Abstract:
Consortial licenses with online access clauses can offer libraries the opportunity to begin new
journal subscriptions at no additional cost and without losing access to existing subscriptions. Mississippi
State University (MSU) participates in consortial partnerships that provide online access to all Elsevier
and Wiley journals to which any partner subscribes. The license agreements prohibit simply canceling
duplicate subscriptions, but allow any library to swap existing subscriptions for titles of equal cost. In
2006, librarians realized MSU was paying for access that it would retain regardless of whether it
maintained subscriptions because many subscriptions were duplicated with partner libraries. This article
describes a project that allowed MSU to provide online access to an additional 60 journals at no
additional cost.