|
A Student Guide to Electronic Reserve
Your professor has placed readings for your class on Electronic Reserve, or ERes. ERes is a
system that allows you to access reserve reading from any computer with internet access, whether
you are in the library, in a computer lab, at home, or at work. You can choose to read materials
online, download them to your home computer, or print them out for later reference.
Finding Your Course
Begin by visiting the C.W. Post ERes home page on the library's
website. From this page you can search for your instructor, department, or a keyword from your
course title. Your search will give you a list of courses that match the criteria you searched for.
You may select your course from that list.
Logging On
In order to access your course materials, you may need to enter a password for your course. If you
need one for your particular course page, you can also get the password from your professor or
from the Circulation desk in the library. If you have trouble with this password, you may contact
the Circulation desk. After entering your password, you will have to accept the copyright
statement given in order to enter your course page. If you do not understand the statement, or
would like more information on copyright, please contact the Circulation desk.
Finding Your Reading
Once you have entered your course page, you will need to locate the reading you need. There are
several methods your professor may use to sort materials. Documents may be sorted either
alphabetically or in the order in which they were posted. Your professor may also choose to have
items sorted into folders. For example, he or she could have a folder labeled "Tests"
and another labeled "Readings." Items would then be sorted either alphabetically or
in time order within those folders.
Viewing, Saving, And Printing
There are several types of documents that can be posted on ERes. The most common types will
be .pdf files (which can be viewed in Adobe Acrobat Reader), Microsoft Word files (.doc), and
Microsoft Excel (.xls) files. Students will need to have access to the corresponding
"viewer". These viewers are available in all the computer labs
on campus.
However, students who own computers on or off campus may need
to install the appropriate viewer or plugin for your course/reserve materials.
If you do not have the appropriate program on your computer,
free
viewers and plugins are available for download through ERes.
Technical Requirements
ERes now uses "session variables"
to remember information associated with your activity during an ERes session.
This information is temporary and disappears either when you log out of
ERes, or after a specified time-out period has elapsed. In addition, the
ERes server writes an ID number on your local machine, in order to differentiate
you from others using the system at the same time. For this reason, you
must set your browser to accept cookies. ERes does not write permanent
cookies to your machine! However, in order to write your session ID number,
cookies must be enabled. Most
browsers accept cookies by default so you probably will not have to do anything for your
browser to work with ERes.
Help with Cookies
- Internet Explorer 6.x
- Go to Tools: Internet Options: Privacy
- Drag the slider to a lower setting
- Click "Apply" then "OK"
- (You might want to set it back when you are finished)
- Internet Explorer 5.x
- Go to Tools: Internet Options: Security
- Click custom settings
- Scroll down until you see cookies and change both to "enable all cookies"
- Click "Apply" then "OK"
- (You might want to set it back when you are finished)
- Netscape 4.x
- Click on Edit: Preferences: Advanced
- Choose "Accept all cookies"
- Click "OK"
- (You might want to set it back when you are finished)
Printing Problems with Adobe Reader
If your document is printing out in reverse or mirror image then try the following:
- Click on the Print icon in Adobe Reader.
- Check the box marked "Print as image" in the printer window.
- Click OK.
- If your document still does not print correctly contact the Reference Desk in the library at x2305.
Getting Help
If you are having trouble using ERes, you can obtain online help by clicking the
"Help" button located in the upper right hand portion of every screen. A
"Help" link is also available next to the course name when you are in a
course page. If you need additional assistance, you may call the Circulation desk at
516-299-2303, during library hours.
|
