Workshop

Building Your Licensing & Negotiation Toolbox Workshop

A large part of keeping information affordable is being able to effectively negotiate license agreements and pricing that is advantageous to the library. Yet librarians aren’t trained to negotiate, and working with contracts is out of the comfort zone of most people. CDygert Solutions has developed a one-day workshop, Building Your Licensing and Negotiation Toolbox, that gives librarians the skills they need to work effectively and with confidence with contracts, vendors and publishers.

We periodically give Building Your Licensing and Negotiation Toolbox around the country – check back to see if one has been scheduled in your area, or e-mail us at cdygert@cdygertsolutions.com to be put on our alerts mailing list.

If you would like to schedule a workshop for your library, organization or association, please contact us. We are happy to tailor the workshop to meet your needs.

Summary of the Workshop Content

Part I:  E-Resource Licensing: Best Practices

The first part of the workshop explores the role of license agreements in the e-resource environment, and details best practices for creating agreements that protect the rights of users and libraries. Following a discussion of the legal framework for licensing, the session leader walks the attendees through a typical license agreement and discusses the issues that various sections and clauses may present, including those that might be encountered in a consortial vs. single institution environment. The session closes with some practicalities for reviewing and editing license agreements, and creating schedules and addenda that cover additional terms and requirements not generally part of a standard agreement. Attendees are welcome to bring copies of license agreements from their own institutions to work with during the session.

Part II:  Negotiating License Agreements and Pricing with Confidence

Negotiating license agreements and pricing with publishers and other vendors can be intimidating. Yet a lack of confidence is one’s worst enemy when sitting down with a publisher or vendor to negotiate pricing and contract terms. Part two of the workshop focuses on developing negotiation skills and strategies and the confidence to employ them. The session explores the importance of negotiating with the appropriate individual(s), how to establish effective negotiation meeting agendas, and the development of negotiation strategies. The session leader offers insights on how to build support for negotiation efforts on campus, and how to use stakeholders to your best advantage. The session leader also discusses how the judicious use of language and pertinent data can influence the negotiation process. Attendees have the opportunity to discuss various negotiation scenarios.