Online Resources Policy

1. Introduction
2. Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom
3. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
4. Definitions
5. Policy
6. Procedure
7. Advice and guidance
8. Failure to comply
9. Review

Appendices

1 Introduction

Library Services subscribes to a significant number of online resources. Each online resource subscription involves a licence agreement between City St George's and an external supplier. These licences state who is authorised to use the service and provide terms and conditions for acceptable use. This policy is to support compliant use of these online resources, and where individuals fail to observe these conditions, disciplinary action may be taken.

2 Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom

2.1 City St George’s, University of London, regards freedom of speech and academic freedom to be fundamental to delivering its mission as the University of business, practice and the professions. Its values in this respect are set out in a code of practice on freedom of speech and academic freedom, which explains how the University will uphold, secure, and promote freedom of speech within the law: https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/about/governance/policies/code-of-practice-on-freedom-of-speech

2.2 Nothing in this policy should be interpreted in any way that would be inconsistent with the code of practice and – in the event of any inconsistency – the provisions of the code will prevail.

3 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

3.1 City St George’s, University of London works to advance equity, diversity and inclusion in its activities, processes, and culture, for the whole University community, including staff, students and visitors.

3.2 The University will meet its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 in its policies and seek to eliminate discrimination on the basis of age, caring responsibilities, disability, gender identity, gender reassignment, marital status, neurodiversity, pregnancy, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, and socio-economic background.

4 Definitions

Online resources includes databases, online journals and e-books.

5 Policy

5.1 Purpose

5.2 Scope

This policy covers all library online resources for which City St George's holds a licence agreement. This includes databases, online journals and e-books. The policy does not cover resources which are freely available via the internet. These are covered by Copyright Law.

5.3 Principles

The Library Services Collection Development Framework outlines the processes behind the acquisition of online resources.

Online resources to which Library Services subscribes are listed in the Databases A-Z and Journals A-Z lists (Clerkenwell and Moorgate campuses) and the Databases A-Z and Journals A-Z (Tooting campus). These are accessible via Library Search (Clerkenwell and Moorgate) and  Hunter (Tooting). Login to these resources is normally via an IT username and password. Some resources require a separate username and password or individual user registration.

Access to online resources for new partnership institutions cannot be assumed and, due to the licensing conditions, must be negotiated via Library Services and additional fees may be required to extend access beyond the current licence terms.

Access to online resources for apprenticeships is not possible due to the terms and conditions set out in the licences.

Any queries about the authorised use of resources should be submitted to the E-Access team via e-access@citystgeorges.ac.uk

7 Advice and guidance

Library Services subscribes to online resources to support the educational and research needs of City St George's students and staff. In some cases, these resources are educational versions of commercial products. Any use of online resources must be for educational and non-commercial purposes [2] only, such as research, teaching or study. None of the online resources provided by Library Services can be used for commercial purposes.

Use of all online library resources is subject to licence agreements and copyright law. All users are responsible for ensuring they comply with resource licences and copyright law. Any infringement of the library's licences with suppliers is against the Library Services Code of Conduct and may lead to suppliers withdrawing a service. Any misconduct or breach relating to this policy by City St George's staff or students may lead to disciplinary action under appropriate university procedures [3].

All users of library resources should familiarise themselves with the Library Services Code of Conduct and the IT User Regulations.

Access rights to online resources for different categories of user are detailed in the Library Services Online Resources Library Guide. If in doubt, please consult a member of library staff using the contact details at the end of this document.

Unless otherwise stated, library online resources are licensed only for the educational use of current staff and students of City St George's, University of London. This does not include:

• alumni [4]
• collaborating authors
• commercial partners
• consultants
• guest lecturers
• SCONUL Access and M25 members
• validated and some partnership staff and students [5]
• visiting scholars [6]
• short course students
• summer school students
• library reference subscribers
• external university members or external university visitors
• City St George's staff acting in a commercial capacity (for example, private consultancy or fundraising)
• NHS staff (except where license extensions have been negotiated).

A walk-in access facility [7] is provided for some categories of library user and this is outlined in the Online Resources Library Guide.

