DataSalon helps JISC with licence site

JISC Collections is working with DataSalon to create a new licence comparison site. The online service promises to allow librarians and their users to search and compare electronic licences, view differences in usage terms and export the terms of licences expressed in ONIX-PL format.

Libraries typically have many different licence agreements for their digital resources, but understanding their permissions and communicating these to users can be a difficult process when dealing with complex and varied paper contracts.

The site, which is launching at the end of 2010, will enable librarians to review individual licences, view two licences side-by-side, or compare terms across many different licences. It will initially be launched with around 80 of the most common JISC Collections electronic licences in the system, and will be provided as a free online service to participating libraries.

'This will be an invaluable resource for librarians who work with licences on a day-to-day basis, providing instant access to information which they can’t easily access elsewhere,' commented Liam Earney, head of licensing at JISC Collections.