Q: What is an electronic course reserve?
A: An electronic course reserve, or e-reserve, is simply an online/digital version of course-related information. In most cases, e-reserves are documents that your professor has provided to the Library in print form, and the Library has then scanned these items into a digital .pdf format. Such e-reserve documents may include periodical articles, class notes, and other course-related information.
Q: What are the advantages of accessing e-reserves versus just coming into the Library to print the documents on the photocopier?
A: The main advantage is that e-reserve documents are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You are not limited to the open hours of the Library in order to access these documents, as they are always available through the Course Reserve section of our Voyager automated system. A second advantage is they are accessible from any computer with Internet access – from anywhere in the world. A third advantage is that you don’t have to pay 10 cents a sheet to copy the documents on the Library photocopiers. While printing an e-reserve document does not cost money, keep in mind that if you print in the Library, each sheet will count against the 300 prints you are given at the beginning of each semester. If you print outside the Library, it is just like printing a web page – and will not count against your 500 prints.
Q: E-reserves sound great! Now…how do I access them?
A: Accessing e-reserves is a multi-step process, but it is also very simple. To begin, go the Proctor Library’s homepage. The page will look like this:
To get to the section where the e-reserves are found, click the Course Reserves link. In the image above, it is circled. Once you click that link, you will go to the Course Reserve section of our Voyager automated system. The website address is: http://voyager.flagler.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=rbSearch, and the screen will now look like this:
To access your professor’s e-reserves, search for your professor’s name by clicking the drop-down menu arrow next to the Instructor search box. In the search example of the image above, the results will be Dr. Noloboff’s e-reserves.
The course reserve items (both in print and electronic format) will then be displayed. NOTE: The e-reserve items will have the [electronic reserve] designation next to their titles. The image below shows an example of this, with the circle showing an example of one of Dr. Noloboff’s e-reserve items:
To access the e-reserve, first click on the title of the item that you wish to access. The screen will then look like this:
To view the e-reserve, click on the E-items link – which is circled in the example above. The document will then begin to load. It takes a SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF TIME (usually anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes) for a .pdf document to download. You will know it is fully downloaded when the gray menu bar near the bottom of the screen reads “Done”. It will look something like this example below when fully downloaded:
Once you click the Print icon in the Adobe acrobat program and follow the printer instructions, the e-reserve document will be in your hands in no time. If you have any problems accessing e-reserve materials, PLEASE LET US KNOW.
As always, please see, call (904-819-6331), or email (library@flagler.edu) a Reference Librarian if you need assistance. We are here to help you!