The Big Deal Becoming More Flexible

-- Library Journal, 11/9/2004

Stronger negotiating positions, facilitated by more research among library consortia, and more public information and communication among libraries, now seem to indicate that previously static big deals are becoming more flexible, allowing for some movement that were previously locked in by financial penalties. "There has been some success in reducing content in exchange for lower costs, even on a consortial basis," said Beverlee French, director of Shared Content for the California Digital Library. "Or," she added, "the threat of reduction and its concomitant costs to the publishers has served as a successful negotiating factor." After a tense period of negotiation in late 2003, during which it appeared that the University of California (UC) system would also not renew its big deal with Elsevier, UC, with significant faculty participation, finally came to an agreement that actually extended the terms from its previous contract to five years from three years. That deal "arrested inflation" and included a clause that allowed for some flexibility should the budget situation at UC change. Those hard-fought positions have now become general principles, recently included in an update to the International Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC) statement on electronic purchases. The ICOLC statement declares that big deals "need breathing room," acknowledging that "uncertain multi-year budget situations" mean that publishers must provide for "orderly attrition," of titles should the need arise.