The most exciting new service in today's libraries is Electronic Reserves. Electronic Reserves is a feature that gives students digital access to reserve materials 24 hours a day. Articles, syllabi, lecture notes, sample exams, problem sets and solutions, pamphlets, single book chapters, etc. are the kinds of documents that can be available for viewing.
Students use a Web browser to access documents that have been scanned for electronic access.
The Electronic Reserves Program is just one example of how Ohio University's Libraries makes use of information technologies to provide new services for students and faculty. The mission of the OU libraries is to assist faculty in achieving their research goals and to support supplemental course reading for instruction. Therefore, when the University was awarded a Technology Initiative grant in 1997 from the Ohio Board of Regents, the library secured funding to purchase software and equipment for the development of the Electronic Reserves system. A task force that included staff from the library reference, technology, and reserve departments was created to evaluate the variety of systems currently available on the market. There was also brief discussion about creating a homegrown system.