Overview
The E-Content Group (ECG) was a standing group that run from 2019-2023, operating under the auspices of the Alliance Shared Content & Technical Services (SCTS) Team. It was composed of five (5) staff from Alliance member libraries with expertise and interest in e-resource acquisition, licensing, and vendor management. The group also included Program Manager-SCTS and E-Resources Specialist.
Outcomes for this working group included:
- Review of Alliance-wide licenses for e-resources to ensure alignment with Alliance values and the strategic plan. The ECG will work to draft model license language when appropriate.
- Evaluation of internal cost allocations for e-resources on a regular basis to ensure equity across Alliance e-resource subscribers. The ECG will propose new or amended allocation as needed.
- Determination of how Open Access (OA) can be incorporated into the Alliance SCTS program. The ECG will consider opportunities to support and promote OA in a consortial context. (Anticipated to start no earlier than Year two of the strategic plan.)
Documents
To codify Alliance licensing best practices, and to provide a guide for consortial and institutional licensing, the ECG created the “Licensing Best Practices” document. The document was approved by the SCTS Team and community in August 2020; minor revisions are made as needed:
- Licensing Best Practices (PDF) – Updated June 2024.
In March 2024, the Orbis Cascade Alliance endorsed the ICOLC Statement on AI in Licensing.
- Jesse Holden (Program Manager for Shared Content) is a member of the ICOLC AI Task Force.
In February 2024, the Orbis Cascade Board of Directors issued a Statement on American Chemical Society Article Development Charges.
In July 2021, the ECG co-presented a session on accessibility with the Accessibility Standing Group (ASG) at the Alliance Summer meeting:
In May 2021, the ECG provided an overview of various Open Access (OA) Acquisitions models to the SCTS community:
- OA Acquisitions Models (Google Slides)
COUNTER links:
- CONTER 5: Understanding journal metrics and reports (2020)
- COUNTER Registry (2022)
- Blog post about the Registry (2022)
- Ex Libris COUNTER/SUSHI Alliance Development Project (2021)
Links
- FORCE11 Declaration of Research Rights in Negotiating the Future of Scholarly Communication. This initiative created a ready-to-use contract negotiation principles document for building stakeholder consensus. (August 1, 2021.)
- LYRASIS Open Access Community Investment Program (OACIP). Provides a community-driven framework that enables multiple stakeholders (including funders, institutions, libraries, authors, and editors) to efficiently and strategically evaluate and collectively fund open access content initiatives. (Launched 2020, expanded 2021.)