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Use of Electronic Course Reserve Is Growing Dramatically
Course Reserve Service is in a transitional period. On-site, print-oriented reserve circulation is decreasing rapidly while the use of Electronic Course Reserve (ECR) is increasing dramatically. Beginning with just three courses in the fall of 1996, ECR was used for 315 courses in 1997/1998. While there are still complex issues of intellectual ownership to resolve, ECR is now an integral and highly successful aspect of Course Reserve Service.ECR provides required course readings-journal articles, individual chapters from books, government publications, homework solutions, lecture notes, and past exams-to registered UConn students over the Internet. Materials are posted to the Internet only in accordance with "fair use" practice or with permission of the copyright owner. Most files are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and are viewed using Adobe Acrobat software, available without charge from the ECR homepage. In addition to text, Acrobat permits the transmission of graphs, charts and mathematical symbols as well as prints and images. Acrobat retains the original format of the document and prevents users from modifying or reusing parts of a document.
Students now expect on-line access to course materials; they want the information they need where and when it is convenient and with minimal expenditure of their valuable time. Faculty, too, find their valuable time well-spent by using ECR. No multiple copies are required; mutilation and loss of materials, with consequent complaints from students, is eliminated. The electronic format offers other advantages: students can view materials anywhere on campus or at home with a password; multiple users can access a document simultaneously; and documents can be downloaded and saved or printed. If you haven't yet tried ECR, we encourage you to check it out. Materials for ECR can be submitted in either hard copy or electronic formats. Visit the ECR webpage for details, www.lib.uconn.edu/ECR/ or call Dipa Roy at 486-2307.
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