[nfais-l] NISO Announcement: Available draft update of SERU

[Jill O'Neill]

*NISO Releases Updated Draft of SERU: A Shared Electronic Resource
Understanding for Public Comment*

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Free Open Teleconference to Discuss Draft SERU RP for Comment (no
registration required)****

Monday, January 9, 2012 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. EST****

Call in: 877-375-2160 (for U.S.) - contact nisohq at niso.org for call-in #
for other countries****

Code: 17800743#  (enter when prompted)****

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** The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) announces the
availability of a draft update of SERU: A Shared Electronic Resource
Understanding for public comment (NISO RP-7-201X) through February 19,
2012. SERU offers publishers and libraries the opportunity to save both the
time and the costs associated with a negotiated and signed license
agreement for e-resources by both content provider and customer agreeing to
operate within a framework of shared understanding and good faith. The SERU
framework provides a set of common understandings for parties to reference
as an alternative to a formal license when conducting business.

**

** When SERU was adopted as a NISO Recommended Practice in 2008, its focus
was on e-journal transactions, and the parties involved were primarily
libraries and publishers. Since then, with the many emerging models for
acquisition of e-books, both libraries and e-book providers have requested
that other types of electronic resources be incorporated into the SERU
framework. This updated version of SERU recognizes both the importance of
making SERU more flexible for those who want to expand its use beyond
e-journals and the fact that consensus for other types of e-resource
transactions are not as well-established as they are for e-journals. In
those instances where there is as yet no standard expectation, a shared
understanding may still be achieved if expectations are clearly articulated
in the purchase order that accompanies SERU.

**

** “As e-resources have become increasingly central to library collections,
the number of license agreements have multiplied accordingly,” comments
Selden Lamoureux, co-chair of the NISO SERU Standing Committee that updated
the best practice. “It's important that there continues to be a viable
alternative to formal licensing, and that SERU be suitable for the
different types of e-resources patrons rely on. Demand for e-books is
growing exponentially, and it's especially important that SERU be
appropriate for e-book acquisition, whenever acquiring institutions and
electronic providers agree on its use.”

**

** “This public draft takes into account the perspectives and input from a
number of parties,” states Nettie Lagace, Associate Director for Programs
at NISO. “After the Standing Committee—consisting of libraries and
providers with experience in licensing—discussed possible changes, previous
versions of drafts were circulated to stakeholders for further comment. The
SERU Standing Committee also held a lively discussion session at the
Charleston Conference in November and has made further edits since then.
The group is looking forward to reactions and comments from the broader
community prior to finalizing the document for publication.”

**

** The draft updated SERU Recommended Practice and an online comment form
are available on the NISO SERU website (www.niso.org/workrooms/seru/). All
parties involved in licensing electronic content are encouraged to review
and comment on the document.

-- 
Jill O'Neill
jillmwo at gmail.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jilloneill
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