Library Services & Policies: Library Policies

Gangwish Library Materials Challenge Policy

Censorship of the Gangwish Library's collections will not be tolerated. As a university library, we cultivate a collection of resources that are appropriate for the curriculum at Ottawa University and for an adult audience. Our university library collections represent various viewpoints that stimulate intellectual inquiry and foster spirited debate. Legitimate complaints about library materials will be reviewed based on the guidelines endorsed by the American Library Association's Intellectual Freedom Manual.

Materials challenge complaints will be handled on a case-by-case basis and can only be made by current students, faculty, and staff of Ottawa University. Complaints will not be accepted from alumni or from members of the public who have been provided with access to our Ottawa University collections, but who are not currently enrolled at the university. The Gangwish Library maintains the right not to accept public challenges because Ottawa University is a private academic institution and all Gangwish Library collections belong to the university.

The Gangwish Library has delegated the responsibility for the selection and evaluation of materials to the Library Director who is a subject specialist in the areas of Education, Business and Human Resources and is a member of the Liberal Arts Department faculty, where different subject areas are taught. As a member of College Academic Council, the library director is thus able to select materials for the library based on knowledge of the Liberal Arts curriculum and the Gangwish Library Collection Development Policy. Should a member of the Ottawa University community think that certain materials are unsuitable for the library’s collection: the first step is to discuss their concerns with the library director. If the issue is not resolved following an informal discussion about the mission of the library and how the material supports higher education learning, the library has established formal reconsideration procedures to address concerns about those resources. They are listed as follows:

1. Discussion with the library director about materials challenged and Information Freedom and Academic Freedom policies that apply and support of Ottawa University’s mission and that of the library
2. Fill out and sign a Materials Challenged Form which is located on the Ottawa University Library website
3. The challenge will be considered by a five member Intellectual Freedom Committee consisting of a faculty member teaching in the subject area connected with the challenged item, two students, the Academic Dean of the College and the Library Director.
4. A decision will be made regarding the challenged material(s) within the space of one month.

Please find attached the Ottawa University, Gangwish Library Challenged Materials Form.

Challenged Materials Form.docx

Due Dates

Circulating books have two checkout dates for students at the Campus: Midterm and at the end of the semester. Books may be renewed unless recall is requested. APOS students may checkout books which will be due at the end of the term. Books are subject to recall after four weeks.

Media is checked out for one week and may be renewed if there is not a hold on the item.

Overdue Notices
Overdue notices are sent as a courtesy after material is past due. Users are responsible for returning or renewing materials on time whether or not a notice has been received.

Fines
There are no fines for late books. 

Fees
Replacement charges and reprocessing fees are charged for materials that have not been returned four weeks after they are overdue. If materials are subsequently returned, the cost of the replacement will be refunded; however, the borrower will still be required to pay the reprocessing fee.  Charges are added to the student’s account in the Business Office.

ILL Policies to be aware of:

• Requests need to be emailed to ill@ottawa.edu from your Ottawa University email address.
• Current enrollment will be checked before the library submits a request.
• Students and faculty will be notified by email when their request is available.
• We do not interlibrary loan textbooks.
• Be aware that returning ILL items late may impact on the ability of the library to receive future ILL requests from the lending library. Disregard of due dates may cause revocation of this service for all students outside of Ottawa.

Policies for requesting journal articles:

• When requesting an article, please give the title of the periodical, article title, author, volume number, issue number, date, page numbers of the article, and the source of the citation. Also include your name, address, phone number, and student or faculty ID number.
• Please keep in mind that because of copyright laws, the library may not be able to fill all requests. Depending on the publisher, there is often a delay of a year or more before articles are available. So if your requested article was only published a few months ago, it is unlikely to be filled.
• When requesting an article, please be aware that after you have downloaded it, it will be available for 30 days or 5 views--whichever comes first. You may want to save the file after you first download it so you can access it later.
• Each year the library can only borrow photocopies of five articles out of a specific periodical title published within the last five years and only one article may be borrowed from an individual periodical issue providing the article is no more than 25% of the issue.
• Instructors, please be aware that in accordance with copyright law, interlibrary loan articles are for individual use only. They cannot be copied and distributed to entire classes.

Policies for requesting books & media:

• When requesting a book, please give title, author, copyright date and edition as well as your name, address, phone number, and student or faculty ID number.
• Patrons from the Ottawa campus must pick up books in person at Gangwish Library circulation desk.
• The sleeve attached to your ILL item will tell you the due date and whether or not your item can be renewed.
• Interlibrary loans of books will be available only for students and faculty at the Kansas sites. Patrons at the Kansas City site are responsible for the return postage and mailing the book to the library on or before the due date. Any fine incurred for late return will be charged to the student.
• Because of the time it takes to mail materials back and forth, students at the distance sites are encouraged to ask their local libraries to interlibrary loan materials for them. Students need to be aware that the loan length is determined by the lending library and it could be quite short given the need for the extra mailing from and to the OU library.
• However, an item owned by the Gangwish library will be available to students at any of the distance sites. The item will be mailed to the student at home, and the student is responsible for return postage.
• If you need to keep your item longer than the due date, you may request a renewal if your item is available for renewal. Please submit your renewal request by email to ill@ottawa.edu at least two days before the due date so we can request the renewal from the lending library.