Well, just interpreting the "legalese" of this it seems like:
1-The Society has some sort of "license" but will not be charged for it. Free rent, I guess?
2-The Society must "make available" it's collection for the Institution to digitize, fully at the cost of the Institution
3-Digitized items will be made available to the Society and will also become part of the Institutions publicly available collection.
These seem to be in line with your statement: "
We aren't against access, or digitization ..."
The big question/concern is that there is no mention of what happens to the original items after digitization. It says "...make available..." which infers that ownership remains with the Society. But, since it's not stated I would be concerned that the Institution will have them in their possession, potentially causing problems for the Society to regain them and bring them back to the newly renovated home. I.e. The Institution may agree that the Society "owns" the collection but it will remain in "possession" of (and at) the Institution. (And you know what they say about "possession").
A secondary concern may be "reproduction" rights. I.e. After the digitized items become part of the Institutions publicly available collection, what are the restrictions on someone reproducing, copying, etc. The Society's existing policies regarding reproduction and use should apply, but again this is not specified anywhere.
I'd recommend additional wording be added specific to (1) both "ownership" and "possession" of the collection and (2) reproduction and use of the digitized items
------------------------------
Ken Avallon
Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame
kavallon@phillyhall.net------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2019 02:10 PM
From: Heather Garside
Subject: Seeking advice regarding archival access
My organization is in a very unusual situation and I need some advice. We are being temporarily relocated to a local college campus while our home location is being renovated (we lease). The situation seemed mutually beneficial until we discovered an unusual clause in the agreement:
"License Fee. As consideration for this License, the SOCIETY shall, within 3 months of the commencement of this license, make available to institution its **** archival Collection and all other materials related to person owned by the SOCIETY to be digitized by institution at institution's sole cost and expense. As the collection is digitized, the digital records will be provided to the SOCIETY and added to the institution's public academic library. In addition, the SOCIETY and institution agree to explore other aspects of the SOCIETY'S collections that may be suitable for digitization and inclusion in institution's public academic library. Any digitization which is in addition to the *** archival Collection will be on terms that are mutually agreeable to both parties."
As my organization is a private, membership based historical society, with existing policies regarding reproduction and use, I feel that we are being asked to give away part of our collection for rent. We aren't against access, or digitization but the loss of control and the precedent it sets concern me.
The non-museum/library professionals on my committee have asked for examples of other policies at other institutions that establish this clause as something that goes against industry standard. Does anyone have a policy they are able to share, or even a professional opinion they are willing to commit to writing that can help me to explain the situation more clearly to them. Alternatively, if anyone has entered into a similar arrangement and it has been positive, that would also be helpful to know about.
--
Heather Garside
Curator of the Passaic County Historical Society Collections
Lambert Castle
3 Valley Road
Paterson NJ 07503