Summary of the article Licensing Electronic Resources and Contract Negotiation by Ryan Weir

Summary of the article Licensing Electronic Resources and Contract Negotiation by Ryan Weir

     This article discusses the importance of understanding contract law. Its contract law that mandates how a resource can be used not copyright laws or fair use laws. Throughout the article, Ryan Weir reinforces the fact that libraries licensing agreements is an upmost importance for a librarian who manages electronic resources to understand. Not only do electronic resources librarians need to understand it, but they must communicate it to their fellow colleagues. It’s important that librarians understand their licensing agreement so they can understand how they can use the material, but also so they can negotiate more flexibility into their contract.

     When it comes to licenses agreements there are two main licenses agreements that are most common; those two are an end user agreement and a site license agreement. An end user agreement specifies the terms of use among the end user (the patron) and the publisher/vendor. The site license agreement specifies the terms between the licensee (the library) and licensor (the vendor) not the end user (the patron). The article lays out the basic items that can be found in a licensing agreement which include contact info, subscription periods, title list, holding dates renewal dates, interlibrary loan (not seen in all contracts), access (the kinds of access i.e. off campus access),  acceptable uses, prohibited uses, responsibilities etc.

     While reading this article I had several questions about prohibited use section in a licensing agreement. If a library is unaware of a breach in their contract do most licensing agreements stipulate that library can first try to remedy the problem or can a vendor automatically cut off service? I wish the article gave a more in depth look at this clause.