Library-bookstore collaboration brings course-pack savings

An innovative new partnership between Cornell University Library and the campus bookstore has resulted in a savings for students of more than $34,000 in the price of course packs sold at the Cornell Store this past semester.

Course packs are a staple of many classes at Cornell. They include copies of journal articles, lecture notes, papers and book chapters assigned by professors for classes. Typically the store must pay a fee for permission to include copyrighted materials in the course pack. The store has been paying an average of over $200,000 in permission fees each semester, which are passed on to students in the cost of the course packs.

The course pack savings project grew out of the library's partnership last year with the store, the Office of University Counsel, Cornell Information Technologies and the Office of Information Technologies in establishing the Cornell Copyright Information Center (see http://www.copyright.cornell.edu. Librarians reviewed subscription contracts for the more than 20,000 journals that the library receives in electronic form to determine which included authorization to reprint articles in course packs. Where such permission had not already been granted, the librarians negotiated with publishers to secure rights when possible.

"Last summer we began checking the library's online catalog to see which articles on professors' course pack lists were available in electronic journals," said Jim Lawrence, Cornell Store custom publishing manager. "Then we checked with the library to see which e-subscriptions allowed printing under its license. No additional permission fees are paid for these titles, and the savings are directly reflected in the price of those course packs."

Peter Hirtle, the library's intellectual property officer, said that library staff members routinely ask publishers to include permission to reprint articles in course packs when negotiating new database license agreements. "Since we are constantly providing access to more e-journals, I expect this new system will result in lower course pack prices for students each semester," Hirtle said.