Databases and search tools conditions of use

The Library signs licence agreements with vendors and publishers when they purchase access to Library databases, online journals, videos, ebooks and other information resources. The Library must ensure that the conditions of these agreements are met.

Who is eligible?

Current QUT students and staff - most databases and resources are available to all current QUT students and staff, however some are restricted to particular subsets of students or staff members or are only available from specific locations (e.g. on-campus only).
QUT alumni - selected library databases are available to eligible alumni.
Community members - the Library provides public access to databases from the QUT Community Collection for grant seekers, fundraisers and philanthropists. In addition, access to selected databases is provided to visiting groups as part of Library facilitated workshops from within QUT Library buildings.

You agree to

By connecting to and using Library subscribed databases, online journals, videos and ebooks you agree to:

Use the resources for the purpose of:
- QUT students and staff: Non-commercial QUT-related teaching, learning, research and administration work only.
- QUT alumni and community members: Non-commercial personal research only.
Not provide or facilitate database access to any other person(s) for any purpose.
Not carry out systematic downloading, distribution, or retention of substantial portions of information such as:
- downloading every article in an issue of a journal
- downloading every issue of a journal(s)
- downloading every or substantial numbers of ebooks within a collection.
Not use software, including scripts, agents or robots such as website crawlers or offline browsers or browser plugins to systematically download content. This may result in loss of access to resources for the entire QUT community.
Not remove copyright and proprietary notices from any printed or downloaded material.
Check for any copyright or terms of use statements appearing within the database or resource and ensure you comply with these statements. Where no statement restricting copying or downloading is evident, you should assume you are obliged to comply with the Australian Copyright Act. Information about copying a reasonable portion can be found on the QUT Copyright Guide. Further to this, all use of articles, ebooks and other content must be cited appropriately.

Ebook usage restrictions

Ebooks can have a number of additional access and use restrictions that are imposed by the publisher.

Some publishers use Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to limit:
- number of simultaneous users
- how many times you can download a title
- how much can be printed, downloaded or emailed
- how long you can view the ebook online.
Downloading these ebooks usually requires Adobe Digital Editions (or other DRM software) or DRM eBook readers for downloading to mobile devices.
Some publishers will allow you to download the entire ebook with unlimited printing and saving.
If not otherwise stated in the terms of use of the ebook website, you should comply with Australian copyright and limit downloading/printing to 10% or one chapter whichever is greater (see copying a reasonable portion for further information).