Requesting Course Materials

Gutman Library works with faculty and teaching teams to deliver required course materials to students in digital format through the Library Reserves Tool in Canvas.

To ensure students have access to required course materials by the first day of courses, faculty, teaching teams, and faculty coordinators should try to adhere to the following deadlines:

For August 2024/Foundations:

• Monday, July 8: Faculty share syllabi and any course materials needs with Faculty Support Services 

For Fall 2024:

• Friday, August 9: Faculty share syllabi and any course materials needs with Faculty Support Services

For January Term 2025:

• Friday, November 1: Deadline for Faculty to send draft syllabus/required reading list submissions to assigned Faculty Coordinator for coordination with Gutman Library

• Friday, December 20: Goal to launch all Canvas course sites with required readings for students to access.   

• Monday, January 6: J-Term first day of classes

For Spring 2025:

• Spring and Spring 1

  • Monday December 2: Deadline for Faculty to send draft syllabus/required reading list submissions to assigned Faculty Coordinator for coordination with Gutman Library.  

  • Friday January 24: Goal to launch all Canvas course sites with required readings for Week 1 and 2 available for students to access.    

  • Monday January 27: Spring first day of classes 

• Spring 2

  • Friday January 31: Deadline for Faculty to send draft syllabus/required reading list submissions to assigned Faculty Coordinator for coordination with Gutman Library.  

  • Friday March 21: Goal to launch all Canvas course sites with required readings for Week 1 and 2 available for students to access.   

  • Monday March 24: Spring 2 first day of classes 

Adding New Readings through the Library Reserves Tool

If you are adding a new citation/reading to a syllabus, use the integrated HOLLIS search tab in the Library Reserve Tool in Canvas to see if it is already owned or available at Gutman or another Harvard Library in digital format:

Available through Gutman or Harvard Library

• Select the item (blue, plus sign icon) to add a related citation in the Library Reserves Tool. Students will be able to access the material immediately.

Not available through Gutman or Harvard Library

• Create a new citation in the Library Reserves Tool for the needed material.
• Submit information about the needed material to the Gutman Library Course Materials Request Form. The Course Materials Team will process your request and update the citation when the material becomes available. You will be notified if there are any problems with your request.

Re-Using or Deleting Unneeded Readings

• If a course has been offered in the past, the Library Reserves list from that course is retained and rolled-over/re-used for the new instance of the course in Canvas. All citations, including any attached files, will be retained and available for students to access. Delete/remove any items that will not be re-used and submit requests. Faculty and teaching teams can email the Course Materials Team (reserves@gse.harvard.edu) with any questions or if support is needed.

Course Materials Requests

Contact the Gutman Library Course Materials Team (reserves@gse.harvard.edu) with any questions about requesting or accessing course materials and using the Library Reserves Tool in Canvas. You can also explore the library's FAQ entries about course materials processes and tools.

The Gutman Library Course Materials Team includes Hannah Winkler, Rebecca Martin, Julie Petzold, and Brandon Lebel.

Faculty Support Services

You can also contact the Faculty Coordinator assigned to your course with questions. The Course Materials Team works very closely with all Faculty Coordinators on course materials workflows. If you do not know which Coordinator is assigned to your course, please contact Matt Tallon (matt_tallon@gse.harvard.edu), the Administrative Director of Faculty Support Services.

Canvas Assistance

Contact the IT Service Center if you need support adding the Library Reserves Tool to your courses in Canvas or if you have any other technical assistance needs related to Canvas.