The Libraries can help with your course reserves, we can provide support in assignment design, and offer online tutorials and lessons related to research, writing, and citations, like the Library Information Tutorial, tutorials related to the integrated literacies (research, reading, and writing/editing), and citations.

Additionally, as faculty prepare for spring quarter, please know that the Libraries offers a range of resources and services to support teaching face-to-face and online, including the Integrated Academic Literacies Workshop Series. If you decide to request one of our workshops, for the first few weeks of the quarter while classes are occurring online, we will schedule workshop sessions to occur synchronously via Zoom. For more information about our Integrated Academic Literacies Workshops, please send an email to LearningCommons@wwu.edu. For help with discipline-specific research or course materials, please contact the appropriate subject team.

If you need help setting up your online course, designing an online course, or changing the modalities of a course, please contact ATUS/CIAA for more in-depth assistance.

There can be some difficulties in providing and accessing some resources online as not all materials can be streamed due to license or other complexities.

General information on Western Libraries' Media Guidelines include information related to purchasing streaming materials. Information on how faculty can request that the library purchase a license for streaming video is also available in the Media Guidelines, use this form to request the purchase of a streaming license.

If you have shown DVDs in class and want to know if they are available via streaming video, you can search Just.Watch.com to see if a video is available streaming, on what platform it’s available, and if it’s free or if there is a cost. In general, converting DVDs to streaming is not possible due to licensing, but there can be exceptions in some cases. Contact the Media Librarian, Jeff Purdue, for help.

Heritage Resources is exploring creative ways to use online technology to maintain support for teaching, learning and research needs. We are developing training videos on the use of the MABEL platform and strategies for doing primary source research online. We look forward to working with faculty and students to further develop digital content in support of their curricular goals. Contact Heritage.Resources@wwu.edu or call (360) 650-7534 with questions or for more information.

Course Reserves 

The Libraries will continue to support course reserves as much as possible, though due to increased demand the processing time may be longer than usual. Additionally, we are unable to scan physical materials for course reserve until the statewide stay-at-home order has been lifted. Faculty should submit reserve requests as soon as possible. Electronic reserves should become available in the order in which requests are received.

Please note that copyright law applies to all course reserve materials. If you want to learn more about making course materials available online, please review the Teaching Remotely: Copyright guide available via the Libraries’ website. If you need help identifying online materials to support your syllabus for spring, please reach out to your subject team for additional support.

Canvas

If the item you wish to use is available online, you can link out to it from Canvas. You may wish to utilize diligent link-checking, particularly when your students will be needing to use it, to ensure that the item doesn’t disappear.

If the item is something that is part of the Western Libraries collection, it is possible to use the item in Canvas with little restrictions. It is better to link directly to the item, using the EZ Proxy prefix (EBSCO databases do not require it, use the direct link provided) before the URL of the item you wish to link to: http://ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/login?url=

For example, linking to the article “Globalizations are plural” in International Sociology found at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0268580900015002001 would look like this: http://ezproxy.library.wwu.edu/login?url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0268580900015002001

If you are needing to scan materials you have on hand to use, start with the first chapter as a way to prepare for the beginning of the quarter. This will fall within Fair Use (see below). Beyond that first chapter, the fair use exemption may be possible to utilize--instructors will need to use the Fair Use Checklist to determine that. Feel free to reach out to the Copyright Librarian for assistance with using the Checklist. Check out the Western Libraries Copyright page for more information: https://library.wwu.edu/use/copyright/copyright-faqs

Fair Use

The Fair Use exemption considers certain uses of copyright works to be fair uses – that is, to not be copyright infringement. Fair use applies to “purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research” (17 U.S.C. § 107).

