Emory University uses the Canvas Learning Management System for all courses. Canvas is managed by the Teaching & Learning Technologies team. In addition to providing Canvas support, the team also provides Instructional Design support, Teaching with Video support, and Poll Everywhere support. They also support a Teaching with Canvas Program, a 7-week cohort program designed to encourage sustainable Canvas course development and instructional innovation.
"Course Reserves" is the platform Emory University uses to organize course materials. Instructors make course materials such as PDFs, articles, websites, e-books, and streaming media freely available to their students via the Course Reserves platform. In fact, Emory University requires all free course materials beyond the course textbook(s) be uploaded to the Course Reserves platform. The powerful Course Reserves system interfaces directly with OPUS, Canvas, and Library Search and thus allows students and instructors single-click access to all reserves material for individual courses. If you prefer to have students purchase a physical course packet, contact the bookstore directly by emailing Lang Thompson at wlthomp@emory.edu.
Course Reserves and Canvas
Students access course materials directly through Canvas by clicking on the Library Course Reserves link within a course.
Course Reserves and Copyright
All copyrighted material must be uploaded to the Course Reserves system if you would like to make it available to your students. Emory University takes copyright law very seriously. Instructors are not to distribute copyrighted material to students directly. Rather, all copyrighted material must be uploaded to Course Reserves for distribution.
Once copyrighted material has been uploaded into the Course Reserves system, we will assess the content and determine if is is available for use via the fair use exemption to copyright law. If we determines that the content exceeds our guidelines, Emory Libraries will seek and pay applicable permission fees on the content as a service to our faculty and students. Emory Libraries has a special fund to pay for permissions for content included in the Course Reserves system to support classroom instruction university-wide.
Managing Course Reserves Content
All course materials beyond the course textbook(s) must be uploaded to the Course Reserves platform. This includes online materials such as PDFs, articles, websites, e-books, weblinks for Emory database content, etc. Once uploaded into Course Reserves, materials can be reactivated each semester as needed and do not need to be uploaded again each semester.
Online materials can be uploaded into Course Reserves by instructors or can be submitted to the MacMillan Law Library for upload. To submit materials to the library for addition to Course Reserves, please complete a Faculty Request Form, select "Electronic Course Reserves," and provide us with as much information as possible. For details on adding new materials yourself, or reactivating past reserve materials yourself, see the Course Reserves for Instructors library guide created by Emory's Woodruff Library.
Physical materials can be dropped off at the library's Service Desk. Please include instructor and class information when dropping off physical materials to be placed on the library's reserves shelf. Information regarding physical reserve materials will be included in the Course Reserves platform (and in Canvas). Students are able to check out physical reserve materials for two hours and can be renewed except in cases where a waiting list has been created for that item.
Questions about Course Reserves?
If you have questions about the Course Reserves platform, Emory Library's Course Reserves Policies, copyright, or anything else related to Course Reserves, please submit your questions via our Faculty Request Form, select "Electronic Course Reserves," and add you question to the "Please...describe your request..." section of the form. A Course Reserves specialist will contact you with additional information.
Our six dual-degreed librarians are available to provide classroom legal research instruction or specialized research guides upon request. To request legal research instruction or support, please submit a Faculty Request form , select "Other," and provide as much information as possible.
Emory University takes plagiarism very seriously. For additional information and faculty resources, see our Plagiarism Resources for Emory Law Faculty library guide.
Affordable Textbooks and Teaching Materials
The purpose of the Affordable Textbooks and Teaching Materials (ATTM) initiative is to promote awareness of and access to course materials that are up-to-date, satisfy academic needs, and are affordable to students. ATTM materials provide informative, effective, and active solutions to the rising costs of textbooks, such as