The Libraries’ Course Resources tool in Canvas is designed to help instructors work with the library to incorporate material in their courses. Instructors should use this tool to build reading lists and communicate with the library. Click "My list is ready" to send your List to the Library and we will link to, scan, or purchase any missing items and publish your list so that students can view it. Instructors can also link to items or sections (weeks) of their Course Resources list in Canvas Modules. See Instructions for using Course Resources.
Below are some library content strategies faculty and instructional designers should consider when designing a course.
| Subject Librarians |
Meet with a subject librarian who can give you a library overview, help you identify content BC may or may not own (is it free or owned, or can we purchase), provide support to students through Canvas, and answer copyright questions. |
| Library Catalog & Course Resources |
Search the library catalog to find out if BC has access and use Course Resources to build your reading list. You can add items from the library catalog and items you find on the web directly to your Course Resources list. The library will review items we own (buy more copies, or upgrade so that multiple students can use it at the same time), and review or try to purchase items we don't own. |
| Affordable Course Material |
Search for Affordable Course Material such as Open Textbooks, Open Access books and journals, or have the library purchase material so students don't have to. Some online textbooks are not sold to libraries. If that is the case, we will let you know so you can look for other material or have us scan a chapter or two from the print version. |
| Print material (books, journals, dvds) |
We will check for an online version to buy ebooks, link to articles, or get streaming rights. If a book is only available in print, we can scan a fair-use portion, usually one or two chapters. For in-person or hybrid classes, we can put a physical copy on reserve for students to use in the library. Please indicate that a print copy is requested for physical reserves on your Course Resources list. |
| Linking to library content in Canvas Modules |
When adding library resources to Canvas Modules, follow the instructions to link to items or sections of your Course Resources list in Canvas. These links should work from off-campus. For more details see Remote Access to Library Resources. |
| Accessibility | The library will supply accessible content. Link rather than uploading pdf files or have the library create accessible scans. Make sure students are aware of tools such as Read&Write that makes documents, files, and web pages more accessible. |
| Type of material | Considerations | How long it may take |
| Books and Book Chapters |
If the publisher sells an ebook, we will try to purchase it; we cannot buy ebooks that are only restricted to individual use such as Amazon Kindle ebooks. If the book is only available in print, then copyright restrictions would only allow about 1-2 chapters to be scanned. |
1-2 weeks |
| Articles | We link to articles in subscription journals or upload scans that we get from other libraries using Interlibrary Loan. | 1 week |
| Films / streaming media | We will try to negotiate for streaming rights and license access. We cannot license films on commercial platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, etc. that do not allow for institutional access. | 1 month |
| Short clip from a DVD | If we own the DVD, we will create a short clip and put that into Panopto. | 1 week |
| Full course reading list | Within Course Resources, click My list is ready to send your list to the library for processing. | 1-4 weeks |
