Foreword

I’ll admit that I have not always thought of licensing as a strategy to achieve the information policy goals of ARL and our member libraries. After all, licensing is not a traditional public policy and advocacy tool in the same way as lobbying lawmakers, influencing courts through amicus briefs, or commenting on proposed regulations. My view of the utility of licensing as another public policy tool shifted as I saw the authors of this book pioneer exemplary licensing strategies to protect the rights of researchers conducting computational analysis, and to ensure that students with disabilities can access materials needed for coursework and research at the same time as their peers.

I’m so pleased that ARL could be involved in publishing this guide, written by some of the most generous licensing librarians in the field. Leading ARL’s information policy and advocacy work involves staying on top of how licenses are affected by publisher business practices, and the legal and regulatory environment in the US, Canada, and internationally. I’ve been grateful for the opportunity to follow the work of this guide’s authors as they align their libraries’ licensing language with European legal standards, which have stronger protections for researchers.

This guide is especially timely, as publishers are attempting to curtail researchers from training AI models on licensed e-resources. Through easily digestible legal explanations and pragmatic strategies, written and reviewed by library licensing experts, this guide will empower librarians to form a united front in negotiating for terms that protect the rights of libraries and the educational and scholarly functions they support. The online format means it can be updated to reflect changes in best practices, business models, and laws and regulations. Whether you are new to licensing e-resources, you’ve been in the licensing game for awhile, or you’re an information policy professional like me, this guide is for you.

Happy negotiating!

Katherine Klosek

Director of Information Policy and Federal Relations

Association of Research Libraries (ARL)