Effective: March 2026
Reviewed: March 2026
The library subscribes to a variety of electronic resources (journals, e-books, databases, streaming media, etc.) to support the teaching, learning, and research needs of faculty, staff, and students at the University of Guelph. The library typically negotiates license agreements with publishers and vendors that stipulate how and by whom a given resource may be used.
It is important that all library users adhere to the terms of such agreements to avoid violations that may put access to these resources at risk.
Note that this policy outlines the uses that are generally permitted, as well as those that are generally prohibited, when using library e-resources. Some licensed resources provide for additional uses such as electronic reserves, course packs, interlibrary lending, and text and data mining. For more information about how to determine what uses are permitted or prohibited for a specific resource, see How To Identify License Usage Information in Omni.
Policy
This policy outlines what you can and cannot do when using library e-resources.
You are permitted to:
- View, download, print, stream, or save material for teaching, learning, and research purposes.
- Make a limited number of print or electronic copies for your personal use.
- Share content with other U of G faculty, staff, and students.
- Post links to specific content.
- Incorporate short excerpts of content into your coursework, with proper attribution.
You are not permitted to:
- Print, copy, or download substantial amounts of the content, (such as entire journal issues or multiple e-book chapters); including systematic, cumulative copying of content over time.
- Use automated software (such as web crawlers and web scrapers) to index and extract data.
- Sell or redistribute content, or provide access to someone outside of the university community, such as an employer.
- Share content with people other than registered U of G faculty, staff, and students, including posting content to websites, social media, or Listservs.
- Modify or alter the contents of licensed resources in any way or remove any copyright notices posted on the content.
- Use electronic resources for commercial purposes.
- Input content from electronic resources into generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools.
How to identify license usage information in Omni
License terms for many resources are displayed in the library’s catalogue, Omni. You can find them by:
- Searching for the content (journal article, e-book, etc.) you want in Omni.
- From the search results, click the relevant title.
- Scroll down to 'View Online'. For the sources listed under Full Text Availability, if a 'Show License' link is displayed, click on it to see the relevant license terms. In some cases, license terms may be found under a 'Click here for details on permitted uses' link.
For explanations of the license terms displayed in Omni, consult the tutorial Understanding License Usage Information in Omni.