Access and Borrowing Privileges at CUNY
Circulation Policies
Copyright and Copyright Guidelines
Internet Access Guidelines
Professional Reassignment Leaves
Public Access to CUNY Libraries
Access and Borrowing Privileges at CUNY
Borrowing books:
Current CUNY students, faculty and staff may borrow books from any CUNY library, with these exceptions:
-
the CUNY Graduate Center does not lend materials to undergraduates, and - the CUNY Law School extends access-only privileges (no borrowing) to students and faculty not currently enrolled there.
- Retired faculty may borrow from any CUNY library (note above exceptions) with appropriate identification
- Students enrolled in SUNY's Empire State College are also granted borrowing privileges at all CUNY libraries. They should be issued a CUNY Open Access card with a generic barcode which has an expiration date at the end of the semester
- Each library has a certain number of patrons that only have borrowing privileges at that library. These are typically:
local alumni (alumni have access only to their home campus library),
visiting scholars, or
neighboring high school students.
Check with the circulation desk staff if you have questions about these patrons.
See also: Circulation Policies by College.
Returning books:
Books may be returned to any CUNY library.
Renewing books:
Books can be renewed online through the CUNY+ web opac when logged onto "My Account."
Books may be renewed in person only at the owning library.
Placing holds:
Open Access patrons can place a hold through the CUNY+ web opac when logged onto "My Account." Holds can only be placed on regular stack items that are currently checked out to another patron. Books will be held at the owning library circulation desk to be picked up by the patron placing the hold.
Circulation desk staff can place holds for patrons who are not part of Open Access.
Overdue fines:
Fines may be paid at any CUNY library.
Lost book replacement fees:
Replacement fees must be paid at the library owning the material.
Open access cards and generic barcodes:
Open access cards with a generic (2 9999) barcode are to be issued to students who do not have a barcode from their home campus on their ID card and want to check out items from another CUNY library. The generic barcode should be issued with an expiration date of 10 days to allow the patron to return to their home campus library and be issued a permanent barcode. The generic barcode should never be placed on a regular college ID card.
If the patron's ID card is imprinted with a valid library barcode, staff at any library can enter them into the Aleph patron file.
See also Public Access to CUNY Libraries (below).
Copyright
A library's interlibrary loan activities (see Services/ILL) may be limited by copyright provisions. The Copyright Act of 1976 restricts the reproduction of copyrighted material without the express consent of the copyright holder. However, Section 107 acknowledges the teacher's need to copy and distribute materials in the classroom and recognizes that such activities may constitute "fair use" of the copyrighted material.
Section 108 authorizes libraries to "reproduce no more than one copy" of a copyrighted work under specific conditions, and this restriction is reflected in library policy governing materials placed on reserve and in other services. Section 107 is reproduced below in its entirety. The full text of the act and interpretive materials are available in any library.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 106, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any means specified by that Section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use, the factors to be considered shall include:
1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for a value of the copyrighted work.
For an in-depth discussion of Copyright issues, read Fair Use of Copyrighted Works, brought to you from the CETUS homepage.
Copyright Guidelines for CUNY Libraries (.pdf*)
A free Adobe reader is available at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/.
Professional Reassignment Leaves
For more information, see
Rules and Procedures for Professional Reassignments in the Libraries
CUNY Application Form for Professional Reassignment in the Libraries (.pdf*)
A free Adobe reader is available at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/
Back to topPublic Access to CUNY Libraries
If you are a member of the public desiring access to research information held in the CUNY library system, your best bet is to check first with local public libraries (New York Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, or Queens Library) to see if the desired information is available there. *If* the public libraries do not have the title you need, and they see that CUNY does, they may then provide you with a referral to CUNY in the form of a Metro card (see above) that cites the unique title of the reference source you need from CUNY. Without this METRO referral or a valid CUNY ID, you do not have access to campus libraries. In no case may non-CUNY researchers remove materials from the libraries.
See also Library Services/InterLibrary Loan
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