Librarian's Legal Companion for Buying and Licensing Information Resources

This outstanding handbook will be a boon to librarians and others charged with the task of securing, reviewing, and signing the contracts connected to licensing agreements and other electronic services. Clearly written (without legalese), the text nonetheless describes each aspect of the contracts and licensing agreements in extensive detail, covering exceptions and eventualities, and citing examples to demonstrate points where appropriate. Introductory chapters describe the basics of contracts, license, and copyright (though copyright is not discussed in this volume), with expanded treatment of contracts, their formation and enforceability and the legal and policy issues of licensing. Subsequent chapters describe the various kinds of licenses and their nature, among them negotiated, shrink-wrap, and open source agreements, with a concluding section containing a lengthy glossary of licensing terminology that offers paragraphs of description for each term. The chapters include copious notes, including citation of case law, and the book concludes with both case and subject indexes. Lipinski is executive Associate Dean at Indiana U. School of Library and Information Science. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)