NEGOTIATING CONTRACTS FOR ELECTRONIC RESOURCES

Serials in electronic formats often require contractual agreements gov erning their use. Librarians need to be educated consumers and underst and the issues and concerns of the producer/vendor community to secure reasonable agreements for electronic access. Standard contracts often do not meet the needs of different libraries and may contain provisio ns that should be questioned or clarified. Database producers and vend ors have their own contractual and legal obligations which must be con sidered when negotiating with individual libraries.