Library Online Course Reserves (LOCR) is a request application for managing your course reserves at UBC. LOCR ensures that required materials for courses are available to you and your students. You can request course reserves by adding the content yourself or by sending a list of materials for librarians to add them for you.
In either case, UBC Library staff will ensure that your course reserves are copyright compliant and will handle acquisitions of any required licenses.
| Access | You can access LOCR through Canvas, if you add LOCR to your Canvas course. Or you can log in to LOCR outside of Canvas. | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free. | |
| Bandwidth | Low demand on internet connections. | |
| Canvas Integration | Works in coordination with Canvas. | |
| Privacy | Verified by UBC’s Privacy Impact Assessment process. | |
| Similar UBC-Supported Tools | N | LOCR is the only centrally-supported tool for managing your course reserves. |
What can I use it for?
You can use LOCR to provide course materials to your students in a variety of ways:
- Adding articles, books, web links, and media resources to your Canvas course
- Linking directly to course materials from anywhere in or outside of Canvas
- Sharing PDFs of book chapters
- Setting up access to readings in future terms
A note about LOCR
To ensure timely availability of course reserves for your students, kindly submit your request at least a month in advance. It can take up to four weeks for the UBC Library staff to thoroughly review and process your requests, depending on the type of materials and the time of year.
This tool guide was last reviewed in June 2023.
What do I need to use LOCR?
A supported web browser
LOCR runs in your web browser and supports using the latest versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari.
A Canvas course (optional but recommended)
You can use LOCR as a standalone application, but we recommend using it with a Canvas course. Adding LOCR to Canvas provides the easiest access for students to your course reserves. All UBC courses have matching courses in Canvas automatically created, with the enrolled students added, even if you have never used Canvas.
Tips
- Regardless of where you access LOCR from, you will only need to request course reserves in one place. You and your students can then access them from the Canvas course or from the LOCR standalone site at courses.library.ubc.ca
How do I use LOCR?
To use LOCR, you will enable it in your Canvas course, then request the materials that you would like in your course reserves at least a month in advance. Once UBC Library staff approve them, the materials will be available to share with your students.
Click any bar below for instructions and tips for using LOCR.
Set the availability of your course reserves
For LOCR materials to be accessed by your students, make sure your course has the correct end date. This end date is set by default, based on what term your course is associated with in Canvas.
Please verify this course information before you make a request in LOCR, even if you won't use your Canvas course to access LOCR.
- Log in to your Canvas course, and click Settings in the Course Navigation.
- Click the Course Details tab.
- Scroll down until you see "Term" and "Participation", and confirm that your course is associated with the correct term.
- If the term is correct, you don't need to do anything else. Once they are available, your LOCR course materials will be accessible to students until eight weeks after the last day of class for the term.
- If the term is incorrect, you can change the dates manually:
- Next to "Participation", select Course from the drop-down menu.
- Fill out the Start and End dates for when students should have access to your course.
- Click Update Course Details at the bottom of the page, and your new dates will override the term default.
Add LOCR to your Canvas course
- If your course has multiple sections, these sections should be merged on Canvas before setting up LOCR. Merging ensures that enrolment numbers are correct for the UBC Library in obtaining copyright clearances.
- To request a course merge, contact your faculty’s Instructional Support Unit or contact us in the LT Hub.
- Log in to your Canvas course, and click Settings in the Course Navigation.
- Click the Navigation tab.
- Find the Library Online Course Reserves menu item, click the options menu (the 3 vertical dots), and choose Enable.
- Save your setting changes.
- The Library Online Course Reserves menu item will now be available in the Course Navigation for you and your students.
Tips
- You can add LOCR as part of a Canvas module as well. Having a LOCR link in a module can be helpful if you want to contextualize a reading within a specific part of your course. When adding an item to your module, select "External Tool" from the drop-down menu and click "Library Online Course Reserves" from the list.
Request course reserves through LOCR
You can request course reserves in LOCR by adding the content yourself (Self Service) or by sending a list of readings (Syllabus Service) for librarians to add them for you. In either case, UBC Library staff will ensure that your course reserves are copyright compliant and will handle acquisitions of any required licenses.
For Self Service, you will use the "Add Reserve Items" tab in LOCR; for Syllabus Service, you will use the "Add Syllabus" tab.
Using Self Service, you can individually add item requests for library-owned resources to your course reserves using the search form. You can also upload files saved on your computer (e.g, PDFs) or upload links (e.g., YouTube videos) for review. If you have used LOCR for another course, you can use this option to import previous requests into a course.
Instructions for these processes are outlined in the "Self Service" tab under the "Instructor Resources" tab on UBC Library's course reserves page.
Using Syllabus Service, you will request all items for your course reserves at once by submitting the full list as a PDF or Word document. The document must include specific information:
- The course name and course code
- Your name and contact information
- Full citations for works, including page numbers where applicable
- Loan period for any physical items to be put in course reserves collection
- Whether each course material is required or optional for students
- Request for any new purchases for the Library collections
Instructions and options for submitting your document are outlined in the "Syllabus Service" tab under the "Instructor Resources" tab on UBC Library's course reserves page.
Tips
- To ensure timely availability of course reserves for your students, please submit your requests at least a month before the start of your course. Materials are processed on a first-come, first-served basis, and it can take up to four weeks for the UBC Library staff to review and process your requests.
- If you already have PDFs of any course materials that you can't find in LOCR, please email the files to UBC Library at syllabus.service@ubc.ca. Having the files may help staff expedite approvals.
- Once you add items in LOCR, you can edit, delete, and view status information about them. Status information includes the number of student views and the upload/ modification history of the items.
Where can I get more support with LOCR?
Technical support
If you have trouble with LOCR:
- Contact your Library branch as your first point of contact.
- If you or your students encounter errors when accessing an electronic item, contact Koerner Library at koerner.reserve@ubc.ca
- Contact us for further assistance:
604 827 4775 or LT.hub@ubc.ca or visit the LT Hub online.
Student support
- Share UBC’s LOCR student guide with your students.
Learn more
- Read answers to LOCR frequently asked questions under the “Troubleshooting and FAQ” tab or explore other instructor resources on UBC Library’s course reserves page.