USC Libraries Policies on Access and Borrowing Privileges

Access to electronic resources is governed by legal license agreements between USC and the publishers and vendors of resources.

Access to electronic databases, electronic journals, electronic books, and other research websites are for the exclusive use of all current USC students, faculty (including visiting and part-time) and staff.

• Graduating students: Students who graduate maintain library borrowing privileges and remote access to electronic resources for one (1) semester after the last semester of enrollment in courses.
• Students on leave and not enrolled in courses do not have remote access to electronic resources during the gap period.
• Students in the International Academy, NAI, USC Hybrid High School, and summer programs: access to library electronic resources is administered through the respective academic departments' iVIP services.
• Friends of the Library, Alumni, visitors not affiliated with USC: do not have remote access to electronic resources. Access to electronic resources is available on site in the Doheny Memorial Library. Please request access to information kiosk computers (stand-up terminals only) at the circulation desk in the Doheny Library. Public login expires automatically after 30 minutes and can be renewed once (1x) beyond the initial 30 minutes for a total of 60 minutes/day.

The Health Sciences Libraries have additional information for Health Sciences Campus affiliates.

Downloads should be limited to a number commensurate with the user‘s specific research needs.

USC Libraries’ licensing agreements with content vendors who supply USC with electronic books, journals, images, and other resources, do not allow the use of robots, spiders, crawlers or other automated downloading programs, algorithms, or devices to continuously and automatically search, scrape, extract, deep link, or index data or metadata. Those engaging in such activities will be deemed in violation of the University’s agreements and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), and their access to the resources disabled. Misuse of any resources may result in the withdrawal of a license for the entire campus, as well as possible penalties for the individual violator according to university regulations.

If you are a current USC student, faculty, researcher, or staff working on a scholarly research project which necessitates massive data gathering or content mining, please contact the USC libraries ahead of your project through our Ask-a-Librarian service. For additional information please also check our Content Mining library guide.