Libraries advance strategic collection development, aid scholarly communication through new, renewed agreements

KU Libraries are building bridges and forging new paths as the academic community navigates rapidly evolving information needs and changing publishing practices. A set of new deals and renewals, with more in the works, demonstrates librarians’ ongoing efforts to build collections and resources while carefully managing limited funding, a complex and intricate process. 

KU Libraries are renewing several transformative agreements, including a deal with Elsevier, the world’s largest scientific publishing company. The libraries are also continuing read-and-publish agreements with Cambridge and Frontiers and have signed new multi-year agreements with Emerald and Wiley.  

Transformative read-and-publish agreements bundle subscription (read) access to journals with open access publishing opportunities for researchers at KU. Unlike traditional publishing models where material is restricted by a paywall, publishing open access allows anyone to access the article for free. However, publishers usually impose an article publishing charge (APC) on authors if they choose to publish open. KU Libraries' read-and-publish agreements provide KU authors the opportunities to publish their work open without paying any article processing charges, saving scholars thousands of dollars an article and providing a path for more of the research output of KU to be accessible without a paywall. 

In total, KU Libraries currently have transformative agreements with 16 publishers, outlined on the KU Libraries Open Access Agreements and APC Discounts web page, with a new open journal finder tool in development to aid discovery of specific journal titles. 

“Providing KU faculty, staff, and students with the resources they need for teaching, learning, and research, while also evaluating rapidly evolving open publishing opportunities, all within a budget, is complex,” said Scott Hanrath, Associate Dean of Research Engagement. “I'm continually impressed with the creativity, expertise, and persistence our librarians and staff bring to this important, collaborative work.” 

The read-and-publish agreement with Emerald retains the same subscription access as last year, but now KU-affiliated corresponding authors can publish their eligible, accepted articles as open access in most Emerald journals at no cost to the researcher. The agreement with Wiley enables KU affiliated researchers to access the latest peer-reviewed scholarly content in nearly 2,000 journals while publishing open in Wiley's journals, including unlimited publishing in hybrid journals. 

Sara E. Morris, Head of Collections Strategy and Development, said her role, and the role of librarians in general, can sometimes be difficult to understand, but the core of her work might be described as “providing everyone at KU with the library resources they need to learn, teach, research, publish, and relax.” However, given a limited libraries budget and finite human resources, this is a challenging goal to achieve. 

In the vast, ever-changing puzzle of collection development, each vendor, platform, or database is one piece. Some pieces fit together naturally, while others require creative negotiation and maneuvering. The big picture is extensive and diverse and isn’t ever really complete. The goal is to keep finding connections, and filling gaps. 

 Morris works with libraries colleagues in Collections Strategy and Development and other departments such as Acquisitions and Resource Sharing and the David Shulenburger Office of Scholarly Communication and Copyright to negotiate with publishers and vendors, working creatively to find the best value for the institution. Some deals can take months, or even a full year to work out.  

“When I became a librarian you either bought a print book or a print journal or you didn’t,” Morris said. “That’s not the way it works anymore.” 

Providing the best access to the needed resources — including electronic resources, databases, and digital platforms, as well as physical formats -- is a complex endeavor. In a modern academic library, building collections means navigating a constantly shifting marketplace, where Morris weighs pricing models, licenses and various access rules, and KU’s historic use and needs, looking for combinations that make the most effective use of the budget. 

“The materials and resources being added are of immense value and will help KU researchers in a variety of disciplines,” Morris said. “All library materials require a village to make them discoverable and usable by our patrons. Multiple departments in the libraries make this happen. Most of them are individuals patrons never see, but they are essential.”