Reserves FAQ

General Questions

Who can I contact with questions about electronic and physical reserves?

By E-mail

By Telephone

By Campus Mail

Physics Library, 350 VAN

By U.S. Mail

Physics Library
350 Van Allen Hall
The University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa 52242

What is "course reserve"?

Course reserves are a system by which instructors can have materials essential to a course scanned in or pulled from the shelf and made available to students via the web or on special check-out at the library.

Is everything on electronic reserve?

No. Some items cannot be scanned due to the physical limitations of the document scanner. These items are kept on "physical reserve."

Physical Reserves

What is on physical reserve?

Whole books (won't go in the sheet-fed scanner)
Any material that is larger than letter-size (it won't fit in our sheet-fed scanner)
Any media item

What do I need to access physical reserve material?

You must have one of the following: A valid U. Iowa student, faculty, or staff ID No exceptions!

Where can I pick up physical reserve items?

From the circulation desk of the Physics Library.

How long are the checkout periods?

Most reserve items can be checked out for 2 hours. However, if a reserve item is checked out within 2 hours of the library's closing time, it will be due within the first hour of the library's next opening time. Some reserve items can be checked out for 2 hours but must be used only in the library. There are also some reserve items that can be checked out for 3 days.

How many Physical reserve items can I have out at one time?

You are limited to two items at any given time.

Are there fines? How much are they?

Fines for an overdue reserve items: For 2-hour reserve items, fines accrue at $0.60 per hour. Fines for an overdue 3-day reserve item accrue at $2.00 per day

Using Electronic Reserves

What is the URL for electronic reserves?

E-Reserves can be reached from the Physics library website. http://libres.lib.uiowa.edu/physics/

What do I need to get into the system and look at material?

You will need your Hawk ID.. You will also need a web browser installed and a copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader to look at the documents. The reader is available for download free from the Adobe Website.

I clicked on the document, but it didn't come up! What's wrong?

Most likely, you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. Go to the Adobe Website and try downloading and installing the latest version of the reader.

Are there physical copies of electronic reserve material as backup?

In some cases there may be physical copies on reserve as backup. Check with the Physics Library circulation desk..