Towards the end of March 2016, a serious case of e-resource misuse involving e-books on the MyiLibrary platform was recorded. The HKBU Library subscription was used to systematically download the complete full text of several e-book titles, in a clear violation of Library policy.

This misuse was detected by the vendor, who in response disabled the saving/download functionality of the MyiLibrary platform for the entire HKBU community. After negotiation by the Library, the vendor has restored these functions.

To help ensure that such excessive downloading is not repeated, additional authentication measures have been implemented for MyiLibrary e-books. Users must now login using their HKBU account information in order to access MyiLibrary e-books, even when using on-campus computers.

While this will cause some minor inconvenience, the Library must take seriously its legal obligation to protect the copyright of publishers. We urge users to review the Library’s policies regarding the appropriate use of e-resources, and remind the University community that you are fully responsible for any legal consequences arising from the infringement of copyright laws that occurs during your use of Library-subscribed e-resources.