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ZSR Course Materials (Leganto)

Guide to using and managing the Course Materials tool to share readings and other materials with your students

Course Materials from ZSR

The ZSR Course Materials tool in Canvas allows you to create and organize durable, shareable reading lists, including PDFs, websites, videos, and library resources from the ZSR Library's subscriptions. Powered by Leganto, this integration offers a seamless and efficient way to share and manage course readings, ensuring students can access and engage with all materials in one convenient location. We hope you find this tool intuitive and useful for enhancing your course delivery.

Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Activate Course Materials in Canvas

In your Canvas course, navigate to Settings. From there, find the Navigation menu, then find Course Materials in the list of available tools and applications. Either drag Course Materials up into the menu of activated items, or click the three dots menu and select Enable.

activate course materials

Click and drag the menu items to arrange them as you wish. Click Save. The Course Materials tool should now be visible in the main course navigation menu.

Step 2: Create or Copy a List

When you first click on the Course Materials tool in your course menu, you will be presented with two options: Create a new list from scratch or Create list from an existing list.

create list

Choose Create a new list from scratch if you've never used the Course Materials tool before, if you don't have an existing list you want to re-use or copy, or if you just want to start with a blank slate. 

select the list you want to reuse or copy

Choose Create list from an existing list if you have an existing materials list (e.g. from a previous semester) that you want to re-use or copy. You will see a listing of all of the materials lists that are available to you in our system. Find the list you want, then either:

  • Choose Duplicate list to start with a copy of the list you chose. Most of the time, you'll probably want to choose this. 
  • Choose Link course to this list if you want to link your course directly to the list as it exists now, without making a copy of it first. You might consider doing this if you intend to use the same materials for numerous courses or sections, and you don't want to maintain separate lists.
Step 3: Organize Your List

If you're creating a list from scratch, its default title will be the course code and abbreviated course title. You can change this if you want. Click next.

rename the new list, if desired

Now, you can determine how your list will be organized. Under Create List Sections, you'll see you can organize your list by Weeks, by Priority, and Default. With any of these options, you can click and drag readings and list sections into whatever order you choose.

organize the list by weeks, priority, or by default

Organize by Weeks will create as many numbered weekly containers as you wish. You can always add more or delete containers later. 

Organize by Priority will create two list sections: Required and Optional. Readings that you later tag as required will go to the Required section, etc.

Organize by Default will create a single list section called Resources

Step 4: Add Readings and Other Materials

There are numerous ways to add readings to your list. Click the + Add button to see all of the options.

add new items

Most of the time, Search the library will be sufficient. This will allow you to search the library's digital and physical collections and select the specific items you want.

If you have a specific file you want to upload, such as a scan of chapter of a book in your personal collection, choose Upload files. If you want to add items from a reference manager like Zotero or EndNote, choose Import references.

Step 5: Publish Your List

Just like your Canvas course, your list will not be visible to students until it has been published. To publish your list, click My list is ready

list is ready

Items available in full text through the library's collections or freely available online will be visible immediately. Items that require digitization and/or copyright clearance will go to the library for review. We generally try to have items available within a week of each request. However, we recommend giving the library as much lead-time as possible for scans and copyright clearance, especially when demand is high in the weeks leading up to the start of a new semester. 

What if I need help or have other questions?

If you have questions that aren't answered here, contact your library liaison or contact ZSR Course Reserves by emailing reserves@wfu.edu or by calling 336-758-4931.