How

How Products are Licensed for
NCSU Libraries' Users

Product Selection

The licensing process for NCSU Libraries materials begins with product selection. The majority of products are selected by the NCSU Libraries Collection Management department although other units may initiate the selection depending on the product and need.

Signature Authority and License Review

In most cases, the Acquisitions Department of the NCSU Libraries is responsible for acquiring the selected product. One of the initial steps is to ascertain whether the product is accompanied by a license and, if so, a review of the license begins.

Signature Authority

Licenses are of two main types: those that require a written signature and those that are offered online for click-through or that designate some other act as signaling agreement to the terms and conditions of the license.

Only individuals that have been formally delegated signature authority may sign or signal the assent of the university to a license.

There has been no delegation of signature authority to anyone in the NCSU Libraries.

Therefore, all licenses that require a written signature must be sent to the NC State University Purchasing Department. Furthermore, no NCSU Libraries staff member has authority to click through electronic license agreements on behalf of the university. Individuals clicking through license agreements without signature authority bind themselves but not necessarily the university.

These rules apply even if the product sought is free, a test version, or being offered at a dramatically reduced cost.

License Review

All licenses must be reviewed to determine acceptability of the license terms and conditions. Because the NCSU Libraries handles a large number of licenses, the Libraries has hired and developed employees with expertise in license review and negotiation. NC State University has listed undesirable and/or prohibited contract terms in a Contract Checklist. Remedying prohibited or undesirable license terms before sending the license to Purchasing for review and signature streamlines the product acquisition process.

It is critical for the license negotiator to fully understand the implications of all terms and conditions in the license. The negotiator must also be familiar with university and library licensing guidelines and understand how the product will be used.

License Negotiation

Most major vendors/licensors are willing to negotiate reasonable license terms, particularly if the proposed changes are rational and well-articulated. Some licensors are not. If the license contains prohibited terms and the licensor is unwilling to modify the license, the negotiation will fail and the product will not be acquired.

A related scenario often occurs where the product is offered free of charge or at a substantially reduced price. For example, some licensors offer free electronic access to their journals online for those who already subscribe to the print form. However, access requires clicking through a license agreement which invariably contains prohibited terms. The licensor is unwilling to modify the license terms because this costs money and it is simply not economically justifiable to them to incur these costs for products that they are offering for free. Furthermore, even if the click-through license is acceptable, the NC State Purchasing guidelines require licenses and contracts to be signed, not "clicked-through". Many licensors are not willing to permit signature lines to be added to their click-through licenses. Once this impasse is reached, product acquisition will fail.

Licensing Introduction | What is a License? | Who are the Parties in a License Agreement? How are Products Licensed? | License Terms and Conditions

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