Preserving the Scholarly Collection: An Examination of the Perpetual Access Clauses in the Texas A&M University Libraries' Major E-Journal Licenses

Librarians are urged to lobby for the inclusion of perpetual access clauses during license negotiations and to examine existing contracts to ensure that perpetual access provisions are clearly understood and achievable. The authors analyzed the perpetual access clauses in nineteen of the Texas A&M University Libraries' licenses for electronic journal packages to determine the exact provisions granted, and found that the Libraries do not really know what access to previously subscribed content will entail. This raises profound concerns about the Libraries' ability to provide meaningful perpetual access to previously subscribed content to its users in the current environment.