University of Minnesota Libraries -- Copyright Initiatives

Appropriate Use of Licensed Electronic Information Resources

Access, use, and reproduction of most electronic resources made available through the Libraries are governed by license agreements between the University and publishers. Members of the University community must make reasonable and good faith efforts to comply with licenses' terms of use.

In using licensed e-resources, users shall:

limit uses to non-commercial, educational, or personal research purposes
not facilitate unauthorized access by others (i.e., do not share your U of M Internet account password)

In addition,

You may:	You may not:
Print / download / quote limited amounts of information (with proper attribution)	Systematically download large amounts of information (e.g. download all articles in a journal issue; engage in large-scale downloading from licensed resources to create large databases)
Email an article to another current University faculty, student, or staff (unless this practice is specifically forbidden by a publisher’s license)	Email an article to a person who is not a current University faculty, student, or staff (unless this practice is specifically allowed by a publisher’s license)
Create a link to a journal article on a publisher web site (the Libraries’ Find It Link Generator may be used for this purpose)	Post a copy of an article to a University server (e.g. WebCT, departmental web site)

Users should be aware that publishers may monitor use levels of electronic resources to verify compliance with licensing agreements. Breach of license by a single user may enable the publisher to suspend the University's access without warning. Your assistance in assuring the University’s continued access to these valuable research resources is appreciated.

In the near future, the Libraries will be making summaries of key license terms for specific publishers available via the Find It service, to aid library patrons and staff in making appropriate use decisions.

For more information, please consult Appropriate Use of Computer Workstations and Electronic Resources.