Instant Messaging and E-mail Reference Policies and Privacy Information

Purpose of the Services

E-mail and instant messaging reference services are provided primarily for students enrolled in courses at Middle Tennessee State University, or enrolled in any distance learning courses, and for faculty and staff of Middle Tennessee State University. If you are not affiliated with MTSU, we are sorry that we can reply only if your question relates to Middle Tennessee State University or to some unique resources of the MTSU Library.

Information You Must Disclose

You are asked to provide your name, email address, and MTSU status when you initiate an e-mail question. We do not require any personal or contact information to initiate an instant messaging (IM) question. If, however, you send us an IM using your personal IM account, we will be able to view your screenname. Regardless of how you identify yourself in an IM session, the librarian might ask for your telephone number or e-mail address so that he or she can call or e-mail you in order to best work on more complex questions. The librarian might also ask whether or not you are affiliated with MTSU in order to identify the most appropriate resources to answer your question.

Answering Your Question

Your question might be best answered by a librarian other than the one who originally received your question. Your question might be forwarded to a subject specialist librarian better able to provide a good answer. Your contact information will be sent along with your question so that you can be contacted in the timeliest manner.

Privacy

The MTSU Library respects the privacy of users. IM transcripts and records of e-mail transactions are stored on internal library servers. Use of both e-mail and instant messaging reference service constitutes consent for the MTSU Library to use transcripts for research and statistic-gathering purposes and to evaluate service quality. However, we will not share your contact information or disclose any personally identifiable information.

The Middle Tennessee State University Privacy Policy and Information Technology Resources Policy apply to e-mail and IM reference service.