Course Reserves

On This Page

Introduction to Leganto, a New Course Reserves Tool Within Canvas

Leganto is a new course reserves tool that is being piloted within Canvas during the Summer 2023 semester in preparation for full availability in the Fall 2023 semester. 

Leganto offers new features and tools within Canvas that can help instructors to more easily add resources and organize materials from Penn Libraries within their Canvas sites.

All content previously added to Ares, the old tool, is available to copy over from in Leganto. 

Add Course Reserves (Leganto) to a Canvas site

  1. Go to Settings > Navigation > and drag the button for “Course Materials @ Penn Libraries” into the course menu. Click “Save.”
  2. Click on the “Course Materials @ Penn Libraries” button to launch the tool. 
  3. Select “Create a new reading list from scratch” > “Create It” to start. Provide a name and click “Create.”
  4. Click on any template to start.

Add Items to a Reading List

Follow the Course Reserves instructions under step 3 to add items to your list.

Final Steps

Lists are published by default. As part of your final steps on your Canvas site, however, you should double-check that your lists are visible to students and appear as you expect.

Online items should be available immediately. Physical items and items that require scanning will automatically be sent to Reserves and have their statuses updated when they are available (see Step 5, Wait for us to process your items).

Please note that the Test Student/ Canvas Student View does not work with Leganto. To view your reading list as a student use the “View list as a student” tool. Click on the three dots next to your list name and select “view list as a student.”

Organizing Content in Sections 

Sections are a way to organize content in Leganto. They are distinct from modules and sections in Canvas. Content can be broken into sections by week, topic, etc. to organize items for students.

  1. Click “New Section.” 
  2. Enter a title (required). Description and dates are optional.
  3. Add new items or move existing items into your section.

Linking to Course Reserve Materials in Modules & the Rich Content Editor

To link to course reserves materials in Modules and the Canvas Rich Content Editor, Course Materials @ Penn Libraries must already be enabled in the course. You also must have at least 1 item saved to your course reserves list.

In a Module: 

  1. Click the + Icon:
  2. Select “external tool” from the drop-down.
  3. Click on “Course Materials @ Penn Libraries” which will pull up a menu where you can check off a specific item. 
  4. Click “Select” and “Add Item.” 

In the Rich Text Editor (RCE):

  1. In the RCE, click on the ” icon in the RCE menu (next to the green Panopto icon).
  2. Check off the item(s) you want to add.
  3. Click “add.”
  4. Click “Save” to save your changes.

If you are copying your course for a new semester using the Rollover function, make sure to select “yes” for the permalinks question to make sure RCE links will redirect to the reading list in the new site and not the site you rolled over from. 

Copying Reserves Content Over From Another Site 

Course Reserves lists do not copy over as part of Canvas Course Copy/Import or Blueprint Sync.

Start in the site with the original content. Next, select the site you want to copy to. The default name of the list is in the format “Name of Original List (Rolled Over) but this can be edited to match the name of the destination course. 

All content previously added to Ares, the old tool, is available to copy over from in Leganto. 

Resources

Get Help

Please contact canvas@pobox.upenn.edu for assistance with enabling the course reserves tool in Canvas.

If you have any questions about reserve items, please contact the reserves department at your library.

Last Updated: 30 May 2023