Fair use determinations must be made for each intended use and are dependent on a balance of the Four Factors of Fair Use. These are:

1. Purpose or character of the use

2. The nature of the copyrighted Work

3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole

4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

Tools like the Fair Use Checklist, a roadmap that can help you understand the individual factors and how different uses favor or oppose fair use, the Fair Use Evaluator, which provides the opportunity to describe the use and provide context, and the Codes of Best Practices in Fair Use, which put forth standards of fair use within a discipline, are available to help with fair use determinations.

The TEACH Act?

It is not copyright infringement for teachers and students at nonprofit education institutions (such as Western) to transmit performances (music, movies, etc.) and displays (image, text, etc.) of copyrighted works as a part of a course if certain conditions are met. Further information can be found in the TEACH Act Toolkit. Feel free to reach out to the Copyright Librarian for assistance with using the TEACH Act.

Open Education Resources

Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching materials that are openly licensed with a Creative Commons license or materials that already exist in the public domain. Open educational resources are free to students and faculty and do not infringe on copyright laws. That means if you find an OER textbook you want to use, you can attach the whole thing to your CANVAS site without worrying about copyright!

Most OER are digital resources that can be found in a variety of websites online. Check out WWU’s Teaching Handbook “finding” page for places to search for OER. OER are typically organized by subject and by kind of material (digital textbook, journal article, data set, etc.). If you want to get started looking for OER textbooks, we recommend looking at OpenStax or the University of Minnesota’s Open Textbook Library.

Feel free to reach out to the Scholarly Communications Librarian or the Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment for assistance.

Western Washington University students, staff, and faculty, can now place requests online for items from the Western Libraries and also from Summit libraries which can be picked up later via curbside on-site pickup or mailed directly to you. Physical books and materials obtained via Interlibrary Loan (ILL) are not available at this time.

Requests for materials must be submitted online via the OneSearch catalog on the Libraries’ website. for more information and instructions about requesting materials for on-site pickup or mail, please see: Requesting Materials for On-site Pickup and Mailing.

At this time, options to request items from Western Libraries for pick up or mail delivery are restricted to current students, staff, and faculty at Western. Unfortunately we are currently unable to extend these same services to borrowers without an active W# and account at Western.

Please note that Bellingham Public Library is offering to all of their current cardholders online requesting and curbside pickup of their library materials at their Central Branch location. For more information about those options, please see: https://www.bellinghampubliclibrary.org/curbside.

For questions about access to materials from the Music Library, or for other questions related specifically to the Music Library, please contact Marian.Ritter@wwu.edu.

In order to ensure that those who are unable to return items due to COVID-19 do not accrue late fees, the due dates for materials have been extended to January 8, 2021. If you are able to return materials before that date, the book return drop located beneath the skybridge on the exterior of the Wilson side is now open all hours. (Please note: It may take up to a week after you have returned materials for the items to be checked in and cleared from your library account). You may also return items by mail to: Western Libraries / 516 High Street / Bellingham, WA 98225-9103.

To find out if there is an Orbis Cascade Alliance (Summit) library in your areas where you may be able to return materials, or if you have other questions about returning library materials, please email the Circulation Desk at library.circulation@wwu.edu.

Please contact Classroom Services at 360-650-3300 or classroomservices.forms@wwu.edu with questions about due dates for materials checked out from their Haggard 114 loan desk or the Student Technology Center. Please do not return any equipment items in the book drop. If you have questions about a specific loan, contact the Circulation Desk at library.circulation@wwu.edu.

In order to ensure that those who are unable to return items due to COVID-19 do not accrue late fees, the due dates for materials currently checked out have been extended to January 8, 2021.

Please contact Classroom Services at 360-650-3300 or classroomservices.forms@wwu.edu with questions about due dates for materials checked out from their Haggard 114 loan desk or the Student Technology Center. Please do not return any equipment items in the book drop. If you have questions about a specific loan, contact the Circulation Desk at library.circulation@wwu.edu.

Western Libraries is committed to providing access to library services and collections and has implemented required and recommended precautions to support the health and safety of WWU students, staff, and faculty. The Libraries remains open online and will provide onsite pick up and mail delivery of library materials through fall quarter and for the foreseeable future.

