LibGuides: About: Policies

Mission Statement

The mission of the Learning Commons is to provide access to collections, resources, services and facilities in support of the College's purposes and educational programs for all students. In support of the educational and developmental role of the College on behalf of students, the Library will stress its instructional role in assisting faculty, staff and students to use collections, research tools and services effectively. The Learning Commons' collection and services will evolve to:

Meet user information needs, on-campus and off,
Incorporate advances in information delivery systems to interact with in-state and out-of-state information retrieval sources, and
Engage in cooperative activities with local, state, national and international networks.

General Rules

Drinks are allowed, but food is not.
Internet access is intended to help students find information for course work. If a student is using the computers for personal (and not academic) use and the computer area is full, they should be prepared to vacate their machine for the student needing to do homework.
The Learning Commons was designed as an active collaborative learning environment. If you must talk on your phone, listen to music, play videos, etc., please be mindful of the people working around you.

Overdue and Billing Policies

Students are responsible for managing all material borrowed from Central Maine Community College and other libraries. For overdue material borrowed from CMCC's Learning Commons, notices are sent as a courtesy. Non-receipt of notices does not absolve responsibility. If material is not returned, a bill for the replacement cost is mailed.

Books and Media: Overdue notices are sent on the 1st and 8th days after material is due and a bill is mailed 21 days after material is due.

Reserves: Overdue notices are sent on the 1st and 2nd days after material is due and a bill is sent on the 3rd day after material is due.

Interlibrary Loan Items: Students are responsible for items borrowed from other libraries including fees or fines that may accrue from that library.

Bills are forwarded to the Business Office to be added to a student’s record for payment. If a student returns a billed CMCC Learning Commons item, the replacement cost is canceled from the student’s bill. Students with outstanding bills will have their borrowing privileges suspended. Students will also not be able to register for classes, receive their grades, diplomas, and transcripts.

Acceptable Use Policy

The Primary Goal of information resources is to support and enhance the educational activities of Central Maine Community College (CM) by providing access to additional resources, both within and external to CM, and extending the opportunity for collaborative work.

The College encourages the use of college resources for these primary activities. These resources include, but are not limited to: hardware (including telephones, computers, and traditional media equipment) either owned or leased by the college, software, the Internet, and consulting time (and expertise) of the computer staff.

Prohibited Uses and Limited Right to Privacy

The use of technology resources provided by the college for endeavors not directly related to enhancing and facilitating teaching, collaborative work, and applied research should be considered as secondary activities. Should such secondary activities in any way interfere with the primary activities, they may be terminated or limited immediately.

Many of the technology resources of the college are shared among the entire college community. Everyone using those resources should be considerate of the needs of others and be certain that nothing is done to impede anyone else's ability to use these resources. Such impediments may include, but are not limited to:

Activities that obstruct usage or deny access to others
Activities that compromise privacy
Activities that create a hostile environment (i.e. pornography, excessive violence, etcetera)
Activities that are libelous
Attempting to "hack" into any computer either at the College or elsewhere
Activities that violate all copyright laws
Activities that violate College rules
Destruction, alteration, or appropriation of data or information belonging to others
Activities that violate local, state, or federal laws Unauthorized use of computer accounts
Impersonating other individuals
Creating, using, or distributing virus programs or any programs that attempt to explore or exploit network security and/or other vulnerabilities
Attempts to capture or crack passwords or break encrypting protocols
Allowing anyone else to use any personal account(s) Extensive use of resources for private or personal use
Alteration of computer configurations or settings (i.e. desktop, wallpaper, etcetera)

Students, as do all users of the College's resources, have only a limited right of privacy in their use of the College computers. Persons authorized by the College may access all records of student uses ("files") when necessary to maintain or protect the integrity of College computers or other College property. The College reserves the right to examine and copy files suspected of misuses, corruption or damage. Students files may also be subject to search by law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes.

Policy Specifics

This Acceptable Use Policy includes, but is not limited to, the following specifics:

Students are strictly forbidden from altering or deleting system files, system configurations, desktops, or start menus.
Students are also forbidden from loading any personal software onto a CMCC computer.
Students may not save any data or information to the hard drive without permission from their instructor or appropriate CMCC Faculty/Staff.

Violation of Policy

The mistreatment or misuse of the College computers is subject to the same disciplinary measures as mistreatment or misuse of other College equipment. The College reserves the right to take whatever actions are necessary to prevent a user from violating the rights of other computer users. The use of CMCC computer resources is a privilege, not a right, and inappropriate use may result in disciplinary action taken under the MCCS policies and procedures and/or the CMCC Student Code of Conduct which may result in suspension or dismissal from the College.

Questions or Problems

Instructors, advisors, and supervisors can clarify this policy or help to resolve any other problems encountered in using CMCC computing services and facilities. CMCC policies recognize and amplify the MCCS Computer Network Acceptable Use Policy.

Documentation of Knowledge and Consent

Students may be asked to sign a copy of the Acceptable Use Policy to demonstrate that they understand the contents and intent of this policy. A student's signature will indicate that he/she will comply with the above policies and procedures for use of CM information resources. The signed copy may be kept on file in the appropriate area (i.e. the Learning Commons, the Computer Labs, etc.)

Copyright Policy

Copyright Symbol COPYRIGHT at CMCC contains the MCCS and CM's policies and procedures related to infringement of Copyright Law and links to Federal Copyright Law.

COPYRIGHT COMPLIANCE TOOLS contains applications that help students and faculty to judge if their copying falls under fair use guidelines.

STUDENT GUIDELINES contains information on what Copyright is; how to avoid plagiarism; and why it is necessary to cite one's sources.

FACULTY GUIDELINES contains links to information on how to comply with Copyright law; exemptions for instructors; and how to go about securing permission to reproduce a work that is covered under copyright.