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EIFL-Licensing

Expanding access to commercial e-resources

Access to commercial e-resources is essential for quality research and education. But high subscription costs present a major barrier for libraries – and their users – in developing and transition countries.

By negotiating with vendors on behalf of library consortia and libraries in partner countries, we achieve free or highly discounted access to a wide range of commercial e‑resources, plus fair terms of use.

Speed dating at the 2012 EIFL GA, Armenia (Photo by Eduard Antonian)

Over 60 e-resources from more than 25 vendors are now available through the EIFL-Licensing programme.

In 2012, we enabled our partner libraries to save an estimated US$215 million in subscription fees, and we achieved an average discount of over 97%.

 

 EIFL-Licensing in action…

  • Negotiating affordable access to commercial e-resources plus fair terms of use.
  • Achieving efficiency gains across the network (for example in terms of time and legal fees) through our central negotiations and licensing activity.
  • Working with partner library consortia to promote greater awareness, participation and usage of e-resources across the EIFL network through a wide range of initiatives.
  • Building local capacity in the licensing and management of e-resources.
  • Developing effective tools to support advocacy.

Our achievements

  • We have negotiated agreements with over 25 vendors for more than 60 e-resources.
  • Our portfolio of licensed resources covers a comprehensive range of subject areas and includes e-journal and e-book collections, and reference and bibliographic databases.
  • In 2012, we achieved average discounts of more than 97% and estimated savings of over US$215 million - an increase of 23% on 2011.
  • Participation in our agreements, and usage, are increasing rapidly as a result of awareness-raising campaigns across the network.  The number of subscriptions increased by 49% in 2012, and there were over 7 million full text downloads from EIFL-licensed resources - an increase of 62% on 2011.

Contact us

EIFL-Licensing Programme Manager: Susanna Lob, susanna.lob [at] eifl.net

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