To meet the needs of librarians involved in the acquisition of electronic resources, UKSG is pleased to offer a practical one-day Licensing and Negotiation Skills course.

Course summary

Electronic publishing has brought huge changes to learned information provision and to the role of librarians and other information professionals.  For electronic products, publishers and intermediaries present purchase models of far greater complexity than the traditional print subscription model.  Moreover, with electronic delivery the emphasis has shifted from ownership to access, giving rise to the licence as a feature of most sales agreements.

These changes present challenges but also considerable opportunities: many purchasing models are flexible and allow for negotiation; similarly, some important licence terms and conditions may be negotiable.  Information professionals consequently need to adapt to new pricing and purchase models and become familiar with the terms and conditions of licences, their language and their effect.  It follows that librarians with appropriate licensing and negotiation skills will have considerable advantage in this new business era.

Why you should attend

The course has been written for serials and acquisitions librarians involved in e-resource purchasing in academic institutions; librarians in these institutions who are being trained to undertake purchasing roles will also benefit from attending.  Participants will gain a good understanding of the key issues surrounding publisher licensing and negotiations, together with practical skills and knowledge which they will be able to use in their professional lives.

Learning objectives

At the end of the course participants will:
• Understand the key issues surrounding publisher licensing and negotiations, and how these impact libraries
• Be familiar with important clauses in publisher licences
• Be familiar with the principles of successful negotiation in the context of licensing online information resources
• Understand the fundamental dos and don’ts of e-resource negotiation.

Fee

UKSG members    £160.00 + £24.00 VAT (total £184.00)
Non-members     £215.00 + £32.25 VAT (total £247.25)

The fee includes refreshments and lunch.

Venue

Park Crescent Conference Centre (The Gulbenkian)
229 Great Portland Street
London
W1W 5PN     
Tel.:  020 7631 8306

Feedback from the pilot course 2008

"Excellent coverage of basics and more complex issues."

"This course is probably the best library training course I've done - the skills obtained were immediately put to use with demonstrable savings achieved for our library at a very difficult financial time."

"Well structured ... helped to break down the ‘fear’ of deciphering
licence terms."

"Very informative and useful course.  Left me with several plans to put into
action and feeling much more confident about the idea of actually negotiating,
not just taking the license as being a done deal."

"Somebody used the word ‘empowered’ to sum up how they felt and I think that’s right."

Course content

Licensing
• Introduction: what is a licence and why do we have them?
• The licence as a grant of rights: issues of access vs. ownership
• The licence as a contract: the language and effect of publisher licences
• The devil in the detail: clause-by-clause examination of a ‘model’ licence; getting behind the legal speak; which clauses are likely to be negotiable and which not?
• Discussion of delegates’ experience; discussion of licence clauses to avoid
• Summary: top licensing tips. 

Negotiation skills
• Introduction: negotiating in the digital era
• Understanding the publisher: how the size, profile and market position of a publisher influences negotiations
• What the publisher wants; getting what you want; issues of affordability, value for money and sustainability
• Preparing for negotiation
• Negotiation scenarios; negotiation tactics
• Evaluating a publisher proposal
• Summary: the dos and don’ts of negotiation.

Course format

The course will be lively and engaging and will include the following elements:
• Presentations providing session overview and key information
• Sessions which encourage discussion of delegates’ experiences and concerns
• Quiz, exercises and other group work encouraging discussion and sharing of ideas
• Role play by course convenors to illustrate key points
• Participants will also be given a comprehensive course pack and handouts designed to support them in their workplace.

Programme

09.30 Registration and coffee
10.00 Course introduction
10.20 Introduction to publisher licensing
10.45 Break
11.00 Examining a model licence
12.00 Preparing for negotiations
12.45 Lunch
13.30 Negotiation tactics
14.45 Break
15.00 Evaluating a publisher proposal
16.15 Closing comments and wrap-up

Facilitators

Sarah Durrant, Red Sage Consulting
Tracy Gardner, Tracy Gardner Marketing
The course facilitators have extensive experience working with publishers, libraries and a wide range of intermediaries in the scholarly information industry, much of this in the area of journals publishing, licensing and negotiation.

How to book

Please note the booking date for this course has now passed.   For further information, please contact Karen Sadler at UKSG by telephone: +44 (0)1865 310834 or by e-mail:   Karen@uksg.org

Cancellations

By Tuesday 1 December 2009 - full refund
From Wednesday 2 December 2009 - no refund

NB:  UKSG reserves the right to alter or vary the programme due to events or circumstances beyond its reasonable control without being obliged to refund monies.