Licensing in the Real World:the Ins & Outs of Licensing Agreements

Edith Starbuck & Jane Thompson

AIT&L Health Sciences Library

Key Licensing Definitions (Vary from Vendor to Vendor)

= UC Med Center

ORAll of UC?

= Here?

There?

Everywhere?

Model License

Online Journals Access by IP address Permits remote access Includes all of UC All the contents immediately available No ILL restrictions Updateable by local account

administrator

Full-text and database resources Access by IP address Permits remote access Includes all of UC

Important Licensing Details

Archival access maintained?Provide usage statistics?What are the specific conditions of use?Is there a stipulation for confidentiality and what does that mean?What are the repercussions for license violation?

Licensing Differences Between Formats

Volume of license agreements Many more for individual online journals

& journal collections than for full-text & database resources

Restrictions Generally more restrictive for online

journals than for full-text & database resources

Process Most journal licenses are very simple Online journal license approvals stay

within the library whereas full-text & database resources require legal counsel input

Licensing Similarities Between Formats

Technical set-up Generally the same level of complexity

Process Generally the same basic elements in

the license agreements Requires same monitoring process for

renewals

Licensing ManagementOnline Databases & Texts

In 1994, mostly CDs, very few texts Licensing straightforward – library

use only License agreement handled within

the library Exceptions: campus wide database

access via a CD tower AIT&L CD tower access not possible

after switch to Windows

Licensing ManagementOnline Databases & Texts

Became UC Health Sciences policy (’97) to move to web whenever possible

License agreements became more complicated (online journals too) Everyone uncertain how to best handle

web resources License agreements varied from vendor

to vendor Systems not as stable then

Licensing ManagementOnline Databases & Texts

Initially licensing still handled in-house

Currently all licensing agreements must be approved by a lawyer

Licensing Management:Online Journals—Early Days

The First Electronic Journal! (1998)

What are IP addresses?

Why can’t people get into JBC?

Licensing Management:Journals—The Middle Years

Honeymoon time of free access

The shoe drops—Big Time!

Licensing Management:Getting Real

Take Charge of the Text

Get it in Writing

Document Everything

Licensing Challenges

May be restricted to a workstation, the library, a building, etc.

Lose control of licensing process when it must leave the library to be approved by the lawyer

Licenses can be very restrictive & expensive

Determining what you are licensingTrying to find the license…Decision – is it worth it?

Licensing Challenges (cont.)

Numerous originators of institutional licenses at UC UC – HSL for all UC - Langsam for all Langsam for East & West

campuses only HSL for East & West campuses

only Either for select groups on both

East & West campusesToo many cooks?

Online Subscription Challenges

Not notified when URL changes Not notified when publisher

changes & can no longer access journal or journal updates

Subscriptions expire throughout the year, publisher may or may not notify before discontinuing access

When publishers change the pricing formula, sometimes requires redoing the license completely

Horror Stories

Vendor manipulates us into subscribing to a very expensive collection…

CD ROM product with several titles on one CD

Web vendor requires a “live” email address to be used for the username

Web vendor does not provide access by IP address but is upset with the idea of posting the username/password to the web page

Horror Stories from the “serial killer”

NatureWileyAmerican Society for MicrobiologyBMJ

Recommendations

Cultivate relationships with those involved with the licensing process

Learn as much as possible about how to make the process go smoothly, especially if legal counsel is involved

Recommendations (cont.)

Strengthen relationship with your user groups Create an efficient notification process

(email distribution list) Communicate copying restraints to ILL

Document, documentDatabase helps to track everythingRecognize the time commitment

And Finally…

Cool heads prevail!