Every physical item on course reserve should have one of the following loan periods assigned to them through tags:

• 2-hour loan
• 4-hour loan
• 1-day loan
• 3-day loan
  

When determining the loan period for each item, take into consideration:

• Is this resource affordable? Are students likely to purchase/rent?
• Is this resource also available in electronic format through the Libraries?
• Is this a required or optional text/video?
• Do students have the necessary equipment to engage with that content?
• How much of the content will students have to read/watch? The whole book/movie or only part of it? If it is a book, is the expectation that students will scan the part(s) they need?
• How long does it take for students to watch/read the content they need to engage with? 
• Will the resource be used for assignments?

2- and 4-hour loan periods ensure that no one student will keep the resource for a long time, making it available for other students to use it. However, items with shorter loan periods usually can only be used in the library, which can be hard for some students to do. Many laptops do not have CD drives, and DVDs and Blu-Rays with hourly loan periods are rarely checked out.