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Copyright & Fair Dealing

Can I provide my class with copies of journal articles?

YES: a single copy or a short excerpt  from a copyright-protected work may be provided or communicated to each student enrolled in a class or course at Mount Saint Vincent University (distance or on-campus). You cannot copy an entire work (book, journal, or magazine).

Best practices for copying and distributing articles from journals, magazines, etc.

  • A short excerpt is commonly interpreted as 10% of a work or 1 single article, from a journal, magazine, etc.
  • In an online class site (e.g. Moodle) or when communicating by email, the best practice is to link to resources if there is a legal copy available online, or via the Library's licensed e-resources. If you must scan or digitize multiple documents do not create a single file. This will be considered an anthology.
  • When using journal articles from the Library's licensed e-resources, please keep in mind that usage of these resources is governed by license agreements, in addition to copyright. It is always preferable to link to these resources when distributing them for educational purposes.
    Note: each resource may have its own terms of use, so it is possible that if one journal does not allow posting PDFs to Moodle, another one might --- contact copyright@msvu.ca if you have questions.
  • In a face to face class, do not staple several articles together.  This will become an anthology or a course pack. This scenario is better handled via commercial photocopy services which subscribe to an Access Copyright licence.
  • All articles must be fee of charge to all students.
  • Avoid systematic or accumulative copying of articles that in essence would amount to copying an entire journal or magazine in small installments.
  • Do not copy works that you suspect have been themselves been copied or posted online without the consent of the copyright holder.
  • Public Domain and most Open Access and Creative Commons licensed material can be copied and handed out in the course freely.
  • Please make sure that all work is properly cited.

Linking to Mount Library's Electronic Resouces

The Library subscribes to numerous collections which provide access to digital content like audio files, ebooks, and journal articles.

You can quickly search all of the Library's electronic resources via the  A-Z Research Databases & Websites list

To access these eResources and the digital content they contain, you will be prompted to log in by entering your Mount username and password. The URL that will appear at the top of your screen is often specific to your logged in session and will usually expire within a few hours. To share digital content with students, provide them with a Persistent Link in your Moodle course. Linking instructions are available under each database on the A-Z Research Databases & Websites list. 

When students click on the persistent link, they will be transferred directly to the content you selected after logging in with their Mount username and password. Providing Persistent Links is the most effective way to share content from the Mount Library with students.