: THE SIMPLE GUIDE

LOUISE COLECOLLECTIONS (JOURNALS)

The e-resource licence

Let’s start from the very beginning

All our electronic resources are licensed to us, whether we ‘own’ them through outright purchase, ‘rent’ them on subscription, or access for free.

A licence agreement is a legal contract between the licensor (the supplier) and the licensee (the institution) which spells out terms of use.

Legally, contract law supersedes copyright law.

Licences normally place limits on how electronic resources may be used, who may use them, the number of concurrent users and the locations from which networked access is permitted.

Individual users are responsible for ensuring that their use of electronic resources complies with licence conditions.

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered

The model licence Same clauses in

many agreements Understandable

language Usually tailored to

academic libraries Easily enforceable Users well-defined Accepted by most

large publishers

The generic terms of use ‘Click-through’ May be unrealistic Require careful

reading and negotiation

Often vague on user definition

Don’t order anything before seeing an agreement first!

A cock-eyed optimist

Things to consider when reading a licence: WHO. Does the licence allow access for the right

people or is it restricted in any way (e.g. outside UK)? WHERE. Is off-campus access mentioned? By what

method? WHAT. Is it clear what is acceptable and unacceptable

use (e.g. downloading, ILL, course packs)? HOW. Which forms of authentication are available?

Which software, browsers, etc are needed? WHEN. How long is the period covered by the licence?

When is the notice period for cancellation? Are there any unusual clauses (e.g. ‘pay within 7 days’).

Mad about the buy

Some resources do not have licence agreements we need to sign, but point towards their own Ts&Cs Always read the small print and look for the information

we need Negotiate and challenge if we need to Always keep a written record of conversations over

licensing in case of future problems, and keep any additional documentation with a print-out of the relevant conditions

If there are no Ts&Cs either, keep a record of any correspondence relating to users, use, authentication, etc.

If buying something outright check for ‘hidden costs’

Taking a chance on …

Activities with elements of risk Allowing access to

someone who is not an authorised user (giving access outside of a secure network)

Making a password available on a publicly available web page

Systematic downloading Uploading a PDF into

VLE

To ask the question, or not to ask the question? Licences are often

deliberately ‘grey’, like copyright

Agree a definition (a ‘KU student’, a ‘secure network’, a ‘site’) and stick to your guns

If it’s reasonable, it’s likely to be OK – but it is not OK to give all our customers access

Accentuate the positive

Collections are here to help you negotiate the access that you want – we can help iron out Authentication questions Who can access, when, how and from where What to expect from the logging in process How to exploit the resource (for VLE, ILL, reading

lists) Queries relating to trials, increasing user numbers,

obtaining usage statistics Any clauses we see as incorrect or unachievable (10

day payment terms, language that doesn’t fit academic use)

Verde – I’m falling under your spell

Remember Verde? (the ExLibris all-singing, all-dancing, all-encompassing ERM) Licence information – phase 1 for LRC staff, phase 2

for customers (brief details of what’s allowed) Access information – browsers, PDF readers, pop-ups,

mobile versions, accessibility, anything related

Plan to use Verde to be one place to host basic licence information, and to also use ELCAT and/or KB+ as required What’s ELCAT? It’s a bank of JISC licences comparing and contrasting the basic

clauses. What’s KB+? The JISC initiative on title lists for knowledge base use, which might

absorb ELCAT.

Woodman, spare that tree

Those e-links: ELCAT http://www.jisc-elcat.com/elcat/index.pl KB+

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/di_informationandlibraries/emergingopportunities/kbplus.aspx (we are about to join this)

JISC Model Licence http://www.jisc-collections.ac.uk/Help-and-information/How-Model-Licences-work/Guide-to-Model-Licence/

A very open and cautionary story of resource misuse http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/4117