The latest guidance from the State of Washington has given libraries permission to open their buildings to the public at reduced capacity if specific health and safety requirements are met. However, the state also advises libraries to “continue to facilitate services through the mail or via curbside pick-up where possible to limit interaction between staff and customers within enclosed space." Western Libraries is complying with the state’s advice and is providing access to services and collections online while also offering onsite pick up and mail delivery of library materials. At this time, it is not safe to open Western’s library buildings as public gathering spaces or for face-to-face services. The university’s library buildings will remain closed until public access can be offered safely and without negatively impacting the Western Libraries’ current essential services.

Summit requesting will be available again beginning Thursday, September 17, 2020. Due to quarantine requirements and reduced staffing at our partner libraries, delivery of Summit materials will take longer than normal—likely 10-14 days for on-site curbside pickup and longer for postal mail delivery.

Please note: The Orbis Cascade Alliance has reinstituted sharing materials on an opt-in basis and some libraries, including the University of Washington, have not yet rejoined. This means materials you may have successfully requested through Summit in the past may not be currently available.

At this time, it is still not possible to borrow books and other physical items via interlibrary loan. However, you may still request articles or other electronic items through interlibrary loan, and all the Libraries’ electronic collections continue to be available.

Document Delivery is not currently operating. However, faculty and staff may now place requests online for items from Western Libraries or through Summit which can be picked up later via curbside on-site pickup or mailed directly to your address.

Requests for materials must be submitted online via the OneSearch catalog on the Libraries’ website. for more information and instructions about requesting materials for on-site pickup or mail, please see: Requesting Materials for On-site Pickup and Mailing.

Yes, but please note that all course reserve materials at this time are electronic and available online. Course instructors, faculty members, or their representatives may submit reserve requests. To submit a course reserves request, please use the Course Reserves Request Form, or contact (360) 650-7593 / email course.reserves@wwu.edu. For more information about course reserves, please see: “Course Reserves for Faculty.”

Please remember that copyright law applies to all course reserve materials. If you want to learn more about making course materials available online, please review the Teaching Remotely: Copyright guide available via the Libraries’ website. If you need help identifying online materials to support your syllabus, please reach out to your subject team for additional support.

Yes! For the near future, the Libraries will purchase online copies of books and media already owned in physical form, if they meet other standard purchase criteria and are financially feasible. If you have questions about placing a purchase request, please contact Jesse Thomas, Resource Access Manager (jesse.thomas@wwu.edu) or reach out to your subject team

Heritage Resources staff remain available to assist with research inquiries over the phone and through email. Select digitized content is available through the MABEL platform and additional material may be provided remotely. Unfortunately we are not able to provide physical access to collection materials at this time. Contact Heritage.Resources@wwu.edu or call (360) 650-7534 for more information or to submit inquiries.

Western Libraries is not accepting requests or reservations for in-person events at this time as library buildings remain closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All regularly scheduled in-person programs and events are on hold for the foreseeable future. Currently, we are unable to provide any information about when this may change due to the uncertainty of the pandemic. Until we have more definitive information, we remain unable to make plans for future in-person events inside the library buildings. However, we will continue to host programs and events online.

If you have additional questions about events and programs at Western Libraries, please contact LibraryCommunications@wwu.edu. To watch video-recordings of past presentations, lectures, and events, please go to Western CEDAR at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/libraries_connections.

Western Libraries is not accepting requests or reservations for exhibits or displays inside the library as library buildings remain closed to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All regularly scheduled exhibits or plans for future exhibits are cancelled at this time and for the foreseeable future. Due to the uncertainty of the pandemic, we are unable to make any commitments to hosting or displaying future exhibits inside the library buildings at this time.

If you have additional questions about exhibits and displays at Western Libraries, please contact LibraryCommunications@wwu.edu.