 |
| Home > Services > Privacy Policy and
Disclaimer
for the State Library's Web Site |
|
Welcome to the library's web site. Your privacy is one of our top priorities. The following policy applies only to the use of the State Library's web site. Other web sites operated by state agencies have different policies. We strongly suggest that you read the privacy policies for each Commonwealth web site that you visit, and any external site that you visit through a link appearing at this site.
A Privacy Partnership
Your privacy with respect to the use of this Web site results from a partnership between the Commonwealth and you, the user. At this Web site, we attempt to protect your privacy to the maximum extent possible. However, because some of the information that we receive through this Web site is subject to the Public Records Law, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66, Section 10, we cannot ensure absolute privacy. Information that you provide to us through this site may be made available to members of the public under that law.
This policy informs you of the information that we collect from you at this site, what we do with it, to whom it may be disseminated, and how you can access it. Based on this information, you can make an informed choice about your use of this site. You can maximize the benefits of your privacy partnership with the Commonwealth by making informed choices about whether to share personally identifiable information with us through this site.
Personally Identifiable Information
We use the term "personally identifiable information" to mean any information that could reasonably be used to identify you, including your name, address, email address, Social Security number, birth date, bank account information, credit card information, or any combination of information that could be used to identify you.
Information Voluntarily Provided by You
This site collects voluntary information from you through the emails that you send through this site and by the voluntary use of the forms provided on this site. Emails and forms submitted by you to this site will contain personally identifiable information.
Information Collected Through emails
This site collects voluntary information from you through the emails you send through this site, specifically your email address and the content of your message. This information is routed to the appropriate Department within the Library or to an external State Agency for a response. All emails are saved for at least one year before being deleted. Emails are counted for statistical purposes. The content of these emails and staff member responses are used for training and familiarization of State Library staff over the course of that year.
Information Collected Through Forms
This site collects voluntary information from you through the ask a reference question form, specifically your email address and the content of your message. This information is routed to the appropriate Department within the Library or to an external State Agency for a response. All requests are saved for at least one year before being deleted. Requests are counted for statistical purposes. The content of these requests and staff member responses are used for training and familiarization of State Library staff over the course of that year.
We collect names, addresses and email addresses through our apply for a library card form for the purpose of identifying you as state employees in order to issue you a library card, and to enable us to send that card to you. emails are counted for our statistics. We do not use this information for any other purposes. This information is saved for one year then deleted.
We collect names, addresses and email addresses through our inter-library loans (ILL) forms (book form and journal article form) for the purpose of verifying you are eligible to receive this service, for contacting you if there are any problems filling your request, to notify you when your materials arrive, and to send your ILL loan to you if delivery is preferred. This request and corresponding information is saved for three years in paper format to maintain copyright compliance (see Final Report of the National Commission on New Technological Uses of Copyrighted Works, July 31, 1978, Library of Congress, Washington, DC 1979, pages 54-55, and Title 17, US Code, Section 108(g)(2)), then deleted. The requests are also used to compile usage statistics which are sent to the Boston Library Consortium , the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and C/W MARS (Central/Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing), the location of our integrated, shared online system.
Information Collected Through Use of the State Library's Web-accessible Databases
Your library card number is used to verify you are eligible for this service. The third party vendor collects only the barcode and no other information. This information is stored by the vendor but not used for any purpose other than verification.
Information Automatically Collected and Stored by the Commonwealth
We do not collect "cookies". We do collect information about the date and time of your visit, whether a file you have requested exists, and how many "bytes" of information were transmitted to you over the Web from this site. Your Internet Protocol ("IP") address is used to assess the frequency of visits to this site and the popularity of its various pages and functions.
Dissemination of Your Personally Identifiable Information
We do not sell any personally identifiable information collected through this Web site. However, once you voluntarily submit personally identifiable information to us, its dissemination is governed by the Public Records Law, the Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66A (Fair Information Practices Act), Executive Order 412 , Massachusetts law regarding Libraries Chapter 78, Section 7, Trustees of the State Library, Chapter 6, Section 34 and other applicable laws and regulations. For this reason, part or all of the information you send us may be provided to a member of the public in response to a public records request, Public Records Law, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 66, Section 10.
In addition, the information that you voluntarily submit will be disclosed only to Commonwealth employees or officials with a "need to know" for purposes of fulfilling their job responsibilities. They will only use the information to answer your questions, respond to any requests for assistance, and fulfill the Commonwealth's legal obligations. Where appropriate, we may provide the information submitted by you to the person or company that is the subject of your inquiry, or to a government agency responsible for the matters referred to in your communication.
Your Access and Opportunity to Correct
The Public Records Law and the Fair Information Practices Act provide you certain rights to get information about you that is in our records. To learn more about the circumstances under which you can get and correct this information, please click on the above references to these laws.
Security
Because this site does not encrypt incoming email, you should not send information that you consider highly sensitive through this Web site. We use standard security measures to ensure that your personally identifiable information is not lost, misused, altered, or unintentionally destroyed. We also use software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Except for authorized law enforcement investigations, no attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits.
Special Protections Against Misuse Of Personally Identifiable Information Within Commonwealth Offices
In 1999, then-Acting Governor Swift issued Executive Order 412, which enhanced the privacy protection given to any information about you as a named individual held by the Executive Department of state government. Executive Order 412 limits the collection and dissemination of personally identifiable information within the Executive Department. This site complies with Executive Order 412, so all of the personally identifiable information that you submit to this site is given the privacy protections set forth in Executive Order 412.
Policy Changes
We will post changes to this policy at least 30 days before they take effect. Any information we collect under the current privacy policy will remain subject to the terms of this policy. After any changes take effect, all new information we collect, if any, will be subject to the new policy.
Contact Information
For questions about your privacy while using this Web site, please contact S. Fulchino, State Librarian or S. Clough, Assistant Director, State Library of Massachusetts.
Disclaimer
The State Library of Massachusetts provides links from its Web site to other sites maintained by third parties over which the State Library has no control. The State Library makes no representation as to the accuracy of information found at these sites, nor does the State Library endorse the organizations responsible for these sites, or the items, products or services referenced by them.
Definitions:
Cookies are files that a Web site can place on your computer. A cookie file contains unique information that a Web site can use to track such things as your password, lists of Web pages you have visited, and the date when you last looked at a specific Web page, or to identify your session at a particular Web site. A cookie file allows the Web site to recognize you as you click through pages on the site and when you later revisit the site. A Web site can use cookies to "remember" your preferences, and to record your browsing behavior on the Web. Although you can prevent Web sites from placing cookies on your computer by using your browser's preference menu, disabling cookies may affect your ability to view or interact with some Web sites.
An Internet Protocol Address or IP Address is a series of numbers that identifies each computer and machine connected to the Internet. An IP address enables a server on a computer network to send you the file that you have requested on the Internet. The IP address disclosed to us may identify the computer from which you are accessing the Internet, or a server owned by your Internet Service Provider. Because it is machine-specific, rather than person-specific, an IP address is not, in and of itself, personally identifiable information. |
| |
|
|
|
