VIVA’s Whole Ebook ILL Initiative: Background Genya O’Gara (VIVA

Background 2016-2018 biennial budget state funds were allocated specifically for VIVA ebook purchase(s) Collections Committee (CoCo) had been examining whether or not VIVA licensed resources were in line with VIVA values Thinking about how ebooks in current iterations were not working with a vision of a shared VA collection. Both needs directly informed the type of rights that CoCo wanted to see in any new ebook contracts.

Background A Request for Proposals (RFP) Committee is formed with these things in mind. Committee Members Madeline Kelley (GMU – Chair) Amanda Echterling (VCU) Michael Cobb (Liberty) Maria Fesz (NVCC) Carolyn Schubert (JMU) LeeAnne Beatty Smith (JMU-VIVA Procurement) Genya O’Gara - VIVA Anne Osterman - VIVA

Background June 8th, RFP released with the “Rights and Permissions” section reflective of VIVA collection values. Additions included text and data mining rights, drm free, and, significantly for this group, whole ebook lending.

RFP Language Specifically: Confirm that libraries may lend entire, DRM-free ebooks through interlibrary loan through electronic transmission or paper means or describe any restrictions on how libraries may fulfill interlibrary loan requests, including restrictions on loan periods or amount of allowable content that can be loaned.

Awards And then….they (or at least some of them) agreed! Because of this (and other factors) we were able to award 4, very different contracts, that all allowed for whole ebook ILL. Brill Wiley Taylor & Francis Oxford University Press

Collections Able to dramatically expand ebooks shared by public institutions - 28,000 in this first year with an estimated 6000 added each year the contracts continue. Materials from Brill and Oxford include perpetual access to frontlist titles in specific subjects and by specific publishers. As well as two user driven acquisitions programs, through Wiley and Taylor and Francis.

What does it mean? Agreements allow for VIVA institutions to loan whole ebooks without the use of restrictive software, a first for libraries worldwide. Allowed us to envision a sustainable future for ebook collection building. Able to continue to build subject collections in our member libraries areas of strength. Other rights negotiated included: unlimited simultaneous downloads. All ebooks will be drm free. Each contract supports opportunities for text and data mining.

Important to note… Caveats: Some of the contracts give us the rights to lend the whole book through ILL, but may not have good mechanisms in place for doing so (e.g. may need to be “stitched” together). For some of our user driven acquisitions materials, like our Wiley titles, we are only able to loan those title for which we have perpetual access content.  

Task Force We got the rights – now HOW do we do this?!! Platforms are all slightly different in technical and contract specifications for loaning The ability to loan whole ebooks was new to most. Resource Sharing Committee formed a task force to test out loaning the newly added titles, and based on that testing, create some general and product specific recommendations to support VIVA ILL departments. And this had to happen very fast….  

Contracts http://www.vivalib.org/licensed/collect/contractsindex.html

Credits “Ebook” by Alexander skowalsky, HU “Teamwork” by Yazzer Perez, MX - Noun Project