1. An Introduction to SERU:
A Participating Publisher’s Perspective
Lauren Kane, Director of Publisher Relations, BioOne
SSP Fall Education Seminar on Pricing and Licensing
November 14, 2007

2. Agenda
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1. What is SERU?
2. Why SERU? Joining the Pilot Program
3. Progress and Feedback
4. Lessons and Recommendations
5. Questions
SSP Fall Education

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What is SERU?
SSP Fall Education

4. What is SERU?
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SERU = Shared Electronic Resource Understanding
• Pilot program sponsored by NISO and endorsed by ARL for use
by publishers, libraries, and consortia
• Goal of replacing traditional license and accompanying
negotiations with a “framework of shared understanding and
good faith”
• Designed to reduce processing costs and remove transactional
barriers to access
The average number of serials held by an ARL library is over
40,000, with roughly 20%—over 8,000 titles—requiring individually
negotiated licenses.
SSP Fall Education

5. What is SERU?
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A Best-Practices Approach to Licensing
• Sections of SERU describe and outline community agreement on
authorized users, acceptable and inappropriate use,
confidentiality, service expectations, archiving, and perpetual
access
• Avoids legal terminology and definitions
• Does not limit or dictate the economics of the subscription
transaction, should accompany purchase order
• Not amendable or negotiable by individual parties
• Not meant to be copied or signed like a license
• Not suitable for all transactions or organizations
SSP Fall Education

6. What is SERU?
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Current Trial Participants
Six month public trial through December 2007
Libraries and Consortia Publishers and Content Providers
PALINET BioOne
Boston College Berg Publishers
Columbia University Duke University Press
Duke University University of Toronto Press
Michigan State University Project Euclid
Ohio State University UK Serials Group
MIT European Mathematical Society
Northwestern University The Geological Society
Rutgers University Channel View Publications
San Diego State University 3princess Publishing
University of California
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
University of Washington
Yale University
…and more!
SSP Fall Education

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Why SERU?
Joining the Pilot Program
SSP Fall Education

8. Why SERU?
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A Natural Partnership
• Organizational focus on standards and collaborative community
building; NISO member
• Providing low-cost, high quality access to libraries—while
providing participating publishers with sustainable annual
revenues—is no easy task.
• Cutting the bottom-line, and the cost of sales in particular, is
critical to the financial health of any not-for-profit
organization.
• Endorsement from BioOne’s LAG, ARL, and Amigos Library
Services
SSP Fall Education

9. Why SERU?
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Armed with the support of our community and a
clear alignment with our organizational
mission, the question was not, Why SERU? but
rather, Why not!
“SERU’s best practices approach to subscription
transactions reduces costs for both publishers and
libraries, and, in doing go, fits perfectly into
BioOne’s mission and market niche.”
SSP Fall Education

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Progress and Feedback
SSP Fall Education

11. Progress and Feedback
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Immediate community endorsement
• BioOne announced participation in SERU Pilot on
July 30, 2007
• Instant positive feedback from library community:
"I can't begin to tell you how delighted I am that you [BioOne]
have joined the SERU pilot program. As a former serials
librarian and now one who negotiates and signs the
licenses, I think the SERU project is perhaps one of the
most timely and important developments that have
happened in serials/electronic content licensing.”
- Anne McKee, MLS 7/30/07
SSP Fall Education

12. Progress and Feedback
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Immediate community endorsement
…but, not so immediate take-up
• Offered as option on all new domestic sales
• Numerous requests for information and overall very positive
reception
• Potential for use in a few sales by end of year; expect more in
coming year
• Endorsement of using SERU or similar program adoption
internationally
SSP Fall Education

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Lessons and Recommendations
SSP Fall Education

14. Lessons & Recommendations
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Lessons Learned
• Traditional subscription licenses—even those from a not-
for-profit organization—can necessitate lengthy and
costly negotiations
• Complex license negotiations delay researcher access to
timely scholarly content
• The subscription economy need NOT be adversarial—the
scholarly community is ready for a collegial best-
practices approach built on trust and common goals
• SERU not only decreases the cost of sales but assists in
critical bridge-building between the publisher and
library communities
SSP Fall Education

15. Lessons & Recommendations
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Recommendations
• Publishers and Content Providers: Offer SERU as a
welcome alternative to your traditional license,
examining and controlling for existing barriers
• Libraries and Consortia: Request if SERU is available any
time you make a new content purchase
• Educate fellow community members on the benefits of
SERU and other standards-based programs
• Assist with SERU’s further development by providing
feedback on what’s working and what’s not
SSP Fall Education

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Questions?
Thank you!
Lauren Kane
Director of Publisher Relations, BioOne
lauren@arl.org
SSP Fall Education