Policies

Print

Butler students, faculty, and staff may print in black and white at the Libraries using their PrintSmart accounts. See IT’s PrintSmart Knowledge Base article for more information.

Color printing is available at both Irwin and Science Libraries for currently enrolled Butler students, faculty, and staff. Color printing is free, but limited to 20 pages. For print jobs greater than 20 pages, please visit Campus Impressions. Color print jobs will need to be released by a staff member, so please visit the service desk at either library location for assistance.

Butler alumni, guests, or special borrowers may not print. Guest users may save documents to a flash drive or attach files to an email. Information Commons staff is available if assistance is needed.

Scan

Scanning is available at no cost. Scans can be sent via email or saved to flash drives. You can customize the format (pdf, jpeg, etc.) and can scan in color. A Butler login is necessary for the machine, so guests will need to visit the service desk at either location for assistance.

Requests for scanning of materials held in Special Collections and University Archives can be made by filling out and sending the photocopy request form to specialcollections@butler.edu

Butler University faculty, staff, and students are expected to act as responsible users of the copyrighted works of others, which includes making informed, good faith decisions that comply with copyright law. When permission to use copyright protected material is required, that permission must be obtained prior to use of the materials. Infringement of another person’s copyright is a violation of federal law. The legal ramifications of infringement include fines that range from $200 to $150,000 per infringement. The Libraries provide the following resources to assist in making informed decisions regarding copyright and fair use:

• Butler University Libraries’ Copyright LibGuide
• Butler University Intellectual Property Policy
• Scholarly Communication Librarian Jamie Flood (jflood1@butler.edu)
  • Please reach out with copyright questions, including identifying user rights, author rights, etc.  

Butler University faculty, students, and staff wishing to include their work in Digital Commons @ Butler will need to fill out this non-exclusive license and send it to digitalscholarship@butler.edu.

The Butler University Faculty Senate adopted an open access policy on April 28, 2020. This policy shows Butler University’s commitment to disseminating the fruits of research and scholarship as widely as possible. Open access policies increase authors’ rights, readership and citation rates for scholarly articles. The opt out provision ensures that all faculty authors have the freedom to publish in the journal of their choice.

• Read the Open Access Policy
• Open Access Policy FAQs
• What is Open Access?
• Contact
• Need a Digital Commons Selected Works Profile? Email your c.v. to budigitalscholarship@butler.edu

Following the adoption of the 2013-16 Strategic Plan, library faculty and staff worked to develop a new Collection Policy based on the plan and its initiatives.  The new policy document was finalized and adopted in August of 2013, updated in 2024. View the collection development policy.

In October 2025, Archives and Special Collections revised their Collection Development Policy. View the Archives and Special Collections collection development policy.

Gifts

In accordance with our desire to maximize the benefit of Butler University Libraries to our patrons, we have established the following policy regarding acceptance of gifts:

Archives and Special Collections staff will review offers of unique or rare books, personal papers, photographs, or collections that support the teaching mission of the university or document its history, for inclusion into their collection under terms of the policy linked above. Materials accepted for the Archives and Special Collections will be processed and made available for use through that department, as well as through Digital Collections platforms if possible. To discuss a potential donation to Special Collections, contact Special Collections at 317-940-9136 or specialcollections@butler.edu.

The Library does not otherwise accept gifts of books, journals, magazines, or other physical materials, and does not accept unsolicited or anonymous gifts of any kind.

Butler Faculty wishing to donate their scholarly work should contact their liaison to make appropriate considerations.

Monetary gifts to support ongoing collection expenses are especially welcome, and if you are considering such a gift please visit https://give.butler.edu/libraries.

For general questions about the Gift policy contact Josh Petrusa, Dean of Libraries at 317-940-9236 or jpetrusa@butler.edu

Butler University Libraries is not responsible for unattended personal items.

Irwin Library

The lost and found for the Irwin Library is located at the Information Commons desk on the main floor. You can inquire about items at the desk, by phone (317-940-9227), or by email (infocommons@butler.edu).

Valuables with personal information (e.g., wallets, IDs, credit cards) are kept in a secure location. If possible, Information Commons staff will attempt to contact the owner via phone or email. Non-valuable items (clothing, umbrellas, notebooks, etc.) are donated to Goodwill or recycled at the end of every other month.

Science Library

The lost and found is located at the Information Commons desk in the Science Library. You can inquire about items by calling (317-940-9401) or visiting the desk.

Valuables with personal information are kept in a secure location. If possible, we will attempt to contact the owner via phone or email.

Items found will be kept until the end of the year. At that time they will be donated or recycled.

View the Butler Libraries Code of Conduct policy.