Mohawk Library curates resources to support both students and faculty. New content and items are selected by Liaison Librarians, and in consultation with college stakeholders.
To submit a request, please fill out a purchase request form and our Librarian team will follow up promptly.
Mohawk Library is working hard to provide alternative access to the print course reserves collection. A significant portion of the books on reserve are print copies of required textbooks, and students cannot access them without coming into the library. We are continually evaluating our approach to equity of access.
However, this work is hampered by textbook publishers who do not provide electronic purchasing options for libraries. Approximately 85% of existing course textbooks are simply unavailable to libraries in any other format than print. Textbook publishers have built their profit models around selling e-textbooks directly to students. Despite this, we also know that the cost of textbooks and other course materials represent a major financial hurdle to students. Certain publishers will not allow us to purchase an e-textbook version of their publications:
- Pearson
- Cengage
- Houghton
- McGraw Hill
- Oxford University Press Canada (Textbook Division)
- Elsevier Imprints (Elsevier Health Sciences, Mosby, Saunders)
- Thieme
This means that in courses that have adopted textbooks by these publishers, students who do not purchase the textbook will not have any alternative access to the textbook content. We are working with instructors to explore and identify viable textbook alternatives. Efforts will be made to secure online materials that are free from digital rights management restrictions (DRM) in order to ensure unfettered student access. DRM includes limits on the number of users that can access a resource at any one time, as well as limits on copying, printing and downloading. Please contact the Library for help.
You can also find more information in the Collection Development Policy on our Library Policies page.