Purpose

The Library/LRC reserve collection consists of materials listed as primary references in the MUSM Study Guides, the clerkship reading lists, and items placed on reserve as temporary materials for student use. Reserve items supplied by faculty are assigned temporary item numbers for the reserve collections. The LRC reserve collection consists of models and specimens in heavy demand during a phase. The reserve service is designed to ensure that every student in the class has equal access to assigned material.

Location

Reserve materials are located behind the Circulation Desk in the Library or LRC.

Eligible Collections

Materials that may be placed on reserve are: books or audiovisual materials from the MUSM Library's circulating collection, photocopies of articles, personal or departmental copies of books, or special items such as previous examinations, pamphlets, clippings, charts and unpublished materials. Items placed on reserve in the LRC are materials normally housed in the LRC.

The MUSM Library and LRC cannot assume responsibility for the loss of or damage to personal and/or photocopied materials.

Photocopies

Copies of articles to be placed on reserve must be supplied by the faculty member. Due to copyright restrictions, no more than one copy of each title per 15 students in the class may be placed on reserve.

Availability

Standard checkout of reserve items is four hours. However, four hours before closing, reserve materials may be checked out for overnight use provided they are returned one hour after reopening. Clerkship Reserve 2 items may be checked out for the entire length of the clinical rotation.

Procedure For Placing Materials On Reserve

All requests for new editions, new titles, and new software to be listed in the Study Guide, and thus placed on reserve, must be received at least three weeks prior to the start of the phase to allow enough time for ordering and cataloging these materials. Otherwise, the MUSM Library and LRC cannot guarantee that materials will be available when they are needed.

All material on reserve in the Library and LRC, regardless of its origin, will have a barcode attached. All items placed on reserve remain on reserve for the length of the phase or rotation only. Items are then returned to the general library collection or to the faculty member who provided them.

Faculty members who supply photocopied materials to be placed on temporary reserve are advised that it is their responsibility to obtain permission from the copyright holder. A sample letter and request form are available in  PDF and  Microsoft Word formats.

Please contact the Medical Library at 301-4056 or by email at reference.ill@gain.mercer.edu for assistance in locating the copyright holder for a given resource. The Library will help with publisher or author contact information but cannot be responsible for obtaining permissions. Requesting permission to place items on reserve is the responsibility of the faculty member who cites the item in the Study Guide, whether the item is available in print or electronically. Any permission fees incurred are also the responsibility of the faculty member or his/her department.

Electronic Reserves

If a faculty member wishes to make copyrighted reserve materials available electronically for students, he/she must first obtain copyright permission as above, and then provide a copy of the item to MUSM Senior Web Developer Michelle Bliss; email bliss_m@mercer.edu  for posting on the Medicine website.

Each phase, the Library develops a list of freely-available links to primary BMP reserve materials available electronically. This list includes links to MUSM e-textbooks, free online articles, and pertinent Web sites. All materials included on this list come from resources listed in each phase's Study Guide. The E-Reserves list is then distributed to students in each class and is also available from within the Medicine Website under "Library References" for that phase.

Please note that since these materials are protected by copyright, the Library cannot scan and post the full text of chapters or articles. We can only provide links to the materials, not the materials themselves.

The Library would be happy to create similar lists of links to freely-available resources for any other MUSM department or program. Simply provide us with a copy of the appropriate Study Guide or syllabus at least three weeks prior to the start of the program/class.