Effective Date May 2024
Last Revision Date September 2024
Responsible Party
- Associate Dean for Collections and Content Strategy
- Director of Special Collections
Policy Purpose and Scope
This policy describes the appropriate use of the Libraries’ e-resources.
Responsibilities
The Associate Dean for Collections and Content Strategy is responsible for addressing inappropriate uses of e-resources with appropriate University offices, including NYU ITS and NYU Student Affairs.
Definitions
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Libraries’ e-resources include ebooks, databases, e-journals, streaming video and audio, datasets and other materials provided to library users in an electronic format.
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Authorized users are current NYU faculty, students, employees, Special Collections researchers, and, for most resources, on-site visitors.
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License agreements are agreements between the Library and commercial content providers governing access and usage. License agreements cover many but not all library e-resources.
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Donor agreements are agreements between content donors and the library. These agreements may include specific terms of use, such as the requirement that an item be used on-site. Generally, donor agreements only apply to Special Collections materials.
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Copyright is a form of legal protection that provides authors of original creative works with limited control over the reproduction, distribution, and modification of their work. These rights are subject to exceptions, such as “fair use,” which allow limited uses of works without the permission of the copyright holder.
Policy Statement
NYU Libraries provide access to purchased, licensed, and donated electronic resources (ebooks, databases, e-journals, images, streaming video and audio, datasets, etc) to our authorized users (current NYU faculty, students, employees, Special Collections researchers, and on-site visitors). NYU Libraries’ ability to provide access and use of these resources is governed by license or donor agreements and U.S. Copyright Law. In general, authorized users may access electronic resources for noncommercial, educational, scholarly, and research purposes.
Individual users are responsible for ensuring that their use is consistent with Copyright law and the general terms and conditions under which e-resources are made available. Violations may result in the suspension of a user’s access to e-resources and jeopardize access to resources for the entire NYU community.
Although each resource may have additional or more specific terms and conditions, this outline is a good rule of thumb.
Typically Permitted Uses
- Using e-resources for your scholarly endeavors including, educational, scientific research, teaching, private study, and clinical purposes. Note: your usage must be consistent with Copyright law and the general terms and conditions under which e-resources are made available.
- Viewing, downloading, copying, printing, and saving a copy of search results, a chapter, or individual articles.
- Sending a copy of an article to another authorized user (i.e. current NYU faculty, students, or staff).
- Posting the URL to the publisher’s version of the article on a class website (publisher links will allow access only by authorized users).
Typically Not Permitted
- Use of automated agents to do systematic or bulk downloading or exfiltration.
- Systematic downloading or printing of entire journal issues or volumes or large portions of other e-resources.
- Using e-resources for commercial gain (i.e. reselling, redistributing, or republishing licensed content).
- Transmitting, disseminating or otherwise making e-resource content available to unauthorized users (i.e., sending to mailing lists or electronic bulletin boards).
- Sharing passwords or NYU login credentials with unauthorized users.
- Posting a copy of an article to a publicly accessible website (instead, post the URL to the article, which will allow access only by authorized users or use the Libraries Course Reserve service).
- Disregarding copyright or intellectual property rights.