Students on exchange programmes should use online resources only for supporting their studies at City St George's and not for any other purpose.

Authorised users of online resources may:

• access, browse and search online resources, and display contents on the screen
• download or print [8] a limited number of records for academic purposes
• download, copy or print up to a supplier-specified percentage [9] of the whole of an e-book
• download single copies of electronic journal articles or email them to their email addresses for personal research purposes
• reproduce or quote limited portions of the database contents for reports, essays, projects, and similar materials created for academic purposes, with appropriate acknowledgement of the source, as permitted by copyright exceptions in UK copyright legislation
• any users wishing to bring any licensed material (normally online journals or e-books) to the attention of students, must link to it via Reading Lists Online (Clerkenwell and Moorgate) or My Reading List (Tooting). Material should not be emailed or directly added to a Virtual Learning Environment.

Authorised users of online resources may not:

• share or disclose login details for online resources to other parties. This includes password(s) for online resources or IT account details
• share any material with unauthorised users (for example, non-members of City St George's, University of London)
• carry out systematic, bulk or automatic downloading [10]
• make multiple copies of any material
• download, copy or print out more than the supplier specified percentage of an e-book
• save retrieved data in a shared drive where other individuals who are not authorised users have access
• systematically make copies of a whole issue of a journal
• use online resources for commercial purposes [2]
• modify the text of any copyright material or any related copyright statement
• make licensed material available to others over any kind of network or by e-mail without checking the terms of the licence concerned.

Some vendors stipulate that any content downloaded from their database by an employee or student must be deleted by that individual once they have left the University. For advice on the requirements of individual licences please contact the E-Access Team via e-access@citystgeorges.ac.uk.

8 Failure to comply

If a user is found to have misused the online resources, this could result in the blocking of access for  individuals and possibly further action under the University's misconduct policies.

Allowing access to unauthorised users (under the terms of the licences) could result in the entire University being blocked from access to an online resource, with the potential of legal action from the vendor.

9 Review

This policy is reviewed every three years by the Head of Content and Discovery Services and approved by the Library Leadership Team.

Should you require further information regarding this policy or access to the policy in an alternative format, contact library@citystgeorges.ac.uk.

Policy title: Online Resources Policy (Library)

Policy version: V2

Primary author: Head of Content and Discovery Services

Related policies: Collection Development Framework

Accountable authority: Director of Library Services

Approving authority: Library Leadership Team

Date of approval: July 2026

Policy effective from: July 2026

Date of review: July 2029

Appendix

Footnotes

[1] Licenses negotiated by national organisations such as Jisc on behalf of the UK higher education sector.

[2] Commercial use is broadly defined as activities which result in profit/monetary reward or commercially funded research which is not shared in the public domain.

[3] City St George's, University of London (2024) Senate Regulation 13: Student Discipline. Available at: https://www.citystgeorges.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/691303/Senate_Regulation_13_Student-Discipline_250709.pdf (Accessed 2nd September 2025).

[4] A small number of databases are available to City St George's alumni via separately negotiated licences. Access to these databases are via the alumni webpages using individual alumni accounts.

[5] Remote access to specified online resources is by arrangement only.

[6] Remote access to specified online resources is by arrangement only.

[7] Dedicated PCs at Northampton Square Library and the Business Library provide access to some licensed online resources for students and staff who are associated with City St George's but are not full members of the University. NHS staff and students at affiliated NHS Trusts registered with the St George's Library are eligible for walk-in user credentials to access some licensed online resources from the St George's Library Level 1 Computer Rooms and PCs in the Silent Study Area of the St George's Library.

[8] Some resources have download and printing limits. Any systematic or significant levels of downloading may trigger a high usage alert and be investigated by Library Services. Some resources also have restrictions on the period of time for which data can be stored. If in doubt about the allowance of any particular licence, please refer to the 'Contact details' section of this policy.

[9] For further information refer to the publishers' websites.

[10] Further information regarding downloading restrictions for specific resources can be obtained from the contacts listed at the end of this document.