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COVID-19: Updates on library services and operations.

Course readings and reserves support

The Syllabus Service assists faculty and staff at the University of Toronto with making course readings available to students, while respecting Canadian copyright law and U of T licensing agreements and policies. This service is also available to students enrolled in approved independent study/reading courses. 

Each campus runs its own course reserves services – UTM  & UTSC – and some libraries on the St. George campus have different submission points. 

COVID-19 updates  |  What we do  |  Submit your syllabus  |  Copyright  |  When your syllabus is ready  |  Services at other libraries

COVID-19 service updates

U of T libraries are open online and the Syllabus Service is being offered remotely.

Physical course reserves closed

Physical course reserves at all central libraries are currently closed due to public health concerns.

Acquiring electronic versions

Our staff will investigate the possibility of acquiring electronic versions of texts that instructors would typically place on physical reserves: however, there are many challenges when it comes to replicating physical reserves in an electronic context.

Please read our statement on these challenges.

If you had previously placed items in physical course reserves, let us know and we will do our best to acquire an electronic copy.

Priority service dates waived

Priority service dates for the Summer 2021 term have been waived. Please send your reading lists as soon as you can, and our staff will begin processing them. We accept reading lists at any time.

What we do

Using our collections: Our library staff will work with you to identify materials from our extensive digital collections that will support your course reading lists.

Acquiring e-content: We do our best to acquire any digital content needed, such as e-books, streaming audio, and video through purchase and other vendor agreements. 

We regret that not every request will be able to be fulfilled. For example, publishers do not make some types of e-books, including most textbooks, available for purchase by libraries.

Copyright clearance: We will review your course materials for coverage by the University of Toronto's Fair Dealing Guidelines or an existing license, and negotiate copyright clearance for any items that exceed these. 

Scanning book excerpts: We will retrieve print books from Robarts Library and other available UTL collections, and scan excerpts to support your required readings. Book excerpts are provided in compliance with Fair Dealing Guidelines or permissions from the rightsholder. 

Requests for streaming media: If your list contains audiovisual material that you require in streaming format, please submit your requests using this form.

Easy access for students: Your readings will be made available in the Library Course Reserves app in Quercus as a single list of your assigned course materials, providing students with easy access to articles, ebooks, chapter/excerpts, web links, and media resources, in one place. 

Providing material for you to upload on your own: If you request this, we will email you the PDF files of scanned journal articles or book chapters for you to post yourself into Quercus or a similar password-protected course management system.

Not currently available: We will place print items in the course reserves collection of your preferred library for the duration of the course.  

To submit your syllabus

Email your syllabus with full citations (including page numbers, when applicable), to syllabus.service@library.utoronto.ca as a Microsoft Word document, PDF, or rich text file. 

Please include:

  • Course name and course code
  • Your name and contact information
  • Course start and end dates 
  • Number of students in your course

Please also let us know:

  • If you have access to any print items on your reading list
  • If you will be assigning something for an exam

Returning instructors

In your email, please clearly indicate to our staff whether your course is one that has used the syllabus service before.

Our system saves information from past course instances. This information can be copied and updated to save time and ensure that readings are copyright compliant.

Please also let us know if the course code has changed, and include a revised syllabus if necessary. 

Copyright

We will contact you about any copyright concerns in your syllabus.

We will negotiate copyright clearance for items that exceed our current licences and fair dealing guidelines at no cost to you.

If a resource cannot be made accessible, Library staff will let you know as soon as possible. Please be aware that it may take a few weeks to determine if something is available.

When your syllabus is ready

Your readings will be available in the Library Course Reserves app as a single list of your assigned course readings.

Accessing your assigned readings

The Library Course Reserves list for your course can be accessed by you and your students in two ways:

  1. Access in Quercus. Click on http://uoft.me/quercus-course-reserves and follow the simple steps to add the Library Course Reserves app to your course side navigation bar.

  2. Course reserves login: Login into https://cr.library.utoronto.ca with your UTORID and select the course you want to view.

  • Using course reserves login will let you create a direct link to your course that you can share with your students in different ways, e.g., in your syllabus, via email, or by posting to a learning management system like Quercus or Pepper.
  • Select 'Switch to student mode' 
  • Copy and paste the link in your browser window.
  • The link will work only for enrolled students and only for a particular instance of a course.

Course reserves & syllabus service at other U of T libraries

If you are not sure where to send your reading list, email syllabus.service@library.utoronto.ca and we can redirect your list to the appropriate library.

Libraries on the St George campus that offer a syllabus service with different submission points are:

Libraries at colleges and professional faculties are also able to assist when course requirements are better supported by specialized library collections or local course reserve services.

Please visit the individual websites of these colleges or faculties for contact details.

Syllabus Service data collection

Data from course outlines sent to the Syllabus Service will be used for the purposes of providing and improving University of Toronto Libraries’ services to its user groups.

Access to this information is limited to University of Toronto Libraries staff who require the information to perform their job duties. This information will not be shared with third parties.