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Using Our Collection Data
Terms and Conditions
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The following terms and conditions apply to the Canadian Museum of Nature's online collection database and National Phycology Collection of Canada database.
Copyright Ownership
The Canadian Museum of Nature owns the copyright of almost all information (data and images) accessed through its databases. For some images, the copyright belongs to another party. Check the image metadata to identify the copyright owner.
See also our copyright notice.
Use of Data
The Canadian Museum of Nature licenses its collection data under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.-0) license.
Under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 licence, use of data must be attributed. The method of acknowledgement will depend on the use.
Suggested citation:
Specimen data provided by the Canadian Museum of Nature. (Accessed through the Canadian Museum of Nature website: http://nature.ca/collections-online, [YYYY-MM-DD]).
We would appreciate that users notify the museum when data are used. Include full citation details (e.g., publication, website, etc.).
The quality of the data is not warranted.
Use of Images
The Canadian Museum of Nature owns the copyright to all images accessed through its databases, unless otherwise specified in the image metadata.
The Canadian Museum of Nature licenses images for which it owns the copyright that are accessed through its collection databases under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.
For commercial use, written permission from the copyright owner is required, regardless of whether the owner is the Canadian Museum of Nature or another party. Use of images for commercial purposes may be subject to licencing fees. Contact us to enquire.
Under the terms of the CC BY-NC 4.0 licence, use of images must be attributed, including the name of the creator if supplied and attribution parties if designated (e.g., Canadian Museum of Nature), a copyright notice if supplied, a license notice, a disclaimer notice if supplied, a link to the material, and a statement indicating modifications.
Suggested citation when the photographer is known:
Photographer's name © Copyright owner, licence, <link to material>. [Statement of modification, if relevant].
(e.g., Jeff Saarela © Canadian Museum of Nature, CC BY-NC 4.0, <link to material>).
Suggested citation when the photographer is unknown:
© Copyright owner, licence, <link to material>. [Statement of modification, if relevant].
(e.g., © Canadian Museum of Nature, CC BY-NC 4.0., <link to material>. This image was cropped from the original).
When written permission to use the image(s) is obtained, adhere to the format specified in the agreement.
Release of Data
The date of the most recent update for each record is given in the Update Date field.
We're continually digitizing new specimens and updating existing records. These changes do not appear online in real time. Please contact us for access to the most recent data.
The museum is not obliged to advise the user when the data are modified.
The museum is not obliged to release confidential or sensitive information such as the monetary value of a specimen, the identity of a donor, or the site locality for specimens of rare or endangered species. To enquire about information that has not been released, contact us.