April 11, 2017

Hi Everyone,

I hope your week is going well.

In response to a question from a librarian in Vermont, I gathered links to a handful of library websites for Oregon schools. On a few of the websites, the login information for the Gale databases is posted for anyone to use. I ran into the same situation last week and the week before when looking for contact information for library staff. So, I’m sending another reminder that it is against vendor contracts to post login information for subscription products on a public-facing website.

Instead, you can post it on an intranet – a webpage that only students and staff in your school or district can access. Better yet, create a Google document with login information for all subscription products that your students and staff have access to, including the statewide databases, and post the link on your library website. After logging in to the school or district’s Google account, your students and staff will have access to all of the login information they need in one place, but folks outside of the district will not be able to access the document.  

See this example from Greater Albany Public Schools:

If you posted logins on your public-facing website, please remove them. Thanks for helping us honor our contracts with vendors.

Thanks,
Jen

Jennifer Maurer
School Library Consultant
State Library of Oregon