Documentation: Managing reserves lists

From ReservesDirect: Open Source EReserves System

This article explains how to manipulate a list of materials that has been placed on reserve. First go to a class by going to the Manage Classes screen, clicking on "edit class", and selecting the class you wish to manipulate. Instructors would get to the same screen for their own classes from the MyReserves tab by clicking on the name of their class (an instructor's classes appear automatically in his or her MyReserves list as soon as the class is created, and displays with a pencil next to it).

The bottom section of the Edit Class screen displays all documents associated with a class (the "reserves list") and allows you to manipulate the list and the individual items in a number of ways. Most functions on the Edit Class screen are available to proxies, instructors, and staff, although some are restricted to instructors and staff or only to staff.

Table of contents

1 Working with headings 1.1 Headings As Folders 1.1.1 Working with folders 1.1.2 Special Considerations 2 Sorting reserve lists 2.1 Sort by author or title 2.2 Sort materials in a custom order 3 Hiding items from student view 4 Editing items on reserve 4.1 How Reserve Items Work 4.2 Editing Item Information 4.3 Adding Notes 5 Copying reserves from one class to another 6 Exporting a reserves list to courseware

Working with headings

Headings allow you to divide a reserves list into different categories, which can be the weeks according to the syllabus (e.g., Week 1, Week 2) or topics (e.g., Middle East, Southeastern Asia), or any other way you wish to organize the readings. Headings can also be used to provide syllabus notes or directions to students. You can also add notes to headings. Headings look different than regular reserve items, and on the Edit Class screen have a status of HEADING. Headings are permanently ACTIVE. They do not receive date ranges and cannot be hidden from student view.

To create a heading, simply click on "add a heading" from the Edit Class screen and type in the name of the heading on the Edit Heading screen. You can also add a note at this point if you wish. You can save the heading and return to the reserves list, or continue adding more headings.

Headings As Folders

In addition to being simple separators of content, headings can also act as folders. Folders can be used to group reserves together and simplify certain actions. For example, the 'copy to class', 'delete', or 'mark active/inactive' actions can be applied simultaneously to all the items in a folder. Also, when a folder's sort order is changed, the associated items travel with it.

Keep in mind that, in most ways, a header and a folder are identical. Thus, creating, editing, changing the sort order, etc. of a folder is accomplished in the same manner as for a heading. Also

Working with folders

Adding items to folders 

To add items to a heading, on the Edit Class screen, select the checkboxes of the items you wish to put inside the heading (you can add as many as you wish at one time). Scroll to the bottom of the screen to the "Add checked items to a heading" box and select a heading from the drop-down menu, then click the submit button. You can also place headings inside of other headings using the same method. If you place a heading inside another, all of the reserves associated with that heading will move with it as well.

It is easy to spot items/headings that are associated with a heading, as the whole group will be indented.

Sorting folders 

When you sort the main reserves list, only the top-most level of headings will be displayed on the sort screen. The reserves and sub-headings associated with these top-level headings will be hidden from view. If you wish to sort items associated with a heading, simply click on the 'sort' button for that heading (it is located next to the 'edit' button).

Special Considerations

"Random Sort" Issue 

Due to some folder algorithm limitations, the default title sort behaviour is no longer feasible. This means that if your class is not explicitly sorted (in whatever fashion you desire), the reserves list in Edit Class view and Student (or preview) view will look different. This will be especially true for reactivated older classes which were never sorted.

A simple solution to this problem is to sort the class. As soon as a sort order is assigned to items in the list, the different views of the list will match.

Organizing a large list 

A large reserves list with many headings may be difficult to group and sort. One tip to simplify your work and prevent sorting and resorting the list multiple times is to first organize all the folders (add reserves to headings, nest headings, etc.) and only then sort everything.

Sorting reserve lists

You may sort the items in your reserve list by title, author, or by a custom order of your choosing, such as syllabus order. When items are first added to a class, they will automatically fall into the correct position if the class is sorted by author or title. If no sort order exists, or if a custom order exists, the new item (or heading) will go to the bottom of the list.

Sort by author or title

1. From the "Edit Class" screen for a class, click on the "Sort main list" link just above the list of materials.
2. On the sort screen, click on "title" or "author" in the "Sort By" box. The list wil automatically sort by title or author.
3. Click "Save Order" to save the new order

Sort materials in a custom order

1. On the sort screen, each reserve item has a box with a number next to it. This box contains the item's current sort position.
2. To change the position of a reading, simply type the new position number into the text box and hit the "Tab" key or click in a new box. The order number of all of the readings will automatically update to reflect the change
3. Continue assigning numbers to the readings. If you make an error and would like to put the readings back in their original positions, you may do so by clicking "Reset to Original Values"
4. When you are finished, click "Save Order"

Hiding items from student view

Items can have a status of ACTIVE, INACTIVE, HIDDEN, or IN PROCESS. If an item is ACTIVE, it is visible to the students and can be used by them. If the status is INACTIVE, HIDDEN, or IN PROCESS, the students cannot view the material. These three statuses are used for the following purposes:

HIDDEN

You can "hide" items from student view and have them automatically appear to the whole class on a given date. For example, if you had a number of take-home tests for the class and only wanted the students to have access to them during the week the material was going to be covered in class, you could upload all of the tests at once and set dates for each one to appear to the students. You can also hide readings or labs until the week they will be covered in class if you do not want students to work ahead. By default, all items have an Activation Date of the first day of the semester.

