The library uses a Cannon high speed scanner with a sheet feeder. We do not do any hand scanning of materials using flatbed scanners; the time required to do such materials is prohibitive.
Will the library scan material for me and give it to me on disk?
At this time, the library is not equipped to be a scanning center. The scanner will only be used for scanning reserve material.
Can the scanner do color scanning?
We decided purposefully to acquire a scanner that only scans in black and white. Doing documents in black and white keeps their size down so they can be downloaded more quickly over the Internet. If you have an item with color and you need the color preserved, place it on physical reserves.
What format are reserve documents in? Why did you choose this format?
The vast majority of reserve items will be in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). We chose this format because the PDF reader comes installed on most computers, and is freely available from the Adobe website. PDF is designed to preserve the exact appearance of the original document so that an exact copy can be printed out, which is exactly what most students want to do with e-reserve material. The PDF scanning and conversion software is also fast and easy for library staff to work with.
Will students be able to cut and paste text from reserve documents directly into their papers?
No. This is only possible if the PDF document has been treated with a special Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process that converts the image of the text into ASCII text. The library is not processing documents this way because it takes far too long, and because the OCR process still has not been perfected, and usually introduces errors into the document.
Doesn't electronic reserves violate copyright?
The short answer is that it no more inherently violates copyright than physical reserves. This is a very complex topic, though. The library, and the team assigned to this project in particular, have made a great effort to educate themselves about this very complicated aspect of law. For a more thorough discussion of copyright and related issues, see the UNLV Copyright Pages.
Fair use is defined in section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act. Basically, it states that use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder for purposes of research, teaching, news reporting, criticism, scholarship, or comment, is not an infringement of copyright. It then gives a four-factor test for determining if a use is fair based on:
Fair use is not a right, but a limitation imposed on the exclusive rights of copyright holders to facilitate the distribution of knowledge. While you can claim fair use in court, the burden would be on you to prove that your use was a fair use under the above tests. Contrary to popular belief, copyright is not an automatic right, and no use is guaranteed to be a fair use unless a judge decides it is in a court of law.
Isn't any use of copyrighted material for educational purposes a fair use?
This is one of the biggest misconceptions about fair use. The purpose of the use is only one of the four factors courts look at, and recent case law has been pretty clear that no one factor is more important than any other. So the fact that your use was educational is just one thing the court might look at if a copyright holder decided to sue you for damages.
Who determines whether placing something on reserve is a fair use?
You, the instructor, are responsible for making fair use determinations.
Will the library seek copyright permission and pay royalty fees for me?
No. The library does not have the resources or manpower to do this. We recommend that you visit the Copyright Clearance Center to see how permissions can be easily requested and paid for online.
Could I be held personally responsible for copyright infringement? Would anyone actually sue us?
While there has not to date been a court case specifically about use of material in electronic reserves, publishers can and have taken educational institutions to court for violations of copyright in other areas. Publishers and authors tend to be every aggressive about protecting their exclusive rights -- this is, after all, how they make a living.
When placing items on reserve, you sign a legal agreement with the Library stating that you are "solely and wholly" responsible for ensuring that your material complies with fair use. It is therefore in your best interest to have an understanding of the law and to comply as much as possible.
Why doesn't the library make these determinations? Why should I have to go through all this trouble?
For two very simple reasons: the first is that the library does not and cannot have all the information about a particular use of a document. There is no way for us to know if you have used the document before for the same course, for example, or if your electronic reserve readings are the majority of your required readings. Knowledge of facts like this is vital if we are to determine whether or not a use of a particular item is likely to be a fair one.
Second, it is the responsibility of faculty to be cognizant of copyright law, since it affects classroom copying, display of dramatic works, and many other areas of what you do as teachers and scholars. Even if there were no electronic reserve system, knowledge of and compliance with copyright law would still be the individual responsibility of every faculty member. See the University policy on copyright compliance.
How do I know if I have to request copyright permission for the material I want to place on reserve?
Since the fair use clause of the copyright law is so vague, it is impossible to give a definitive answer. The library has prepared a set of questions that can be used to tell you whether or not your use of material in electronic reserves is more or less likely to be judged fair. If you find that your answers to most of the questions tend toward the "less likely" end of the spectrum, then you should consider asking for permission before you submit the item to be placed on reserve.
How do I request permission if I need it?
There are two basic ways to seek permission to place a work on reserve:
1. Contact the copyright holder directly and tell them what work you want to use, what you want to use it for, and how long you want to use it. You may be asked to pay a royalty fee. Assuming you pay a fee or otherwise work out permission, get this permission in writing via the mail.
2. Go online to the Copyright Clearance Center at http://www.copyright.com/. You can request permission for many works to be placed on electronic reserve online. For many works, there is a fee involved. If the CCC does not have an agreement with the publisher of the work you want, in many cases you can ask them to seek permission from the publisher for you. This is probably the easiest way to ask for permission.
