Hostos Library Policies and Procedures: PC and Internet Use Policy

City University of New York

Internet Access Guidelines for CUNY Libraries

In accord with the spirit of the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights and to maintain academic and intellectual freedom and ensure equity of access within the CUNY academic community, the following general guidelines for Internet access are suggested for CUNY libraries by the Council of Chief Librarians of the City University of New York.

CUNY libraries should provide  some facilities and infrastructure expressly for unrestricted access to the  Internet. Other workstations may be regulated to allow only restricted access in  order to ensure the availability of licensed databases or other Internet sites  appropriate for academic course work or research.
CUNY’s Open Access Policy  applies to Internet access. Every member of the CUNY community with a valid CUNY  ID has full rights to Internet use in all CUNY libraries.
Individual campuses may determine  local rules governing specific terms of Internet use. Such rules include time  limits, signing-up, number of users per terminal, downloading and printing.
Attempts to modify hardware or software configurations are prohibited. Internet users must comply with the below CUNY  statement of Computer User Responsibility.

Computer User Responsibility 

The computer resources *  of The City University of New York must be used in a manner that is consistent with the University’s educational purposes and environment. All users of  computer resources are expected to act in a spirit of mutual respect and cooperation, and to adhere to the regulations for their use set forth in this  document. As a user of CUNY computer resources:

You must have a valid authorized account to use computer resources that require one and may use only those computer resources that are specifically authorized. You may use your account  only in accordance with its authorized purposes and may not use an unauthorized account for any purpose.

You are responsible for the safeguarding of your computer account. For a mainframe computer account, you  should change your password frequently and should not disclose it to anyone. You should take all necessary precautions in protecting the account, no matter what  type of computer resources you are using.

You may not circumvent system protection facilities

You may not knowingly use any system to produce system failure or degraded performance.

You may not engage in unauthorized duplication, alteration or destruction of data, programs or software. You may not transmit or disclose    data, programs or software belonging to others and may not duplicate copyrighted material.

You may not engage in abusive or improper use of computer hardware. This includes, but is not limited to, tampering with equipment, unauthorized attempts at repairing equipment and unauthorized removal of equipment components.

You may not use computer resources for private purposes, including, but not limited to, the use of computer resources for profit making or illegal purposes.

You may not use computer resources to engage in abuse of computer personnel or other users. Such abuse includes the sending of abusive, anonymous, or unsolicited messages within CUNY or beyond via network facilities.

The use of college computer resources may be subject to college regulations, and you are expected to be familiar with those regulations.

These regulations and college regulations are subject to revision.  You are expected to be familiar with any revisions in regulations.

The University reserves the right to monitor, under appropriate conditions, all data contained in the system to protect the integrity of the system and to insure compliance with regulations.

• Suspension and/or termination of computer privileges;
• Disciplinary action by appropriate college and/or University officials;
• Referral to law enforcement authorities for criminal prosecution;
• Other legal action, including action to recover civil damages and penalties.

*“Computer Resources” is an inclusive term referring to any and all computing/information technology: hardware, software and access. Hardware includes, but is not limited to, terminals, personal computers, workstations, printers, mice, monitors, cabling, peripheral devices. Software includes, but is not limited to, mainframe shared software, networked software, and stand-alone software residing on personal computers. Access includes, but is not limited to, accounts on timesharing systems as well as access to stand-alone personal computing systems and other relevant technology.