"INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF LIBRARY CONSORTIA (ICOLC)

Statement on the Global Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Consortial Licenses

January 19, 2009

Written on behalf of the many library consortia across the world that participate in the ICOLC, this statement has two purposes. It is intended to help publishers and other content providers from whom we license electronic information resources (hereafter simply referred to as publishers) understand better how the current unique financial crisis affects the worldwide information community. Its second purpose is to suggest a range of approaches that we believe are in the mutual best interest of libraries and the providers of information services."

Short article proposes an alternative to licenses for e-resources:

"After looking at the risks perceived by librarians and publishers that initially prompted the creation of license agreements, the group became convinced that it is possible to develop a new way to address the exposure that each party felt in dealing with electronic resources. ...

Despite the range of perspectives on the problem, there was consensus that a best practice approach was possible and could be useful in many cases. The best practice approach would rely on existing law and create a document describing a brief list of expectations that could be shared by librarians and publishers. If a publisher felt that the best practices and existing law were sufficient to manage their perceived risk, they could market their product indicating their reliance on the expectations described in the best practices and forgo use of a formal license agreement."