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Drake University - visit www.drake.edu Cowles Library

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In This Section:

Expectations for Vendors of Library Collections

  1. Contract Elements – Restrictive licenses that limit our ability to collaborate with other libraries and our stakeholders, and limit our ability to be transparent in the expenditure of our allocated budget will not be entered into.  Below are some (but not necessarily all) of the factors we consider:
    • Allow for “walk-in” access.
    • Allow for Interlibrary Loan.
    • Allow for and define post-cancellation access.
    • Avoid “non-disclosure” clauses.
    • If a multi-year contract, allow for a “budget out” clause.
    • Clearly state the costs associated with the license and the renewal (or non-renewal) terms. This includes annual maintenance fees, and inflationary increases.
  2. Vendors must partner with the library, recognizing that if we are not successful, neither will they be. This includes issues like pricing, marketing, branding, and support/enhancement of open access.
  3. Pricing: Vendors and library customers must maintain a relationship through fair, transparent communication by both parties. Vendors must engage in honest, flexible negotiation about pricing, open access, use rights, content, and related issues. Super-inflationary price increases will not be tolerated.
  4. Vendors should be responsive in terms of their communication with the library. Specifically, the vendor must return calls and answer email in a timely fashion. The vendor must provide invoices, license agreements, and usage statistics on a predictable timetable.
  5. Within the context of library consortial negotiations, vendors must be transparent to all involved libraries regarding pricing, access, and contract specifics; side negotiations should not be undertaken.
  6. Vendors must seek approval from the library/institution prior to press releases or the use of the library/institution name and logo in advertising and promotional material.
  7. All vendor sales communication with Drake University should go through Cowles Library. Sales representatives should not communicate directly with Drake University faculty.