Summary of Policy
Dartmouth Libraries aim to maintain individuals’ privacy when gathering and analyzing Libraries website statistics and electronic circulation and usage records. Dartmouth Libraries collect and analyze website data usage to improve services. To ensure library collections support Dartmouth’s research, teaching, and learning needs, the Libraries capture and apply actionable information from electronic circulation and usage records. The Libraries join the broader academic library community in continuously monitoring and advocating for partner-sourced tools to adhere to privacy best practices.
Web Statistics
The Libraries may choose to use an externally hosted service (e.g., Google Analytics and Mixpanel) to collect these data. Most external services use web browser cookies to track usage.
Electronic Circulation and Usage Records
Dartmouth Libraries define electronic resources as information materials, including books, journals, audiovisual materials, and more, that are accessed electronically through the Internet.
The Libraries employ the following guidelines when handling information generated by electronic resource usage.
Access to Information
To avoid disclosing any individuals’ personal information, borrowing activities, or website usage, access to electronic circulation and usage records is limited to library staff charged with managing the Libraries systems.
Data Analysis and Hierarchy
Dartmouth Libraries group usage into actionable, but still anonymized, patron categories. Dartmouth Libraries configure authentication tools to verify school affiliation or an individual’s administrative area.
Schools and Administrative Areas
- School of Arts and Sciences
- Dartmouth Libraries
- Geisel School of Medicine
- Dartmouth Health
- Guarini School of Advanced and Graduate Studies
- Thayer School of Engineering
- Tuck School of Business
- Alumni
- College Administration
Additional Categories
- General campus support: anyone unaffiliated with the aforementioned areas
- Undergraduate or graduate: based on a student’s school affiliation
- Staff or faculty: Dartmouth employee groupings
Faculty Usage Data
To support Dartmouth's research, teaching, and learning needs, where available, the Libraries collect anonymized faculty patron information related to department affiliation. With these data, library staff capture and apply actionable information about departmental trends in research and teaching where available.
Faculty includes individuals who are:
- Tenure track
- Visiting
- Residents/fellows
- Lecturers
For this crucial purpose, faculty patron information related to department affiliation remains de-anonymized when the number of faculty is equal to or greater than ten individuals.
If a department or area has less than 10 faculty members, Dartmouth Libraries categorize usage data as divisional groupings:
- Humanities
- Social sciences
- International/culture studies
- Engineering
- Business
- Medicine
Information Security
The Libraries ensure minimal disclosure of patron information through authentication, or secure login procedures, to third-party systems. We store information retrieved from partner-provided systems in Dartmouth-managed storage systems or in third-party systems. Only library staff who need this information as part of their duties have permission to access these storage spaces.
Information Sharing
Dartmouth Libraries do not share unprocessed, or unanonymized, usage information with any entity outside the Libraries. Dartmouth Libraries only share aggregated, anonymized information with relevant library staff to inform collection development, service evaluation, and budget decisions. We maintain log files to assist with troubleshooting, disposing of these files when systems issues are resolved to maintain individuals’ privacy. To assist with troubleshooting website or electronic resource usage concerns, the Libraries may share log files or aggregated information with Dartmouth Information, Technology and Consulting.
Data Storage
To monitor usage trends, Dartmouth Libraries store anonymized, high-level data equal to the duration of time the library item or resource is active on the Dartmouth Libraries website or in its collections.
Learn more via Dartmouth Libraries Privacy Principles.