From: Curtis Lavery <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 1 Oct 2013 00:39:15 +0000

Michele,

At the California Digital Library, our standard practice is to require the option - at our choosing -  of an electronic copy of perpetual content delivered in a mutually agreed upon format, or access through a trusted third-party archive such as Portico.  We agree to pay a nominal fee for processing and delivery of content if the delivery option is chosen.  We, of course, may choose to access that content at the vendor's site if the access fee is reasonable, or negotiate free access if we are licensing additional vendor content.

Perhaps you can negotiate a more workable notice period.  We have found that it takes several months to coordinate delivery and processing for hosting the data.

If you have any questions, we can talk offline if you send an email to [log in to unmask].

Cheers,
Curtis Lavery
Licensing Manager
California Digital Library

-----Original Message-----

From: "Shipley, Michele" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2013 16:10:50 -0400

I have a question about what other libraries consider to be acceptable language in a license agreement covering perpetual access to electronic journal backfiles purchased by the library. Miner Library recently purchased electronic backfiles for several important journals from a major vendor. This was a one-time purchase; Miner now "owns" the backfiles. However the license agreement for the backfiles states that the vendor may decide to stop providing access to the backfiles with a 30 day notice. In the event the vendor stops providing access to the backfiles they will provide an electronic copy to Miner or, if they choose, make the backfiles available through Portico or CLOCKSS. We are being told that this is the industry standard.

Has anyone else run into language like this and been able to negotiate a better guarantee of perpetual access? Is this language really the industry standard?

Thanks for your help. Michele

Michele Shipley, MLS
Assistant Director of Digital & Branch Libraries Edward G. Miner Library University of Rochester Medical Center Rochester, NY 14642 [log in to unmask]