[Grogospeak] Official Checkout Policy

[Nick Wiltsie]

Hey everybody,

So we've now had a semester to work out the kinks in our new checkout
system and hammer out a policy.  All of you have pretty much been abiding
by the rules, so this is just a formal announcement of what we've decided
upon for policy.  They can pretty much be summarized as "be reasonable" and
"return your stuff or you can't check stuff out anymore."

They're also on the wiki at http://technique.mit.edu/wiki/Equipment_Policy/.

Hard rules

   1. *It is your responsibility to get your gear back on time.*  "There
   wasn't anybody there to open the cabinet for me" or "I was busy that night"
   are not valid excuses.  Every time you check something out you are sent an
   email detailing the due dates, and you'll receive an "Equipment Due" email
   at 6am on those due dates.  Manboard members are always around the office
   on Saturday afternoons, and we will make more of an effort to have open
   hours on Wednesday nights (4 days is the usual checkout length).  If you
   cannot make those times (or any others we announce), it is your
   responsibility to email tnq-manboard at mit.edu in advance and arrange an
   alternate time.
   2. *Late returns will result in loss of checkout privileges.*  Penalties
   start at one week, and get longer for repeat offenses.  Communication is
   your friend here.  We're more willing to work with you if you let us know
   of any problems in advance.
   3. *You can usually renew equipment.*  Hot-ticket items like the D700
   and the 24-70 might be reserved, but in general if no one else wants the
   equipment and you're still actively using it you can likely check it out
   again.  We just want to see the equipment every 4 days to make sure that
   it's not just sitting on a shelf in your dorm room, and so that others have
   a chance to use it.
   4. *The D700 should be returned as quickly as possible.* The D700 is our
   most used camera and is perfect for low-light scenarios (like concerts) and
   for super fast shooting (sports). This camera is strictly one day, and
   generally not to be kept overnight unless there is an event happening early
   in the morning or the event you photographed ended super late. When this
   camera is kept overnight, we really expect to see the camera back between
   noon and early afternoon the following day so that it is available to use
   that evening.

General guidelines

   1. *We want to encourage the art of photography, but we also need to
   make a yearbook.*  Personal use of our equipment is completely
   encouraged - street photography, studio work, candids, landscapes, figure,
   whatever - but there is a general assumption that you are sharing your
   photography on the server.  This is not a strict 1-to-1 relationship (we're
   not going to demand 30 RAW files per checkout) but the only reason we have
   this equipment in the first place is because we assemble our work together
   into a kick-ass yearbook and sell it.  In formal terms, by using our
   equipment you're granting Technique the right to use your photographs for
   all things yearbook related.
   2. *You can use the server for non-yearbook stuff, but try to avoid the
   tragedy of the commons.*  A lot of Manboard members have "Not for book"
   or "Private" folders in their CameraDump folders; mine is full of photos
   from my apartment, Montana, and various other non-MIT places.  If something
   is blatantly not useful for the yearbook or you don't want the Photo Eds
   going through it, feel free to put it in your own "Not for book" folder.
    That said, we have a large but non infinite amount of space.  Don't upload
   non-photography stuff, like your movie collection.
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