Terms of Service

Copyright ownership of materials deposited

Pursuant to Board of Regents rule 90101, the copyrights of scholarly and instructional works are retained by their authors. This applies to faculty, staff, and students, notwithstanding any transfer of copyright otherwise agreed to. By depositing their work into Pressbooks, the author is granting UTRGV the limited, nonexclusive right to upload and preserve the work in question, which may include the creation of copies.

Your right to submit your work

Rights granted to UTRGV through this agreement are non-exclusive. You are free to publish the Work in its present or future version(s) elsewhere and no ownership is assumed by UTRGV, the University Library, or Pressbooks when storing the work.

By agreeing to this user agreement, you (the author(s), copyright owner or assignee), grant a non-exclusive license to UTRGV that authorizes the following:

  1. You are the author, copyright holder or assignee and have authority to make this agreement, and give the repository the right to publish the Work in a repository.
  2. That the Work is original and does not, to the best of your knowledge, infringe upon anyone’s copyright.

Accessibility

Users should make all work submitted to Pressbooks accessible based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). The University Library reserves the right to deny inaccessible content not up to the WCAG standard from appearing on the public-facing side of Pressbooks.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is committed to providing accessible website information to all our users following the legal and regulatory requirements set forth in Section 508 Subsection 1194.22 of the amended Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Texas Administrative Code 206.70 Accessibility Standards (TAC 206.70).

Resources: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Site Policy: Web Accessibility. 

Equity and Diversity

The University Library is committed to increasing the diversity of voices that is represented in the scholarly record. We welcome projects that seek to publish work from students, emerging scholars, authors from underrepresented groups, in languages other than English, and voices from outside academia. We strongly encourage editors and authors to build editorial teams and peer reviewer pools that are inclusive of a diversity of identities, geographies, perspectives, and experiences appropriate to the scope of the work being created.

All public-facing Pressbooks projects must be mindful of the content distributed. The University Library retains the right to refuse to publicly display any work that does not undergo external review if any concerns are raised regarding accessibility, inaccuracy, or any of the other criteria listed in these terms of service. 

Rights and Responsibilities of the University Library

The University Library retains the right to refuse to publish or add any book to the public-facing catalog for any of the following reasons:

  • Lack of accessibility
  • Poor overall quality
  • Equity and inclusivity concerns

The University Library will be responsible for:

  • Providing hosting for the works associated with the User.
  • Providing consultative support for the general use of Pressbooks.
  • Maintaining the Pressbooks platform. Although the University Library will strive to maintain the availability of Pressbooks, such availability is not guaranteed. Migrations to new platforms will be handled by the University Library.
  • Minting Direct Object Identifiers (DOIs) required for the project as determined by University Library staff and maintaining minted DOIs.
  • Maintaining a long-term digital archival copy of resources deposited into Pressbooks when necessary as outlined by the Digital Preservation Policy and Framework of the University Library’s Special Collections and Archives (available at https://utrgv.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=62019110).  
    • This copy will exist outside of the Pressbooks platform and will only be accessible to University Library staff. Access requests may (at the discretion of the University Library) incur access charges to the requestor. 

The University Library does not assume responsibility for the content of materials deposited into Pressbooks, and retains the right to take down any materials in response to legal or academic claims in accordance with the Pressbooks User Agreement. The University Library does not assume responsibility for any loss or damages caused by the use or misuse of the platform or service.

While every care will be taken to preserve the work, the University Library is not liable for loss or damage to the work or other data while it is stored within Pressbooks.

Permissions given to UTRGV

This repository shall distribute electronic copies of the work for the lifetime of the Pressbooks platform, or based upon an agreed time span, and translate it as necessary to ensure it can be read by computer systems in the future. 

Withdrawing your work

You may request the work be removed at any point in the future. Equally, UTRGV reserves the right to remove the work for any professional, administrative, or legal reason.