Our commitment to your privacy and confidentiality has deep roots not only in
law but also in the ethics and practices of librarianship. In accordance with
the American Library Association's Code of Ethics:
"We protect each library user's right to privacy and
confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources
consulted, borrowed, acquired, or transmitted."
However, the Taylor Library may be required to release information in
response to a search warrant or subpoena in accordance with the USA Patriot Act
(Public Law 107-56) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (50 U.S.C.
1801, et seq.). In certain instances, the Taylor Library is not permitted to
disclose that a warrant has been served or that records have been produced
pursuant to the warrant.
Notice
In all cases, we avoid creating unnecessary records, retaining records not
needed for the fulfillment of the mission of the library, and we do not engage
in practices that might place information on public view. With the exception of
information you elect to provide to access library electronic resources, your
library account, and various library forms, we do not collect personally
identifiable information.
Information we may gather and retain about current and valid library users
include the following:
User
Registration Information
Circulation Information
Electronic Access Information
Information Required to Provide Library Services
Interlibrary Loan Information
Special
Collections Information
If you are affiliated with our university, the library automatically receives
personally identifiable information to create and update your library account
from the Registrar's Office (for students) or Personnel Office (for employees).
Changes to your personally identifiable information may be made at the
Registrar’s Office (for students) or Personnel Office (for employees). Patrons
issued a library courtesy card, with proper identification, may ask the
Circulation Manager to correct their library account information.
Library personnel will not disclose the item(s) an individual has currently
checked out, except for complying with the law. We remove links between patron
records and materials borrowed when items are returned, and we delete records as
soon as the original purpose for data collection has been satisfied. At the
conclusion of the current semester, patron records are deleted, with the
exception of accounts containing overdue fines and book replacement fees, for
accounting and auditing purposes only.
We permit only authorized Library personnel with assigned confidential
passwords to access personal data stored in the Library's computer system for
the purpose of performing library work. We will not disclose any personal data
we collect from you to any other party except where required by law or to
fulfill an individual user's service request. The Taylor Library does not sell
or lease users' personal information to companies, universities, or individuals.
Use of the Taylor Library Website and Online Catalog
Our website and catalog use cookies that collect anonymous traffic data. Our
web server and third party software (Google
Analytics) collect information regarding authentication and online catalog
usage (index searched, search terms used to search the index, patron type,
number of connections and rejections to the electronic research databases and
individual and online journal collections, IP address, type of browser, internet
connection speed, operating system, domain from which you connected to our site,
screen resolution, referring sites, search terms used to locate our site, site
pages visited the most). This information is used to detect problems, discover
trends, improve the design of the website and online catalog, and to provide
data for policy and decision making.
Enforcement
Library users who have questions, concerns, or complaints about the library's
handling of their privacy and confidentiality rights should file written
comments with the Director of the Library. We will respond in a timely manner
and may conduct a privacy investigation or review of policy and procedures.
We authorize only the Library Director to receive or comply with requests
from law enforcement officers; we confer with our legal counsel before
determining the proper response. We will not make library records available to
any agency of state, federal, or local government unless a subpoena, warrant,
court order or other investigatory document is issued by a court of competent
jurisdiction that shows good cause and is in proper form. We have trained all
library personnel to refer any law enforcement inquiries to library
administrators.
