Seven Virginia Universities Collaborate to Negotiate New Contract for Scholarly Publications

Thanks to the collaboration among the libraries at seven public universities in Virginia and the expertise of a skilled attorney representing them in negotiations with Elsevier, a division of the British-Dutch publishing company Reed Elsevier, a new five-year contract will give faculty and students access to more than 1,800 scholarly publications. Specific titles range from Advances in Cancer Research to the Journal of Medieval History, but most of the publications report on research developments in scientific, technical, and biomedical fields.

The contract:
* Increases by almost 50 percent the number of titles for only 5 percent more in cost,
* Assure their researchers of sustained access to significant major publications in their disciplines,
* Provides retrospective access to 1995,
* Caps the inflation increments for the next four years,
* Reduces staff time associated with managing these collections,
* Allows “walk-up” access to the content from public terminals in the libraries that offer this service,
* Allows appropriate interlibrary loan access to the materials, and
* Protects against the possibility of future financial emergencies with an exit clause for each library.

Eileen Hitchingham of Virginia Tech said, “This is a great example of success on both sides of an agreement. We have the content we need at a price we find acceptable, within a timeframe that is useful. At the same time the publisher maintains an ongoing relationship with a major group of public academic libraries in Virginia. Of course, the biggest winners are our users. They won’t have to do without these very important materials.” She noted that for Virginia Tech this agreement provides access to a broader range of biomedical publications than was available for VT users just a few years ago and that she considered access to journals of this kind to be very important for supporting emerging university initiatives.

The bargaining process itself was unusual in having a lawyer represent the libraries in the contract negotiations. Karin Wittenborg of the University of Virginia commented that libraries have often been disadvantaged in negotiations since few librarians are trained and experienced in complex contract negotiation yet their counterparts in the private sector often have well-honed skills. The primary negotiator for the group was Madelyn Wessel, an attorney at the University of Virginia who works part-time for the University of Virginia Library.

Early in fall 2003, when their Elsevier contracts were about to expire, the directors of the seven libraries met at the University of Virginia. Building on the excellent preliminary work done by collection specialists at each institution, the directors reviewed the issues and developed a consensus on priorities, scope, and tradeoffs that would make the bargaining process more flexible and improve the outcome. Wittenborg volunteered the assistance of Wessel as chief negotiator with the assistance of Sharon Gasser, director of technical services at James Madison University, and Hitchingham.

E-mail facilitated by Wessel allowed for timely and confidential interactions between the directors and tightly coordinated responses to the publisher during the negotiations. The library directors agreed that having an attorney lead the negotiations was a key factor in achieving a successful outcome. Wessel in turn noted that having experienced directors provide fast and informed feedback throughout the negotiations was critical to shaping a package acceptable to all.

The contact for further information regarding the negotiation is Madelyn Wessel, Esq., Office of the University Librarian, Alderman Library 552, P.O. Box 400114, Charlottesville, Va. 22904-4414. Tel: 434/982-2941.

The library directors are Connie McCarthy, College of William and Mary; John Zenelis, George Mason University; Ralph Alberico, James Madison University; Virginia O’Herron, Old Dominion University; Karin Wittenborg, University of Virginia; John Ulmschneider, Virginia Commonwealth University; and Eileen Hitchingham, Virginia Tech.