Meanings of “Renew” and “Renewal” in ERM

We are trying to get a good understanding of how the terms “Renew” and “Renewal” are used in relation to electronic resources in different contexts. So far, with input from members of the ERM subgroup we’ve come up with five variations:

1. When a licence deal with a publisher is about to terminate and a new agreement is reached this can be referred to as a ‘renewal’ of the agreement. In different cases this renewal might mean:
   a) a change in license
   b) a change in Purchase Order
   c) neither (a) nor (b)
   d) both (a) and (b)
2. In an ongoing multiyear agreement, there is the need to update the packages every year (transfers, ceases, cancellations) - both for subscribed and unsubscribed content
3. The classic subscription of single journal titles call for a renewal decision every year.

We are looking for any further comments on:

• Do people agree with the use of the term ‘Renewal’ for all these scenarios?
• Are there other scenarios where the the terms renew/renewal might be used (in relation to ERM)
• Any other comments on the concepts and terms here?

Hi Owen,

I think the scenarios are accurate. At least at University with option 2 of a multiyear deal, we tend to think of the each year covered within the deal to be renewals as well, but governed by the business terms within the multi-year license (e.g., time to renew this title for 2019, but since we’re in the middle of our three-year deal which doesn’t come with a cancellation allowance, we have to renew). This is probably because we generally pay for a year’s worth of content. if we prepaid all three years in advance for something, I wouldn’t think of there being renewals in years 2 and 3. And then, yes, when the three year deal ends and we decide to sign another one, that’s another renewal (Renewal with an upper case R?).

So two meanings for the same word.