Acceptable Use of Electronic Resources
Colorado School of Mines contracts with publishers/vendors to provide users access to thousands of electronic resources (databases, eJournals, eBooks, etc.). These resources are governed by license agreements that legally bind the Colorado School of Mines, the Arthur Lakes Library, and its users. Violations of license terms may result in suspended access for the entire campus, as well as penalties for the person who initiates the violation. These agreements restrict use to currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff as authorized users on and off-campus as well as walk-in users physically present in the library. Each license is specific to the publisher/vendor, but the following are guidelines of use regardless of the resource:
Acceptable
- Printing/downloading limited items (e.g., single article, single chapter)
- Using the items for personal, instructional, academic, or research needs
- Sharing with other authorized Mines users (e.g., class, research group, study group)
- Posting links to specific content in Canvas or elsewhere
Prohibited
- Sharing IDs and Passwords
- Automatic or systematic downloading of content
- Electronically transmitting online content to non-Mines persons
- Posting full PDF articles to Canvas or a public website
- Commercial use of electronic resources licensed to Mines is not allowed as access is restricted for academic usage
- Most vendors do not allow text mining of their content
- Loading copywritten content into artificial intelligence (AI) platforms
- Downloading an excessive portion of a resource (e.g., entire journal issue, multiple full-text PDFs from a database, entire books)
- Publishers DO monitor and track web activity!
Some exceptions may apply. Terms and conditions for each electronic resource are generally available from a link on the resource/publisher site. If you create an account on a vendor site, be sure to review their Terms & Conditions including privacy statements.
If you have any questions about your intended use of the resource, please consult these terms or ask library staff for guidance.