Access Services

Course Reserves at NSCC

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In order to provide access to the greatest number of students, required course textbooks and materials that the library has available will be available electronically. With few exceptions, the Library does not lend physical copies of textbooks and course materials, but will be happy to assist users in accessing required materials online. Courses with required texts available electronically can be found here: HELM Catalog > NSCC Courses.

If you would like to request that the library purchase an electronic version of a required text, please complete the Purchase Request Form. The Library cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain electronic access to all requests though we will make every effort to do so.

In providing digital access to required materials, the NSCC Library will first look into obtaining institutional access via a database. If that is not possible, the Library will see if a copy can be made available via BibliU. If neither of those options can provide digital access to a course reserve, then Library will then pursue Controlled Digital Lending (CDL) as an option. See below for information on how to access items via these various platforms.

What are course reserves?

Course reserves are required textbooks, supplemental materials and media made available via the Library. You can locate items on course reserve by going to the Course Reserves System website and select "North Shore Community College" for library. We also have e-reserves that can be accessed through the course page in Blackboard (typically these are scans of book chapters or magazine articles requested by the instructor). Course reserves are accessible to NSCC students, staff, and faculty only.

A note about lab manuals and other consumables: Fair use does not allow for the provision of lab manuals and other consumables via traditional course reserves, including allowing physical copies to circulate and scanning them. However, if the Library is able to license them digitally, we can do so and provide a link for access.

How do you see if the library has an item on course reserve?

You can locate items on course reserve by going to the Course Reserves System website and select "North Shore Community College" for library.  Sort and browse by department, course, or instructor or use the search box in the top left corner to search by title or ISBN. Keep in mind the library does not have every required item on reserve at this time. Here's a video tutorial on how to search for textbooks:

Accessing course reserves

The NSCC Library has made course reserves available electronically via multiple platforms. If accessing an electronic course reserve from our online catalog, refer to the Notes field for more information on how to access. Examples can be found below.

eBook via Database

Clicking on the Item URI link will take you to the eBook. Some platforms have a limit to how many users can access an eBook at one time, which should be indicated in the Notes field. If you have difficulty accessing an eBook after clicking the link, contact us at library@northshore.edu

BibliU

Clicking on the Item URI link will take you to the BibliU log in page, where after logging you will be able to access the eBook via BibliU. If this is your first time using BibliU, create an account by clicking "sign up" in upper right corner of BibliU login page.

CDL (Controlled Digital Lending)

Some of our eBooks are available via pdfs that will expire after two hours. To access one of these titles, click on this link to request the title (you must  be signed into your MyNorthShore account before doing so).  A link to the pdf will be sent to your NSCC email, which expire two hours after the link is sent. If a copy is already being used when you request the title, you will be notified when the file will be available again.