Negotiating for e-journal access: getting the best deal through a
systematic and value-driven approach
by Albert Prior and/or Paul Harwood, Content Complete, North Leigh,
Oxfordshire, UK
Over the years it has been hard to find areas of common ground between publishers
and librarians when it comes to journal pricing. However, as we move rapidly to an
electronic journal environment we move from a world of fixed price subscriptions to
one of negotiated access rights and opportunities for librarians to influence the price
they pay more than ever before.
Although seemingly a complex and rapidly changing area, as publishers change their business
and pricing models and librarians work out which models best suit their needs, there are a
number of key areas that form the basis of negotiations and which should always be addressed
in order to achieve satisfactory agreements.
This course is for those who either have some experience of negotiating access rights to
journal content and want to benchmark their current approach, or those who face the prospect
of having to undertake work in this area in the near future but who have limited experience.
It is designed to give those attending a comprehensive overview of the key issues to address,
based on the experiences of the course leaders in dealing with a number of major journal publishers
in a variety of different situations.