How to Find Course "Reserve" Items

What Are Reserves?

Sometimes your course instructor has put items on "Reserve" for you and your classmates to read. These might be photocopies of articles, pages from a book, course notes, or entire books. They are on Reserve so that everyone in the class has an opportunity to read them.

All Reserve items are kept behind the Circulation/Reserve Desk on the Main (2nd) Floor of the Bata Library. They can be signed out for short time periods - usually 3 hours.

To obtain a Reserve item, get the call number from TOPCAT (the library catalogue), and take this number to the Circulation Desk. The staff will get the item for you (using the call number you give them), sign it out to you and tell you when it's due.

Be careful to return Reserve items on time, because the fine rates are per 15-minute timeslots and they can get high quite quickly. The high fine rate is because Reserve items are usually in demand, and your classmates may be waiting for you to return them. Be sure to return your Reserve item in the proper slot, so that it receives immediate attention.

Finding a Call Number

Searching By Title:

The easiest way to find it in TOPCAT is by title. If you know the title (your course instructor probably gave you this information), search for the title using a title search in TOPCAT. It will take you directly to your item, or to a list of items with the same title.

The only tricky part about this is knowing which title to look up. If it's a chapter of a book, the whole book may be on Reserve or just a photocopy of the chapter. You may need to try both titles.

Using the Reserves Function:

If you don't know the title, or if you want to see a list of everything on Reserve for your course, you can search the Reserves section of TOPCAT.

1. Click on "Reserves".
2. Fill in either the course code or the instructor's last name.
3. Click on the button (either course code or instructor) to do the search.
4. TOPCAT will show you a list of everything on Reserve for that course or instructor. If your course has several instructors, or your instructor has several courses, the list is further subdivided.

See also the TOPCAT Tutorial on Searching for Reserve Items.

What is the Call Number?

If the Reserve item you are looking for is a book from our regular library stacks, it will have a regular call number:

RC 164.8 .A6.

If it is a photocopy or an instructor's personal copy of a book, it will have a call number with either:

4 letters - 4 numbers: RABB-2323
1 letter (R/P) and 6 numbers: R498254.

Note that the word "reprint" means "photocopy".

This is the number you need to take to the Circulation Desk, so that the staff can find your item for you.

E-Reserves

Link to eRes.

Some courses also have Reserve material available on eRes, an online E-Reserve system. If your course is using eRes, your instructor will tell you so and provide a username/password to access the items.

See more information on E-Reserves.

What if You Can't Find It?

If you can't find what you need, ask at the Information Desk for help. We'll check that you have the course number correct, try various forms of the title, or check the spelling of your instructor for you. Sometimes it's tricky to find a specific title.

Don't ask the staff at the Circulation Desk to help you find something. There are thousands of items on Reserve, and they are all shelved by call number. Without a call number, they are impossible to find.

See our webpage Can't find your Reserve readings?.