In accordance with the University Regents' Policy on Academic Freedom and Responsibility and the University Libraries' policy on appropriate use of public computer workstations, the University Libraries do not control information available over the Internet and are not responsible for its content. Patrons should be aware that Internet sites may contain offensive or controversial material. Parents or legal guardians of minors are responsible for monitoring the library activities of their children. Users at workstations are in a public building and expected to show consideration for others.

Users of workstations shall not make any attempt to damage computer equipment or software, alter software configuration, or engage in any illegal or criminal activities as provided under the University's policy on Acceptable Use of Computers, Networks, and Electronic Information Systems Technology. In addition, patrons who engage in loud or boisterous behavior that disrupts others' use of Libraries facilities for teaching, research, administrative or public service may be denied further access to public computer workstations.

Appropriate Use of Electronic Resources

The electronic resources made available by the University Libraries to Twin Cities Campus students, staff, and faculty are for research and related activities in support of the individual's role as a student, staff, or faculty or in support of the University's mission. Use must be in accordance with the campus-wide policy on Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources and related guidelines. In addition, U.S. Copyright Law and contractual license agreements govern the access, use and reproduction of the electronic resources that the University Libraries makes available to its users.

The electronic resources made available by the University Libraries are for the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus students, staff and faculty to use for research and related activities in support of the individual's role as student, staff, or faculty or in support of the University's mission.

Copyright Law (Title 17 of the United States Code)

'Fair Use' Guidelines:

Reproductions (print or electronic) made by users of the University Libraries’ electronic resources are governed by the Fair Use Section of U.S. Copyright Law, except when the resources are covered by license agreements (see below). Fair Use generally permits users to make reproductions for non-commercial, educational purposes such as criticism, comment, teaching, scholarship and research. Reproductions are usually considered to be fair use if:

1. The use of the reproduced material is academic in nature, and for nonprofit, educational purposes.
2. The purpose of making reproductions is for time-shifting, i.e. to make materials available for study at the user's convenience, but not for archival purposes.
3. The reproduction is for a single copy or one original, as opposed to multiple copies.
4. The reproduction is reasonable in length given the nature of the material.

Reproductions Provided by the University Libraries

Reproductions (print or electronic) made by University Libraries staff for users of the University Libraries' electronic resources are governed by the Section 108 of U.S. Copyright Law, "Reproduction by libraries and archives." As the University of Minnesota and its Libraries are publicly-supported, non-profit, and open to the public, library staff are permitted to provide its users with reproductions of electronic resources provided that:

1. The reproduction is for no more than one article or other contribution to a copyrighted collection or periodical issue
2. The reproduction becomes the property of the user.
3. Library staff have no reason to believe that the reproduction will be used for any other purpose other than private study, scholarship or research.

License Agreements
The use of many electronic resources provided by the University Libraries is governed by license agreements negotiated between the University Libraries and publishers or third parties. Such licensing agreements impose even greater restrictions on use than copyright law. In general, these legally binding contracts allow students, staff, faculty, and other authorized users to access these resources for noncommercial, educational, scholarly and research purposes. They generally prohibit large-scale systematic downloading of articles or other information, sharing of articles or other information with individuals at other institutions, and using such articles or information for commercial purposes. In addition, users should be aware that publishers may monitor use of electronic resources to ensure that the terms of their licensing agreements are enforced.

Cautions:
1. Do not share your access password with family, friends, or co-workers. Electronic resources are licensed for use by University of Minnesota -- Twin Cities Campus students, staff and faculty. Other users may access such resources only from a computer terminal in a campus library.

2. Do not download entire issues of electronic journals or attempt to create large databases from bibliographic files. However, it is acceptable to download reasonable amounts of citations into bibliographic management software like Reference Manager and EndNote.

3. Do not share copies of material with friends at other institutions.

4. Do not copy and use material without proper attribution.

5. Do not share proprietary software (such as that needed to access the Beilstein database) with individuals at other institutions or companies.