Sikt's routines

Communication through ConsortiaManager (Edvarda)

Even though participants in the consortia find information on openscience.no, it is nevertheless ConsortiaManager (Edvarda) that is the formal communication channel between Sikt and the participant. This is where the agreement relationship is regulated. 

Edvarda is a closed system with access only for consortium participants. This is because some of the information published may be exempt from public disclosure; this mainly concerns pricing information and statistics. The license for the relevant agreement is also published here, and it is available to participants in that particular agreement. Some information about individual participants (prices, etc.) is redacted in this version.

The participant's knowledge of the agreement terms

Sikt requires that the participant familiarize themselves with the license that applies to the agreement. In addition to a redacted version being published in Edvarda, we have published training material (in Norwegian): Lisensvilkår i våre konsortieavtaler. Sikt will also answer questions, and if we are in doubt, we will contact the publisher for confirmed information.

Sikt and the participant sign a Power of Attorney in which the participant commits to complying with Sikt's routines and the publishers' terms as expressed through the agreement. Should a participant breach the agreement, it is the contracting parties (Sikt and the publisher) who will enter into dialogue about this.

Price inquiries

Pricing information for many of the agreements is available in Edvarda. This applies to the agreements where we have a fixed price matrix.

Participants are informed that they should contact the consortium administrators regarding pricing information. Such price inquiries should go through us and not directly between the supplier and the participant. If the publisher receives price inquiries, Sikt should be informed so that the price for any enrollment can be published in Edvarda.

Participation for calendar year

Sikt administers the consortia for each calendar year. 

We sometimes receive inquiries from libraries wanting to participate in an agreement partway through the year. In such cases we usually contact the publisher to request a prorated price, so that the participant gets the consortium price for the months they participate. The participant's agreement relationship will be administered by the publisher for that year, and Sikt allows the participant to enroll in the consortium for the following contract year.

Participants enroll in agreements

Sikt administers a number of agreements, and all the agreements (both one-year and multi-year) are renewed each new calendar year.
However, there must first be agreement between Sikt and the publisher that a confirmed agreement exists. This applies primarily in cases where the parties are in negotiations. Read more about Sikt's negotiations.

Every autumn, ahead of each new calendar year, all agreements are opened for renewal or enrollment. This happens through Edvarda, where Sikt enters that year's prices and other relevant information about the agreement. The agreement relationship is formalized through Edvarda. The system is closed so that only the institution itself (and Sikt) has information about the institutions' agreement relationships.

Each individual agreement is opened for enrollment at the agreed price. Sikt is often in contact with the publisher along the way, in cases where we need confirmed prices. Sikt also reaches out in all cases where a new participant expresses interest in the agreement. In such cases we will mainly request a price, which we then relay back to the institution. They will be given the opportunity to enroll in the agreement on the same terms as other participants.

We open the consortium for enrollment in an agreement once we have the prices ready, usually in October. We typically give the participant around three weeks to decide whether they want to continue in the agreement or opt out.

It is rare for a participant to make use of the drop-out clause that is regulated with a deadline in most agreements. If it does happen, Sikt will ask the institution to contact the publisher (with Sikt copied) to confirm the cancellation. For this to apply, the stated deadlines must of course be followed, and participants have access to all licenses through Edvarda.

Invoicing

Sikt always invoices the participants in the contract year. Our invoicing routines proceed as follows: Sikt sends invoices to the participants who have renewed/enrolled in the agreement, and then pays the joint supplier invoice.

The invoicing routines can be briefly summarized as follows:

• Ordering. After all participants in a consortium have responded to the renewal of the given agreement in Edvarda, Sikt sends a joint consortium order to the supplier. Based on this, the supplier sets up access for the coming license year. The publisher is asked to follow the instructions in the order from Sikt in order to set up an invoice that can be approved in Sikt's systems.

• Invoicing of consortium participants. Based on the renewals, Sikt sends invoices to the participants.

• Consolidated invoice from supplier. Sikt receives the consolidated consortium invoice from the supplier and pays it.

IP addresses

Consortium participants register their correct IP addresses themselves in Edvarda. Each time they make a change to their IP ranges, Edvarda automatically sends a notification to the suppliers with whom the institution has an agreement relationship.

What routines do the participants in the agreements follow? 

We have published a number of guides for participants in the consortium agreements: Informasjon og veiledninger. The texts are in Norwegian since they are aimed at reserarch institutions' libraries. Here the librarians will find information about what consortia are, duties and rights, and which routines apply. 

The libraries are the primary contacts for their researchers, and they will guide their researchers in the use of the agreements.

Collaboration on information

Sikt provides libraries with contact information for their publishers. However, Sikt usually acts as a mediator — meaning the participant contacts Sikt, who answers questions and forwards them to the publisher if there are questions we are not best placed to answer. For the most part, this concerns needing confirmed prices, questions about the content and practical matters around new agreements.

Now and then, the publisher contacts Sikt to request assistance in marketing a new product. Sikt provides a service that is publicly funded and is not a commercial actor. We can therefore not market products on behalf of the publisher, but must act as a neutral party. Sikt's agreement portfolio is based on interest in the agreement within the sector as well as agreements that promote open access.

Do you need more information?

General information about Sikt's consortia can be found here: License agreements: General introduction. 

You can reach us using our shared email address: lisensavtaler@sikt.no.