Acceptable Use of Electronic Publications and Resources

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From Laurie L. Thompson, Director of Libraries

The Library has developed an extensive collection of electronic publications over the last several years. UT Southwestern faculty, staff and students now have access to thousands of journals, books and databases from computers in the Library, in their offices, or from home. The introduction of electronic resources has changed the way both the Library and our clients conduct our business. It has also imposed new rules on the use of electronic information.

The use of printed materials is governed by the United States Copyright Act, which was originally established in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution. It states:
[The Congress shall have power] “To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” The law has been changed and amended many times, and currently exists as title 17 of the United States Code. The provisions of the Copyright Act and guidelines for fair use of copyrighted materials are well known to most librarians and library users.

However, the use of nearly all of the electronic resources available through the UT Southwestern Medical Center Library is governed by license agreements. Licenses are negotiated between UT Southwestern and the electronic product vendor. In many cases, the licenses are negotiated by another group, such as the UT System, to which the Library belongs. Once a license is negotiated and signed by both parties, the terms of that license govern the use of the electronic product. These terms may not conform to the Copyright Act or fair use guidelines. The terms of each license differ in what may be considered acceptable use.

Since the Library and its clients are bound by the terms of these licenses, we have listed the most common provisions below:

  • Use is restricted to authorized users, defined as faculty, staff and students currently employed or registered at UT Southwestern or walk-in users of the UT Southwestern Medical Center Library.
  • License agreements generally permitthe following for personal or research use only:
    • Print limited amounts of data
    • Download limited amounts of data
    • E-mail search results or articles to self or another authorized user
  • License agreements generally prohibitthe following:
    • Print or download large amounts of data or an entire journal issue
    • Retransmission of data to non-authorized users
    • Any commercial use
    • Preparation of a derivative work or incorporation into any other work or system

Publishers monitor the use of their electronic resources and will notify the Library if they detect abuse of license terms. When the Library learns of license abuse, staff make every attempt to resolve the issue with the vendor and the abuser. Abuse of license terms may result in termination of individual privileges, temporary loss of campus-wide access to a resource, or even cancellation of the resource.

The University of Texas Crash Course in Copyright provides useful information about acceptable use of licensed electronic information. If you have questions about resources licensed by UT Southwestern Medical Center Library, please contact Laurie Thompson, Director of Libraries at 214-648-2626 or use this form.

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