Working with librarians, researchers, administrators, funders, and publishers, CRKN undertakes large scale content acquisition and licensing initiatives in order to build knowledge infrastructure and research capacity in Canada’s universities.
CRKN negotiates and manages over 55 licenses on behalf of its member libraries, working with publishers and vendors from around the world. Learn more about the publishers and licensed content.
This section provides information on our licensing program, including our negotiations process and outcomes, as well as current licenses and licensed content. Please note that a portion of the content in this section is available to CRKN members only. If you are a member, please login.
License Renewal Process
CRKN negotiates each license with terms that are fixed for the length of the contract (generally three to five years). In the final year of the contract term, CRKN begins the license renewal process which is planned to ensure sufficient time for member engagement, the development and approval of negotiation objectives, negotiations with vendors, and the offer period.
| Activity | Timeline |
| CSC identifies license renewal issues | January |
| Member teleconferences to discuss issues and negotiation objectives | February |
| Product surveys for member feedback (where appropriate) | March |
| CSC develops negotiation objectives | March |
| Board of Directors meeting to approve CSC objectives | March |
| Staff work in conjunction with a CSC sub-group to undertake negotiations | April - September |
| Staff work in conjunction with a CSC sub-group to organize member teleconferences and other communications on negotiations progress and results | June - November |
| Offers distributed to members | September - December |
This timeline is based on calendar year renewals. For licenses with varying expiry dates (i.e. not December 31), the timing may differ.