Negotiating Transformative Agreements at the German National Library of Science and Technology – A “field report”

In line with its overall commitment to Openness, the TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology has been supporting the move to Open Access in journal publishing for a couple of years now. With its expertise and long-standing track record in reaching beneficial licensing deals for library consortia, the TIB is well-positioned to negotiate publishing options for academic and research institution across Germany. This “field report” aims to give a short overview on the state of affairs regarding the implementation of Open Access policies and introduces three transformative models currently implemented in TIB-led consortia. It also offers a (preliminary) assessment of both the benefits and the drawbacks associated with the different transformative models and presents some of the “lessons learned” so far. Lastly, it looks ahead at what the sector might expect in terms of institutional Open Access agreements in the future.