The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has announced the availability of a draft update of SERU: A Shared Electronic Resource Understanding for public comment (NISO RP-7-201X) through February 19, 2012. The SERU framework provides a set of common understandings for parties to reference as an alternative to a formal license when conducting business.
When SERU was adopted as a NISO Recommended Practice in 2008, its focus was on e-journal transactions, and the parties involved were primarily libraries and publishers. Since then, with the many emerging models for acquisition of e-books, both libraries and e-book providers have requested that other types of electronic resources be incorporated into the SERU framework.
This updated version of SERU recognises both the importance of making SERU more flexible for those who want to expand its use beyond e-journals and the fact that consensus for other types of e-resource transactions are not as well-established as they are for e-journals. In those instances where there is as yet no standard expectation, a shared understanding may still be achieved if expectations are clearly articulated in the purchase order that accompanies SERU.
The draft updated SERU Recommended Practice and an online comment form are available on the NISO SERU website (www.niso.org/workrooms/seru/). All parties involved in licensing electronic content are encouraged to review and comment on the document.
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