Aren't there any guidelines I can use to determine what is a fair use?
Truckloads. The thing to remember about guidelines is that they:
Guidelines that have been established by various groups to describe minimum levels of acceptable use of copyrighted material include:
UNLV Libraries do not espouse any particular set of guidelines. Wherever possible, the Libraries' policies are modeled directly on the Fair Use provisions of the Copyright Act.
What is "public domain"?
Copyrighted works are protected for a finite amount of time. For most works, this is the life of the author plus seventy years. When that time has passed, the work "enters the public domain," which means it can be freely copied, adapted, distributed, etc. Copyright protection no longer applies to the work at that point.
How do I tell if something is public domain?
A work is protected by copyright the moment it is created. Under current law, that protection lasts for the life of the author plus seventy years.
However, this really only applies to works created on or after January 1st, 1978. Because the term of copyright protection is constantly being lengthened through amendments, different works will be protected for different periods depending on who wrote them, when, and when the author died. Also, since the law once made a distinction between terms for published and unpublished works, the date of first publication can also make a difference.
The simplest way to determine if copyright is still held is to ask the person or organization who would hold the copyright. Usually this will be the publisher of the work (if the author is still alive, the answer is almost certainly that it is not public domain).
You could also contact the U.S. Copyright Office and ask them to search for the registration of a particular copyright, but it costs a hefty fee and won't help if the author has not registered the copyright (which authors are not required to do to gain protection under copyright law). The good news is that published works are almost always registered by the publisher.
The U.S. Copyright office has put together a circular about investigating who holds copyrights on an item.
Can the library answer my questions about copyright?
While we are happy to share what we know with you, it must be stressed that we are not lawyers. We have made every effort to become as familiar as possible with both the law and the various guidelines for copying, but there are large areas where our knowledge simply does not extend. Also, due to the nature of the fair use provisions, nobody, not even a lawyer, can give you a definitive answer on whether a particular use of copyrighted material is fair use ahead of time.
Where can I learn more about copyright and fair use?
You can go the the US Copyright office page for more complete information. You may want to check with the Administrative Code Officer, Marc Cardinalli (mcardinal@ccmail.nevada.edu) or look at questions and answers about copyright or the UNLV copyright information page.
Who do I contact with questions about placing items on reserve?
Lied Library
Reserves Coordinator
702-895-2181
Curriculum Materials Library
Deanna Stefanelli
895-4083
dstef@ccmail.nevada.edu
Architecture Studies Library
Jason Aubin
jason.aubin@ccmail.nevada.edu
895-1966
Music Library
Kathleen Marx
895-2541
kmarx@ccmail.nevada.edu
What is the turnaround time for electronic and paper reserves?
For electronic reserves, it takes seven working days from the time the material is dropped off at the circulation desk. Add another seven working days if dropped off during the week immediately before and after the first day of class.
For paper reserves, it takes two to three working days from the time the material is dropped off. Add another two to three working days if dropped off during the week before or after the first day of class.
Turnaround time at the branch libraries may be considerably shorter. Ask when you drop off the material.
Are there any restrictions on what can be placed on reserve?
UNLV library operates reserve systems in order for instructors to get copies of assigned readings to students in their classes. The system is not to be used for any other purpose.
Materials not accepted for reserves include:
What is the procedure for putting something on reserve?
Bring the material you want placed on reserve to the library, along with a completed and signed copy of the reserves form (PDF). If the material is going on electronic reserve, bring a photocopy of the material. Remember that the branch libraries run their own physical reserves systems. If you wish to have something on reserve at the Architecture Studies Library, it must be taken there; we do not route material back and forth.
Can I have someone else pull things from the shelves and make copies?
Library staff cannot retrieve items from the stacks for you and make copies. The time required to do this would adversely impact our ability to get your materials processed in a timely manner. Campus Repographics offers this service for a fee.
Why do I still have to bring in a photocopy for electronic reserves? Can't you just scan from the original?
The time it would take to locate documents and assemble them for scanning would extend the turnaround time for processing our request and would impact our ability to serve others. Also, the sheet feeder can only handle loose, letter-sized sheets, not bound books and journal issues.
Can I e-mail, fax or bring the library scanned copies of materials to put up?
We are asking that people not do this. We may possibly be able to accept files via e-mail or the web in the future.
What else do I need to be aware of when submitting photocopies for scanning?
What if I teach the same course again? Do I have to resubmit everything that was scanned?
Not always. The library does archive old courses and documents, so if your course was taught within one to two years, your old course page may still exist, along with all the documents you used. To have it reactivated or changed, submit a reserves form with copies of any new material.
