Evaluating Licensing and Managing eResources: A Professional Reading List of Recent Publications

Here's three recent Neal-Schuman Publishers titles. While the monographs are not specific to law libraries they may still be of interest:

The Librarian's Legal Companion for Licensing Information Resources and Services [Amazon] 
Tomas A. Lipinski
Neal-Schuman Publishers (October 12, 2012)

From the blurb:

Legal expert Lipinski offers a definitive sourcebook for information licensing in libraries, including copyright and contract matters, general contract law concepts, developments in online and information contracting; and the advantages and disadvantages of licensing. Readers will find clear guidance on deciphering the legalese in agreements, advice on negotiating or countering provisions with library-friendly alternatives, and detailed explanations of specific licenses as well as a discussion of issues regarding online and information contracting. Additionally, three special sections provide valuable information in an easy-to-reference format:

• Deconstructions of four common license agreements: Access Newspaper Archive, BioOne, Nature Academic, and Amazon.com Kindle
• Answers to 126 questions about specific licensing agreements, plus a glossary, checklist and review tool for evaluating a license agreement
• 20 key issues in licensing agreements, accompanied by sample clauses

Building and Managing E-Book Collections: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians [Amazon]
Richard B. Kaplan 
Neal-Schuman Publishers (August 6, 2012)

From the blurb:

Beginning with a short history of e-books and a review of the e-book publishing industry and its effect on the library s selection and budget process, this how-to provides a thorough treatment of collection development issues, including the selection process and development policies, the use of approval plans, patron-driven acquisition, and practical solutions for creating your e-book collection policies. Chapters on budgeting and licensing cover ownership versus leasing models, the differences in licensing options from the major publishers and aggregators including information on digital rights management, and strategies for success in retention, access, and budgeting.

Managing Electronic Resources: A LITA Guide [Amazon]
Ryan O. Weir (Author, Editor)
Neal-Schuman Publishers (August 6, 2012)

From the blurb:

Electronic resource management encompasses much more than turning on and off resources and tracking usage. This guide provides advice on the tools and best practices of the field help you tackle your workload while saving you time, effort, and money.

Chapters include: Coping with Economic Issues; Acquiring Electronic Resources ; Negotiating Resource Licensing; Reconciling with Payment Systems; Making Electronic Resource Accessible; Gathering, Evaluating and Communicating Statistical Usage Information; Changing Staff to Facilitate the Shift to Electronic; Looking Ahead from Now to 2020.

All three are recommended but Lipinski's The Librarian's Legal Companion for Licensing Information Resources and Services [Amazon] is well worth the cost. While Lipinski does not include major legal publishing vendor licensing clauses, the specificity of the addressed licenses analysis, the answers to over 100 questions about specific licensing agreements, and 20 key issues in licensing agreements, accompanied by sample clauses, makes the work a must-read at least until AALL produces something as detailed. OK, OK, that's probably wishful thinking on my part.

Note to FTC. No review copy provided; bought it. [JH]