With apologies for cross-posting.  Below is a press release with an  
update on the UKSG TRANSFER Code of Practice - twenty publishers with  
8,000 journals have now endorsed the Code which was released at the  
end of 2008.  This is a good start but we want to get more publishers  
to endorse the Code so we are encouraging libraries to exert some  
(friendly) pressure on publishers.

Regards,  Ed Pentz

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Oxford, UK – 24 March 2009. UKSG is pleased to announce that 20  
publishers have now signed up to its TRANSFER Code of Practice, which  
provides best practice guidelines and outlines responsibilities to  
ensure that journal content remains easily accessible in the event of  
a change of ownership. This means that library and reader access to  
over 8,000 journals will now be protected in transfers between  
publisher signatories.

Major signatories to the code include Elsevier, Nature and Wiley, but  
it is equally appropriate to smaller publishers – those signed up so  
far include the American Diabetes Association, Earthscan and the Rural  
Sociological Society. UKSG’s objective is to persuade all publishers  
of the importance and value of endorsing the TRANSFER code.  
“Librarians must be increasingly rigorous in assessing the merits of  
journals and journals packages for renewal or purchase,” said Joan  
Emmet, NERL Program Librarian. “TRANSFER endorsement is a signal that  
a publisher understands its customers’ needs and is committed to  
providing a good level of service even in complex circumstances. By  
implementing standards of practice for the treatment of transfer  
titles, the job of keeping track of these titles becomes easier both  
for publisher and customer. The publisher who puts the code into  
practice will help set apart a journal/journals package when we are  
reviewing our collections.”

The TRANSFER Code of Practice was developed by a cross-party working  
group to resolve problems encountered by subscribers when journals  
move from one publisher to another. Many critical issues, such as  
continuity of access during a transfer or perpetual ongoing access to  
archives, were previously a grey area in journal sale agreements; this  
resulted in frustration for end users and librarians as key e-journals  
became temporarily or even permanently unavailable despite licence  
terms.

“The TRANSFER code has been extensively fine-tuned to balance the  
interests of its multiple stakeholders,” said Ed Pentz, TRANSFER  
Working Group Chair. “Libraries and their users benefit from minimal  
disruption during a transfer – and publishers benefit from the  
simplified workflow and associated reduction in costs of a  
standardised process. We’ve also taken great care to protect  
publishers’ competitive interests. The overall success of the Code  
depends on widespread adoption by publishers so we hope that many more  
will soon show their support for their customers by signing up.”

For more information, and to sign up to the TRANSFER Code, visit http://www.uksg.org/transfer 
  or drop by the UKSG Projects stand (85) at the UKSG exhibition in  
Torquay, UK from 31st March to 2nd April 2009.

For more information, contact:

Ed Pentz

Chair, TRANSFER Working Group

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