Tracking ongoing access
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The issue
As libraries are faced with difficult financial decisions regarding electronic and physical resources, librarians need clarity about the extent of their access rights during and post subscription.
How we can help
We work to support you through the life cycle of purchasing and using electronic resources so that you are sure of your access rights both while you are subscribed and after cancellation.
What you can do
Below, we've identified some key points for each stage of your subscription.
At the point of purchase
As you go through the subscription process, you can be assured that any subscriptions bought through Jisc Collections will have used the Jisc model licence as a basis of negotiations, aiming to secure you the best access conditions possible for your users.
You can view clear information on who can have access and under what circumstances, including post cancellation.
This information can also be accessed using the Knowledge Base+ (KB+) licence comparison tool.
During a current subscription
If you manage your subscriptions and licences through KB+, you can choose to be notified of changes to the contents of your subscriptions, for example if journals change publishers or packages.
By accessing this collated information in one centralised place, you can save time and effort as you manage your subscriptions.
Key titles can be marked as “core” within KB+. This provides a personalised record for your institution of what years those titles were core, and saves you from relying on the records of individual publishers, particularly as you manage post cancellation access.
Post cancellation
The data gathered on which journal titles have been core in the past can form the basis of your negotiations for post cancellation access if this has not already been clearly stipulated in a Jisc Collections licence.
If you manage both licences and subscriptions in KB+, you can search within your licences for those that allow post cancellation access.
It can also be valuable to understand the long-term preservation arrangements for journals you subscribe to. The Keepers Registry supplies accurate and up to date information on who is looking after e-journals, how, and with what terms of access. You can check whether they are classed as “at risk” which might cause problems with post cancellation access in the future. You can also upload a list of serial titles and quickly discover their archival status. This information can then be used to inform purchasing decisions.