The Meadville Lombard Library and Archives takes deliberate steps to collect as little personal data as possible about library patrons as is feasible. Personal data that is collected during the course of library transactions is considered confidential and will only be shared within different library units and with third parties when needed to perform specific library services. All personal data is retained for as short as a time as possible, for the duration necessary to perform the library service. Data is never made available for commercial purposes and will not be revealed outside of data required for library services - except by such process, order, or subpoena as authorized by law.
The Library and Archives Privacy Policy covers all library resources offered to patrons which host content generated by Meadville Lombard or that require school affiliated credentials for login access.
While no online service is 100% secure, we work very hard to protect information about patrons against unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction - taking all reasonable measures to do so.
The Library and Archives at Meadville Lombard firmly believes in the 3rd Principle of the American Library Association Code of Ethics which states: "We protect each library user's right to privacy and confidentiality with respect to information sought or received and resources consulted, borrowed, acquired or transmitted." All of our library and archives policies and practices are generated and implemented in light of this ethical commitment.
Meadville.edu automatically collects information that web browsers, mobile devices, and servers typically make available – this includes the browser type, IP address, unique device identifiers, language preference, referring site, the date and time of access, operating system, and mobile network information. Meadville.edu also uses Google Analytics to better understand how people use the school website. For library and archives specific websites, like the catalog landing page or library.meadville.edu, see the “Privacy and Contracted Third Parties” section of this policy, below.
When providing library and archives services via email with patrons, emails will be retained in accordance with the Meadville Lombard Theological School standard email retention policy.
All email involving students and library staff is protected by FERPA. All email correspondence from non @meadville.edu email addresses is filtered through Barracuda. You can find their privacy policy here.
The Library and Archives keeps statistics of library and archive usage for both digital and physical resources. This data is anonymized and not connected to individual patrons. Some statistics are generated and stored internally, and others are generated and stored via third party library services. For more information about how contracted third parties use and retain personal data, see the “Privacy and Contracted Third Parties” section of this policy, below.
Library and Archives staff use mailing addresses stored Populi in order to mail library books to students. Populi itself is not maintained by the Library and Archives. More information about Populi can be found the “Privacy and Contracted Third Parties” section of this policy, below. For alums and community patrons, the mailing address used to mail books is the one provided by the patron when their account is created. That address information is stored in our library system (Alma) and may also be retained within email correspondence related to account creation request and/or book delivery notifications.
Most of library and archives resources offered by Meadville Lombard Library and Archives involve third party contracted services. Meadville Lombard only contracts with library and archives services who share our commitment to privacy and follow library best practices and norms concerning privacy and security. Below, is a list of library and archives services Meadville Lombard currently contracts with and links to their respective privacy policies.
Consortium of Academic Libraries Illinois (CARLI): While CARLI itself does not directly host library services offered to patrons, CARLI provides and maintains access to the library catalog (Alma), I-Share, and the digital archive management system (ContentDM). In the course of technical support, Library and Archives staff may provide patron information to CARLI.
CARLI Privacy Policy: https://www.carli.illinois.edu/products-services/i-share/circ/privacypolicy
OpenAthens: OpenAthens is the service that authenticates graduate student, alum, and faculty patrons when they login using Populi to library resources. While connected to Populi, OpenAthens only has access to a patrons’ Populi username. Alum and community patrons do not use OpenAthens.
Open Athens Privacy Policy: https://openathens.org/privacy/
Populi: While the library does not maintain Populi, the library uses Populi to determine a current mailing address for students and to authenticate graduate student, alum, and faculty patrons via OpenAthens.
Populi Privacy Policy: https://populi.co/legal/privacy/
Populi and FERPA: https://support.populiweb.com/hc/en-us/articles/360034192594-FERPA-and-Populi
Alma (Ex Libris): The integrated library service that Meadville Lombard uses is Alma. Alma is the system used to manage the online catalog and nearly all services related to book circulation. While not hosted by CARLI, CARLI is involved in maintaining Alma and provides technical support.
Alma Privacy Policy: https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/Alma/Product_Documentation/010Alma_Online_Help_(English)/010Getting
_Started/020Security_and_Data_Privacy
LibGuides (SpringShare): Libguides is the content management service that host most online library and archives webpages, such as Articles, Reference and A-Z Resource pages. It also hosts our instruction and subject based library guides.
Springshare Privacy Policy: https://www.springshare.com/privacy.html
Ebook Central (Proquest): Ebook Central is one of the two primary interfaces Meadville Lombard patrons use to access ebooks that requires a Meadville Lombard login.
Proquest Privacy Policy: https://about.proquest.com/en/about/privacy-policy/
EBSCO: EBSCO is the other major ebook provider that requires Meadville Lombard login information. In addition, EBSCO provides access to the Atla Religion database, Academic Search Complete, and other databases.
EBSCO Privacy Policy: https://www.ebsco.com/company/privacy-policy
JSTOR (Ithaka): JSTOR provides access to the JSTOR-Religion and Theology database.
JSTOR Privacy Policy: https://www.ithaka.org/privacypolicy/
Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press provides access to the Oxford Handbooks and some ebooks.
Oxford University Press Privacy Policy: https://global.oup.com/privacy?cc=us
Cambridge University Press: Cambridge University Press provides access to Cambridge Religion and Philosophy Companions and to Cambridge Histories.
Cambridge University Press Privacy Policy: https://www.cambridge.org/in/files/8715/6630/1237/Cambridge_Explore_Privacy_Policy.pdf
Routledge (Taylor and Francis): Routledge provides access to the Routledge Religion Handbooks.
Routledge Privacy Policy: https://www.informa.com/privacy-policy/
ContentDM (OCLC): ContentDM is the service that hosts Meadville Lombard Archives and Special Collections’ digitized and born digital archive material. While not hosted by CARLI, CARLI is involved in maintaining ContentDM and provides technical support.
ContentDM Privacy Policy: https://policies.oclc.org/en/privacy/privacy-statement.html
OCLC WorldShare: OCLC WorldShare is the service that Meadville Lombard uses for interlibrary loans to libraries outside of I-Share and for interlibrary loaning articles.
OCLC WorldShare Privacy Policy: https://policies.oclc.org/en/privacy/privacy-statement.html
ArchivesSpace: Hosted by LibraryHost, ArchivesSpace provides patrons access to Meadville Lombard archive collection data and inventories.
LibraryHost: https://libraryhost.com/tos/#privacy
Throughout the Library and Archives website and the A-Z Resource list, Meadville Lombard also provides links to free third-party resources we feel are useful to our patrons. The providers of these resources do not have a contract with Meadville Lombard and we do not provide user information to them, nor have access to any information they may retain connected to a patron and usage of their services. Patrons are responsible for evaluating the privacy policies of these resources.
For all internet resources, steps can be taken to limit the information the browser shares with online services. The Electronic Frontiers Privacy Resources offer excellent guidance.
Parts of this privacy policy are adapted from the Automatic Privacy Policy which is made available under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license.
This privacy policy is made available via a Creative Commons Share-Alike license.
Meadville Lombard Wiggin Library
180 N. Wabash Ave.
Suite 625
Chicago, IL 60601
Library and Archives Phone: 312-546-6488 Library Email: library@meadville.edu Archives Email: archives@meadville.edu