"Personal use" in standard terms of use for online periodicals

["Fearer, Kathleen E (EED)" <kathleen.fearer@alaska.gov>]

Hello everyone.

Publishers' general terms of use sometimes state that content can 
only be downloaded or copied for "your personal use."  I'm 
thinking primarily about online content that comes with a print 
subscription, and that can be accessed with a user name and 
password issued upon registration. I'm not thinking about 
negotiated license agreements, where we would have an opportunity 
to request modification of license terms.

I'm curious about how people interpret "your personal use" in the 
case of a library's subscription, when library staff is accessing 
the content.  Are there circumstances under which staff would be 
able to distribute a downloaded article to patrons?

Thanks for your help!

Katie Fearer
Librarian, Periodicals
Alaska State Library
907-465-2988
kathleen.fearer@alaska.gov