IDeATe Lending Collection Circulation Guidelines

borrowing eligibility and appropriate use

The equipment in the IDeATe Lending Collection is intended for supporting academic and activities held at Carnegie Mellon University’s main Pittsburgh campus. Therefore, borrowing for off-campus use in or around Pittsburgh is limited to university-sanctioned events. There are risks of late return, physical damage, and total loss (including theft) when equipment leaves campus. Traveling (both domestically and internationally) with lending collection equipment is expressly forbidden.

Borrowing items for other users (especially those without lending privileges) is not permitted. Borrowers should be present when equipment is used and are responsible for safely returning items on time. Any late fees or replacement costs incurred on an item while checked out will be billed to the borrower’s account, regardless of who may be using it at time. Please note that in compliance with theID Card Terms of Use, borrowers must have their own Carnegie Mellon ID card ready to present when checking out items.

Borrower Responsibilities

Once an item is borrowed, the borrower is solely responsible for it until it is returned. Borrowed equipment should therefore not be left unattended, as this increases the risk of misplacement or theft. If unattended items are found and turned in to the Lending Office, the borrower will be notified of their negligence. In some cases, such actions can lead to fees being assessed and/or borrowing privileges being suspended.

Borrowers are responsible for their own data. According to IDeATe Lending Office procedures, all media storage devices (including thumb drives and SD cards) are permanently erased upon being returned. Borrowers should therefore save their media or data before returning equipment.

Email Notifications and Receipts

Borrowers are expected to check notifications sent to their Andrew email. At the time of borrowing an item, an automated receipt email—containing an itemized list of checked out items and their due dates—will be sent to the borrower. In addition, due date reminders and overdue notices will be sent to borrowers’ Andrew email accounts. Because these notifications contain time-sensitive material, it’s important to read the emails, as they may include due dates and notification of potential late return fees. Any borrower who checks out items and does not receive a receipt email should notify help@ideate.cmu.edu about the problem.

When items are borrowed, the details of that transaction will automatically be sent to the borrower’s Andrew email. Details include the item description, the due date and time, and a link to the Lending Office’s hours of operation. Questions about not receiving a receipt email or the contents of the email should be directed to help@ideate.cmu.edu.

Returning Equipment

All equipment must be returned directly to IDeATe Lending Office staff in Hunt A29 by the due date and time provided. Lending collection items cannot be returned to other University Libraries’ locations or dropboxes or left outside of the Lending Office. Doing so may result in the items being treated as “unattended” and could result in fees being assessed or lending privileges being revoked.

All parts of equipment kits must be present upon return. Lending Office staff may decline to accept the return of equipment that is missing parts, tags, peripherals, etc. Borrowers who choose to return items with missing or damaged parts will be charged accordingly. Lending Office staff are responsible for checking equipment kits for all included parts at both checkout and return. However, borrowers should also review accompanying equipment tags at both of these times to double check that all parts are present. 

If anything is missing at the time of checkout, borrowers should notify staff before leaving the office. Borrowers should also notify Lending Office staff immediately if they receive damaged equipment. Failure to follow these rules can result in financial responsibility for the replacement of missing or damaged items.

Renewals and Extensions

Equipment cannot be renewed after the initial three-day lending period. However, borrowers may request due date extensions under extenuating circumstances, such as illness or personal emergencies. In such cases, borrowers should email help@ideate.cmu.edu to notify staff of the circumstances. Additionally, during times of inclement weather or other unplanned building closures, due dates will be extended until the next day of operation (or late fees will be waived upon the return of items).

Special Borrowing Periods

Mid-Semester Breaks: During mid-semester breaks (fall, Thanksgiving, and spring), equipment will not circulate as usual. All regularly borrowed items will be due back the day before the break begins. Any items needed during breaks will require special approval by IDeATe administration. Anyone wanting a borrowing exception over a break must send an email to help@ideate.cmu.edu at least two weeks in advance. The email must include the equipment needed, the reason for the request, and the borrowing period. Exceptions will be granted on a case-by-case basis. Lending Office staff will respond within three business days of receiving a request.

Winter Break: In order to allow Lending Office staff time to work on equipment maintenance, inventory, and other special projects, no equipment will circulate during winter break.

End of Spring Semester: At the end of Spring semester, graduating students’ borrowing privileges will expire prior to the university’s billing deadline.

During Spring finals, borrowing for faculty, staff and non-graduating students will shift to a special schedule as posted at least one month in advance.

Summer Borrowing: During the summer, borrowing is strictly limited to academic/departmental use. All borrowing requests during the summer must be made directly to help@ideate.cmu.edu two business days in advance of desired pickup date. Please note that staffing, facilities operations, and other factors may delay responses and/or approval of requests. All requests will be reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis by IDeATe staff.

Suspension of Borrowing Privileges

Failure to follow the IDeATe Lending Collection Circulation Guidelines may result in the suspension of borrowing privileges from the IDeATe Lending Office and other University Libraries. Barred borrowers will be notified directly via email with specific details regarding the reasons for and duration of their suspension. Borrowing privileges will be suspended for the remainder of the current academic semester if a borrower accumulates $150 or more in outstanding late fees, or has two or more lost items with a combined replacement value of $250 or more.

Borrowers should be aware that they will be blocked from checking out equipment from the Lending Office or materials from the University Libraries when they accrue a total of $25 in fines.

Overdue Items and Late Fees

Overdue items from the IDeATe Lending Collection incur daily late fees. Automatic alerts of overdue items are sent to borrowers’ Andrew email addresses when fees start accruing. Notifications will continue to be sent until overdue items are returned. Borrowers who receive such notifications after returning items to the Lending Office should report the issue to help@ideate.cmu.edu. Fines will be waived in such cases after Lending Office staff verify that the items are present and in working condition.

Overdue fines are based on the cost of each piece of equipment. Therefore, more expensive items, such as camera kits, accrue higher daily late fees than equipment like connecting cables or adapters. See fine and fee table below.

At 14 days overdue, items will be subject to a replacement fee. Fees for each item in the collection vary, and are based on the cost of the equipment at the time of its purchase. Once a replacement fee is charged, borrowers will not be responsible for paying the previous cost of late fees on the item.

Damaged, Missing, and Soiled Equipment

Replacement fees may also be charged if an item is returned damaged or missing parts. In the case of equipment kits, fees may only be charged for the replaceable parts that need to be repaired or replaced. Questions about damaged equipment should be directed to help@ideate.cmu.edu.

A cleaning fee of $10 may also be charged to borrowers who return soiled or otherwise unusable equipment. Borrowers should therefore take time to carefully clean heavily-used equipment before returning it to the Lending Office.