CRKN’s Knowledge Base Entitlements Sub-Committee (KBESC) is pleased to announce the launch of the Perpetual Access Rights Tracking Project. This project allows CRKN members to access an accurate and verified report of their perpetual access rights to journals they have paid for via CRKN licenses. With the tools provided through the project, member libraries can better understand their perpetual access rights as they undertake collections management activities.
The Perpetual Access Rights Tracking Project was begun by the KBESC in 2020 when a method for recording perpetual access rights for CRKN serials subscription entitlements was identified as an opportunity to meet member needs. Accordingly, the KBESC created a framework for recording these entitlements comprehensively with appropriate metadata, while allowing users to generate their own reports and easily replicate these processes for non-CRKN licensed entitlements.
The KBESC created a draft report template which was piloted with several CRKN member institutions. Feedback from this pilot phase was integrated into additional versions of the reports. Today, the reports cover licenses with eleven major publishers, back to the first agreements negotiated by CRKN in 2001. Where applicable, backfile or archive purchases via CRKN licenses are also included. The reports are living documents that will be updated by the KBESC and CRKN staff over time as more perpetual rights are accrued.
Members can retrieve the reports through the Perpetual Access Rights Reports page on the CRKN website (click “Access the live reports” at the top of the page). Additional information about the project, as well as a summary of the project, guide on recommended workflows, a report template for local entitlements, and more, are also available. Please note that further work is ongoing to verify small portions of some licenses (for example, entitlements for Oxford archives). Nonetheless, the reports are nearly comprehensive in their present state.
CRKN thanks the members of the KBESC as well as the Content Strategy Committee for their leadership and dedicated efforts to bring this project to CRKN members. For any questions or feedback on the Perpetual Access Rights Tracking Project, please contact Francesca Brzezicki, Communications Specialist, at fbrzezicki@crkn.ca.