Ohio State is supportive of reducing the costs students pay for texts by providing students with "free" access to texts. Instructors should consider whether uploading entire versions or lengthy extracts of copyrighted works, even in a password-protected enrollment-based system like CarmenCanvas, is considered fair use.

Where there are online versions of journals or book chapters for which the university has licensed access, links to those resources should be used rather than uploaded files of scanned publications.

In cases where licensed or open-source online versions are not available, the course reserves service can provide ways for your students to access physical copies. If necessary, an exception can be made to make a scanned version available in Carmen.

Please explore the Copyright Best Practices for Teaching and Learning article and the resources below and reach out to University Libraries staff to help identify appropriate ways to provide student access to your course content.

University Libraries Resources

Copyright Services

Copyright Services supports Ohio State faculty, staff, and students by providing education and guidance on the application of copyright law to facilitate teaching, research, and scholarship.

Subject Librarians

You can also work with the subject librarian for your discipline; subject librarians can help you locate online resources and may even be able to assist you in building a set of resources for your students.

Course Reserves

Course Reserves is a borrowing program that acquires and lends required and requested Ohio State course materials for the purposes of affordability and access. You can use Course Reserves to reduce your students' cost of education by filing a Course Reserves Request Form with their desired location.

See the Course Reserves for Instructors article for more information about placing materials on course reserve.