Terms & Conditions

Appropriate Use of Licensed Electronic Resources

Electronic resources are purchased and licensed by B.D. Owens Library in support of the University’s academic Mission. Database vendors regulate use of electronic resources via license agreements, which supersede "fair use" Copyright Law provisions and govern permitted and prohibited uses of individual resources.

Users who are authorized to access B.D. Owens Library’s electronic resources include currently enrolled students, faculty, staff, contracted workers, and persons who are physically located in the library ("walk-ins"). Users have a responsibility to read, be aware of, and observe the terms and conditions of use for all licensed electronic resources. The following is general information on permitted and prohibited uses of licensed resources.

Permitted Uses

• Downloading, printing, temporarily storing one copy of an article
• Scholarly, educational or scientific research, teaching, and private study
• Accessing content from off-campus with Northwest login credentials
• Sending article links to other authorized users

Prohibited Uses

• Sharing of passwords or authorized access codes
• Large-scale systematic downloading of content
• Posting copyrighted materials on a publicly accessible web site
• Resale or commercial exploitation of content
• Emailing or sending licensed information to anyone at another institution
• Altering, recompiling, redistributing or republishing of electronic content
• Removing, modifying or obscuring copyright and proprietary notices
• Use, in combination with an artificial intelligence tool: to create competing or commercial products or services for the use of third parties; in a way that would disrupt the functionality of the online service; or to redistribute the online service to a third party

Each licensed electronic resource may have more specific or additional permissions or prohibitions. Full licenses for many publishers, specifying all the terms and conditions, are available at their websites. Please direct questions or concerns to library@sys-filter.com.

See also: Northwest Computing Policies