---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2002 15:39:26 -0600
From: "Bolton, Karen" <bolton@MSOE.EDU>
Subject: User agreements for electronic journals

Hello,
We are an engineering school and although we provide access to a few
electronic journals aside from our databases, we are just getting started
with working out license agreements with publishers for electronic journals.
The few I've seen are so unlike each other I wonder if anyone else has
advice about how best to put these agreements to work.  How negotiable are
they?  I just looked at one from a publisher with a long paragraph about
various prohibitions, all of which seem reasonable and fair, but how do we
make sure students comply with these rules? We can't be at the elbow of
every person as they work at a computer, just as we can't post a copyright
cop at every photocopier.

Does anyone have any recommendations about books or articles on this
subject?  I am not a lawyer, and I don't want to compromise our student's
access or tread on anyone's intellectual property rights.

Karen Bolton
Serials Librarian
bolton@msoe.edu