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BU Policies and Procedures

Acceptable Use Policy

Acceptable Use of Library e-Resources

Bournemouth University Library signs a licence agreement with every publisher they purchase content from. This license highlights the permitted and prohibited uses of e-Journals, databases and any other online resources that are available via the library. This acceptable use policy will indicate what actions are permitted and what actions are forbidden. It is the responsibility of all staff and students at Bournemouth University to ensure that they are not breaching licensing agreements when using the online resources provided by the library. Although licence agreements can often vary depending on the publisher, there are a few common principles

Permitted Uses

Authorised Users i.e. current students and staff at Bournemouth University are allowed to:

  • search, view, retrieve and display licensed materials for educational purposes
  • print a copy of an article for personal use - this must be for educational purposes such as research, private study, teaching. Please note that systematic downloading is forbidden!
  • download a copy an article for personal use - this must be for educational purposes such as research, private study, teaching
  • send a copy of an article to another authorised user for educational purposes
  • use limited sections of the licensed content (in printed or electronic form) in projects, exercise, theses, dissertations and other assignments that are directly associated with their course of instruction at Bournemouth University - it must be used for educational purposes only NOT commercial use
Prohibited Uses

Authorised Users i.e. current students and staff at Bournemouth University are NOT allowed to:

  • sell, resell, sub-license, rent, hire, loan, transfer, or extensively or deliberately replicate, retain or redistribute Licensed materials (in whole or in part)
  • remove, alter or adapt copyright notices, acknowledgements or other means of identification (e.g. disclaimers) that appear within the licensed material
  • alter or adapt the licensed material, except to the extent necessary to allow it to be readable (accessibility) on a computer screen, or as otherwise permitted by a license agreement or law
  • display or distribute the licensed material on an unsecure network (licensed materials are available to BU staff and students only, via secure multifactor authentication access)
  • use the licensed material for commercial use - this material is for educational purposes only
  • provide unauthorised access to the license material or transfer the licensed content by any means to anyone who is not authorised to use the resource, or republish the license content
  • supply their university username and password or any library issued passwords to anyone else
  • download large amounts of data in an automated or structured way
  • display or distribute any of the licensed material on electronic networks, including (and not limited to) the internet and the world wide web