To hide an item:

1. From the Manage Classes tab, select a class to edit by clicking "edit class" and looking up a class.
2. From the "Edit Class" screen, you will see a list of all reserve items for that class. Click on "edit" next to the item you wish to hide.
3. Enter the date you want the item to appear to students in the "Activation Date" fields in the format mm/dd/yyyy, or use the date widget. This date must fall during the current semester. Items have both "Active From:" and "Active To:" dates. "Active From:" should be equal to or after the first day of the semester and is the first day the item will be available to students; "Active To:" should be equal to or before the last day of the semester and is the date the item will no longer be available to students.

INACTIVE

Set an item's status to INACTIVE when you want to hide an item from the class and do not want it to become visible automatically on a given date. This can be useful in a number of circumstances where you may not want students to access the material but don't want to go to the trouble of removing it from the class and having to add it again the next time you want to use it.

To set an item to INACTIVE:

1. Go to the Edit Class screen for a given class.
2. Check the box or boxes next to the item or items you wish to set to INACTIVE.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the reserve list to the drop-down menu that says "For all Selected Items:". Choose "Set all Selected to INACTIVE" from this menu and click "Submit"
4. To reverse the process and set the items to ACTIVE, repeat steps 1-3, but choose "Set all Selected to ACTIVE from the drop-down menu

You may also set an item to INACTIVE by clicking on the "edit" icon next to the item in the reserve list. On the Edit Reserve screen, select "INACTIVE" in the "Reserve Details" section. You will notice that when you set a reserve to INACTIVE, the option to select the active dates for the reserve disappears.

IN PROCESS

The status of IN PROCESS shows next to physical items that you have requested to be placed at the Reserves Desk for your library. This status indicates that Reserves staff are in the process of retrieving the item. As soon as it is available for students to check out, the status will change to ACTIVE. If you have questions about the availability of a physical item you have requested, please contact your Reserves Desk.

Editing items on reserve

How Reserve Items Work

After you add an item to your class, you may edit all of the information associated with the item (author, title, etc.) and add notes to the item that will display to students in the class. Your reserve list is yours to edit as you wish. The changes that you make will not affect any other instructor's class, even if they are using the same items. When the class is over, your reserve list will be archived just as it appears at the end of the semester. When you reactivate the class the next time you teach it, your reserve items and notes will appear exactly as you left them.

Editing Item Information

To edit information about your reserve items from the "Edit Class" screen, click on the "edit" link that appears to the right of the item. This will take you to the "Edit Item" screen, where you have access to all the fields you can use to identify the item to students, including title, author, performer, and other standard citation information.

Some fields may have been filled in when the item was created, others may be blank. All of the information in these fields will display to your students, so it is best to describe each item in the fullest way so that students will be able to find and identify items quickly and easily.

To edit item information:

1. Edit the text that is in the box or enter new text.
2. Click "Save Changes". Your changes will appear immediately and display to you on the "Edit Class" screen.

Adding Notes

In addition to editing information about your reserve items, you may add notes that display to students in the class. For example, you may wish to tell students to "Read this item before the second class meeting" or to "Skim the first ten pages of this reading but take careful notes on the last five pages."

To add a note:

1. Click on the "Add Note" button near the bottom of the "Edit Item" screen.
2. In the pop-up window, enter the text of the note you wish to add. NOTE: If you have a pop-up blocker enabled, you must either disable it or add ereerves.library.emory.edu as an "allowed" site in your browser preferences.
3. Click the "Add Note" button in the pop-up window. Your note will appear on the "Edit Item" screen.
4. Click "Save Changes" on the "Edit Item " screen. Your note will appear immediately to students.

Copying reserves from one class to another

This feature is available to both staff and instructors. Instructors may copy reserves only between classes in which they are an instructor. Staff my copy reserves from any class to any other class in the system.

To copy reserve items:

1. From the Edit Class scren, select as many reserves as you want to copy
2. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and and select "Copy items to another class" from the "For all selected items" drop-down menu, and click the submit button.
3. On the next screen, lookup the class you want to copy the item to and click the "Copy" button

Exporting a reserves list to courseware

(e.g., Blackboard)

You may export your reserves list for any of your classes to courseware such as Blackboard or to a personal web page. Currently the export function has only been tested on Blackboard, but it should work similarly with any courseware package. Exporting your reserve list involves pasting a piece of code into the courseware class or page where you want your reserves list to appear. This creates a live feed of the list into your the courseware class (through RSS), which is updated automatically. Any changes that are made to a reserves list in ReservesDirect appear instantly in the courseware class.

To export your class from the Manage Classes tab:

1. Click on "Export my Reserves" in the "Quicklinks" box. Select where you would like to export your reserves to (Blackboard, Learnlink, or a personal web page)
2. Follow the on-screen instructions.