable Links. If we do not have electronic access to the material you would like to assign, it may be possible for it to be scanned or purchased. Please see instructions below.

• Article and chapter scans from material owned by the Library may be requested through ILLiad.
• Instructors are responsible for compliance with copyright. 
• Interlibrary Loan staff may reject requests that do not comply with copyright.
  • Requests are limited to 1 chapter or 10% of a book per course.

• Personal copies must be owned by you in their original format.
• Possession of a photocopy does not constitute ownership in the original format.

• Material that you have borrowed or photocopied from another library's collection or obtained from a colleague cannot be uploaded without first obtaining permission from the publisher or paying any necessary copyright fees.
• If you are planning on assigning an ebook, book chapter, or film that is not owned by the Libraries or yourself, please contact your Subject Librarian to request that we purchase the title for our collection. 
  • Purchases will be made in accordance with the Library’s Collection Development Policy. 
• Your Subject Librarian can also help you identify alternative course materials, if necessary.

Fair Use Guidelines for Video Use in the Classroom

The library can help you digitize your existing media (DVD, Blu Ray, VHS) or library-owned media into formats that can easily be made available for students in your courses. While we work to improve the workflow, please contact us or bring media directly to the library for digitization.