The Vassar Libraries license resources in support of the teaching and research mission of the College. Current faculty, students, and staff are able to access library resources whether on or off campus. Most licensing arrangements restrict the access we can provide to other library users except when they are on campus.

Publications, databases, and associated content are copyright protected, unless the work is in the public domain. All reproductions of copyrighted material must be for noncommercial educational “fair use” as defined by 17 U.S.C. 107.

Users should consult the terms governing use (often referred to as "Terms and Conditions" or "Conditions of Use") on the homepage of a resource to inform themselves of restrictions and ensure that their use complies with copyright and contractual restrictions. In general, and unless otherwise noted, users should limit their activity to the follow in licensed resources: 

• Accessing, searching, and browsing the database or publication.
• Printing or downloading only the articles, records, abstracts, or parts of chapters needed for personal use, teaching, or research
• Transmitting to a colleague (in hard copy or electronically) minimal, insubstantial amounts of licensed content for personal use or scholarly, educational, or scientific research or professional use but in no case for re-sale.
• Using, with appropriate credit, figures, tables and brief excerpts from content in your own scientific, scholarly and educational works.

Publishers and information providers carefully monitor the use of their resources. Clear policy violations and suspected misuses can result in suspension of access for individual users. Such actions can also result in the cancellation of the service for the entire College. Unlicensed activity falls under these categories:

• Use of robots or scripts to access licensed materials.
• Printing or downloading excessive portions of a resource, such as entire electronic books, entire issues of journals or excessive numbers of search results, unless the license clearly states otherwise.
• Selling copies of content printed or downloaded.
• Redistributing restricted electronic information to nonsubscribers or to nonsubscribing institutions. For example, posting material downloaded from these resources to a website or using these resources for commercial purposes. 

For More Information

For more information or for clarification of appropriate use and restrictions on a particular database, contact Debra Bucher