[Eril-l] Terms and Conditions best practices
Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list
eril-l at lists.eril-l.org
Thu Oct 2 10:18:48 PDT 2025
Hi all,
I am hoping that some of you would be willing to share your workflows for renewing or acquiring resources through online portals that include a step where Terms and Conditions need to be acknowledged.
For context, in our library, only our College Librarian has the authority to sign or enter contracts or licensing agreements on behalf of the college. Ideally, for efficiency's sake, our acquisitions department would be able to process straightforward orders and renewals without having to involve our College Librarian, especially in cases where there is already a signed agreement between us and the vendor. Sometimes, though, we encounter language like:
1. "By clicking continue, you agree to the [link to online Terms and Conditions]"
2. "Customer agrees to terms and conditions of the appropriate license agreement"
3. "By finalizing this order, the Customer agrees to the terms and conditions of [link to online license]"
I realize the examples above are all slightly different and in some cases by clicking I may not actually be entering into a contract on behalf of the college but rather agreeing to something as an individual user (as in example 1). I realize too that in some cases we are just agreeing to something that has already been agreed to (as in example 2) and it may be unnecessary to try to avoid that. The third example seems the most problematic since it involves agreement with possibly new terms.
In each of these scenarios what ends up happening is I am stopped in my tracks, and I read and scrutinize. Often, when I reach out to the vendor to let them know that I can't click through, the vendor sends a PDF with the order information and similar language, and I find myself in the same position. All of this is extremely time consuming, and I would love to be able to just click through freely on these portals.
How do you all deal with scenarios like these? I am looking to establish more streamlined and efficient internal practices and would love your input! Thanks!
Terri Ann
Terri Ann Coronel
Electronic Resources & Collections Strategy Librarian
Ithaca College Library
953 Danby Road | Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 274-1892
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