Study.Net Materials in Canvas is where we distribute “course packs” of externally-copyrighted licensed content from key suppliers, such as Harvard Business Publishing, requested by faculty. When specific readings are also available through Penn Libraries e-reserves, we can arrange for a related learning tool, Course Materials @ Penn Libraries, which is part of Lippincott Library's services for Wharton courses.
Before You Start
Wharton instructors may now make requests for Study.Net copyrighted readings through Wharton's Courseware Request Form. This new form is one of several teaching-needs forms and surveys now made available to faculty at Wharton Instruction Center (under the "Tech Surveys" menu choice).
When preparing to submit either a Courseware Request Form or an emailed service request to courseware@wharton.upenn.edu, you'll want to gather the following information:
- The course and section number(s) for any Wharton course.
- The PennKey username for any other instructors or TAs who need access.
- A finalized or near-final syllabus or reading list.
To request a site for a non-Wharton course, see Canvas at Penn.
Requesting a Study.Net Course Pack
Study.Net provides course readings distribution and copyright clearance services to Wharton and other Penn schools. This article explains how faculty can request a Study.Net course pack delivered as a learning tool in Canvas, along with information on costs and distribution.
All Study.Net course pack requests are handled by Wharton Computing’s IDEA Courseware Team. Submit requests through the Courseware Request Form (or, if preferred, by emailing courseware@wharton.upenn.edu - please don't email individual staff members).
As part of your Study.Net request, we ask for the following information:
- A finalized syllabus and/or reading list (including citations).
- The name and University email address of any TAs or teaching colleagues who will need subsidized access to the readings, if known. (These can be requested later, as well.)
- Optionally, a list of any third-party simulations (other than Learning Lab simulations) or game-related content, such as negotiation exercises.
- Any other related instructions or information.
Study.Net requests typically take between 5 and 10 business days after a request has been received, not including proof approval time (explained below). During the setup process, our team's content experts will place the requested readings into a Study.net “course pack” and run them through the copyright-clearance process, as required by the University's digital licensing and distribution agreements with the publishers.
Notes:
- Because our working methods incorporate the University's web accessibility guidelines, we cannot work with "images-only" scanned PDFs.
- Certain journal articles and book chapters are best sourced free-of-charge through Lippincott Library's electronic reserves, rather than through Study.Net. When that's a possibility, we'll inform you as well as work with the Lippincott team. (Readings sourced through Lippincott will be delivered in a separate learning tool, Course Materials @ Penn Libraries.)
- For further information on copyright and cost, see this FAQ on Wharton Computing's web site.
- If any of your requested readings are unavailable within our supplier libraries, we will ask you to provide a PDF copy. Not all PDFs will have a legal source that is current, even if they did in the past; rights change all the time.
- Please note, we cannot order textbooks or cover textbook costs for students. Instructors, departments, and programs may arrange for textbooks through Penn Business Services.
A Courseware Team content expert will send a PDF proof of the course pack to you once it has been assembled. This proof is for your use only, for the purpose of reviewing the materials and confirming that everything has been included in the proper order. After reviewing, please email courseware@wharton.upenn.edu to:
- Approve the PDF proof for online distribution;
- Or to request a change.
While we await proof approval, your course pack request is considered "on hold", which may add to the aforementioned 5-10 day normal fulfillment time.
Distribution through Study.Net Materials (learning tool in Canvas)
Once all the readings have been cleared by the publishers and the proof has been approved in writing, a member of the Courseware Team will add the Study.Net Materials tool to the corresponding course's Canvas site, normally within three business days after the proof has been approved.
We also configure a subsidy data feed (for the course), updating Study.Net's purchase records, prior to activating the learning tool. Here's an illustration of how the learning tool will appear as a course navigation tab in Canvas, usually directly under the Files tab:
Important notes on configuration and distribution:
- The learning tool integration (LTI) must be performed by the Courseware Team.
- Instructors, teaching assistants, or department administrators no longer need to build a "course" on the supplier's website, handle any part of the Canvas integration process, or import a past "external tool" placement. All of that is Wharton Computing's responsibility to configure.
- The University no longer uses the vendor's website www.study.net for materials distribution, as was true from 2008-2013. Please remove any such links from syllabi.
- Distribution via Study.Net's mobile apps was deemphasized in 2017. Instead, the Study.Net Materials learning tool works within Canvas mobile apps, as well as via web.
Subsidized Student and TA Access
As of Fall 2023, costs for non-textbook readings from Harvard Business Publishing, Study.Net, and selected simulation suppliers are covered for everyone taking or teaching a Wharton course, as follows:
Wharton and Non-Wharton Students
Reading materials obtained through Study.Net are subsidized - meaning prepaid by allocation - for students in Wharton undergraduate, MBA, EMBA, and doctoral degree programs, as well as all non-Wharton students taking a Wharton course. Similarly, materials are purchased on behalf of Wharton Executive Education participants for seminars which use Study.Net.
- Depending on the student's degree program, it's possible for Canvas access to begin before the Study.Net subsidy data is transmitted for a new enrollment (either in a course selection "add" or a switch of section of the same course).
- Feel free to refer Wharton students to the Courseware Team who report any subsidy access difficulties, such as seeing a "Purchase Course" prompt in Study.Net Materials for more than a business day after enrolling. (Other than very recent course enrollment adds/switches, a common reason for a student encountering the "Purchase Course" paywall is when they use a different default email in Canvas than what they set in the Penn Directory as their primary University email address.)
Teaching Assistants / Faculty Colleagues
If your teaching assistants or faculty colleagues were not listed in your original Study.Net course pack setup request, please send the Courseware Team the name and email address of each teaching team member. Based on faculty authorization, we can provide access for TAs and other teaching team members, allowing them to bypass the "Purchase Course" paywall.
You may order hard copies of Study.Net readings by using the Click here to purchase a printed Hard Copy link shown toward the bottom of the Study.Net Materials tab/listing within your Canvas site. Payment for printed copies is through PayPal; the hard-copy order is assembled by Campus Copy Center with shipping to the address specified in your order.
Please contact campuscopyphilly@gmail.com with questions regarding hard copies. After Wharton Printing's 2018 closure, Wharton Computing staff (including the Courseware Team) no longer have any direct involvement with print orders placed by teaching teams or departments; we have no visibility into Campus Copy orders.
Questions?
For more help, please email courseware@wharton.upenn.edu.