What’s in a Contract? Wordsmithing Service Agreements for Better Outcomes

What’s in a Contract? Wordsmithing Service Agreements for Better Outcomes

Jost Room

As more and more academic libraries outsource technology services and enter into cooperative consortial schemes with other organizations, librarians push into a minefield of contractual negotiations, obligations, and liabilities more complicated and consequential than the typical eresource licenses is. A poorly wordsmithed license may result in loss of access to journals, let's say, whereas becoming entangled in troubled consortia, watching an essential technology go offline during finals week, or getting audited by a vendor without contractual safeguards or recourse can produce much greater financial and administrative burdens. This presentation will deliver a crash course in negotiating service contracts favorable to libraries, focusing on legal terms and implications rather than traditional library clauses such as interlibrary loan or course reserves. Coverage will include contract terms and language to incorporate or avoid, guidance on wordsmithing vendor contracts, and excerpts from real-world contracts that participants will be able to workshop during the session. This engaging interactive session will add value for any librarian, administrator, or technologist who negotiates or manages any contracts of any kind.