UKSG Licensing and Negotiation Skills for Librarians: London

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 major changes to learned information provision, hugely impacting the role and responsibilities of information professionals. 

With electronic products, purchase models are typically much more complex than the traditional print subscription model.  A wide range of criteria influence price to the extent that the concept of a ‘list price’ for digital content is increasingly meaningless.  Institutions and consortia are able to select the content which suits them, and publishers and their representatives tailor deals to these requirements.  When making these deals, publishers typically seek to maximise their income whilst libraries typically strive to control their costs, a dynamic which means negotiation has become a fundamental part of the acquisition process.

A similarly critical difference with digital information delivery is the shift of emphasis from ownership to access.  Information products are no longer bought and sold; access to them is licensed and this has given rise to the licence as a feature of most acquisition agreements.  Publisher licences present libraries – and their patrons – with useful rights but also with important responsibilities, and a thorough understanding of licensing language, and its effect, has become critical for librarians. 

The digital arena presents many challenges but also considerable opportunities.  The key for information professionals is to gain a good understanding of these new dynamics and develop the skills which will enable them to gain the best from every licence and each negotiation.  It follows that libraries whose staff have strong licensing and negotiation skills will have considerable advantage, particularly in the current economic climate.

Why you should attend

The course has been created specifically for librarians involved in collection development and 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 information licensing and negotiations, and how these impact libraries and their patrons
• be familiar with the key clauses in publisher licences
• enhance their understanding of licensing language and its effect
• be able to compare a ‘model’ licence with a publisher licence
• understand the principles of successful negotiation in the context of licensing online information resources
• understand the fundamental dos and don’ts of e-resource negotiation
• have the opportunity to share and resolve licensing and negotiation problems they have encountered in their work.

Fee

UKSG members    £170.00 + £29.75 VAT [17.5%] (total £199.75)
Non-members      £230.00 + £40.25 VAT [17.5%] (total £270.25)

The fee includes refreshments and lunch.

Venue

The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (Library)
1 Carlton House Terrace
London
SW1Y 5DB

Tel.:  020 7451 7300 (Reception)

Feedback from previous LNS training courses

95% of delegates on the 2009 course would recommend this course to a colleague.
 
“Excellent coverage of basics and more complex issues.”

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

“Excellent handouts – the checklists will be very useful.  The sessions were fun, useful and interesting.”

“Incredibly useful to me – actually got more from the course than I had thought I would, and I did already have quite high expectations.”
 
“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 licence 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; critical clauses; which clauses are likely to be negotiable and which not?
• Discussion of delegates’ experience
• 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 facilitators 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

The closing date for this course has now passed.  For further information, please contact Karen Sadler by telephone: +44 (0)1865 310834 or by email:  karen@uksg.org .

Venue location details will be sent with confirmation of booking.

Cancellations

By Monday 1 November 2010 - full refund
From Tuesday 2 November 2010 - 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.