Electronic Reserve with WWW: A Promising Way to Enhance Classroom Instruction

In the Summer of 1994, SUNY Albany Libraries began an experiment with electronic reserve using WWW client/server system. A class in Online Bibliographic Searching was chosen for the study. Approximately 10 percent of the reserve readings (non-copyrighted items), as well as some exercises to be completed online, were made available electronically. Although all the students had some familiarity with computers, the good features were more appreciated by people with good computer skills. The apparent ease of access is often influenced by the user's willingness to use more features of the system. Those with home computers particularly appreciated the twenty-four-hour access from any location. Close communication between the instructor and the technical operators is the key to a smooth operation. Copyright issues, additional instruction load, and technical problems remain to be the challenges. It indicates that the technical ease of maintenance gives it great potential to become popular in electronic reserves.