- Took place Mar 5, 2025
The Electronic Resources Minnesota (ERMN) Conference will be held virtually the afternoon of March 5, 2025. The conference will take place through Zoom.
Conference Description
ERMN is a regional conference that provides opportunities for those who acquire and manage e-resources to network, share best practices, participate in workshops, and learn from fellow e-resources staff.
Minitex is the organizer of this conference in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Libraries. If you have questions, please contact the organizing committee at ermn@umn.edu.
Registration
Registration will open in early 2025. The conference is FREE!
Schedule
12:50pm CST: Welcome & opening remarks – ERMN Conference Planning Committee
1:00-1:50pm CST: Efforts to Restrict AI Rights in License Agreements
- Samantha Teremi, Licensing Librarian, University of California Berkeley
As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies become integral to scholarly research, publishers are increasingly using electronic resource license agreements to curtail lawful and essential AI usage and training. So how do libraries counter this?
This presentation will explore the University of California, Berkeley’s approach to preserving AI rights in their library’s e-resource licenses, including examples of their recent AI negotiations with Elsevier and Springer. Successfully reaching agreement on such a complex topic involves utilizing a variety of tools, such as implementing various negotiation strategies, stakeholder involvement and policy development, and developing detailed contract language. Furthermore, understanding and making distinctions between subtypes of AI tools - homegrown vs. third-party and generative vs. non-generative - is essential for decoding publishers’ specific concerns and ensuring negotiations with greater rights are reached. Finally, we will also examine the legal frameworks underpinning the preservation of AI rights, such as contractual override and fair use, as well as relevant legislation in the European Union (EU).
Attendees will walk away with an increased understanding of how AI training and usage rights can be preserved in contracts and the legal considerations at play, as well as practical strategies to take to their own library negotiations with e-resource publishers.
2:00-2:50pm CST: Do you know where your vendors' ACRs (Accessibility Conformance Reports) are?: Preparing for the 2026 ADA digital accessibility rules
- Jessica D. Gilbert Redman, Online Resources & Services Librarian, University of North Dakota
- Leigh Mosley, Accessibility Coordinator, University of Tennessee Libraries
- Debbie Dramstad, CPACC, Web Accessibility Specialist, Valley City State University
- Karen Grondin, Licensing Librarian, Arizona State University
The new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) rule regarding the digital accessibility (DA) of web content and mobile apps for Title II institutions is confounding library workers all over the country. With the April 2026 deadline inching ever closer, libraries are asking questions and wondering where to turn for answers. What is this new rule and what are we responsible for when it comes to the e-resources we're providing to our students? Are our institutions responsible for third-party content that we subscribe to? What is a VPAT (or is that an ACR) anyway? How can our library keep track of product remediation needs?
Find out how academic libraries of different sizes and types are readying their e-resources processes for the April 2026 deadline. Learn how to start the DA compliance conversation with your vendors and how your vendors can help you with the DA of their products and any necessary remediation efforts and opportunities. Discover a community of library folks who are working toward a common goal. Remember: we're not alone in this endeavor! Join this panel discussion to discover what we are doing, what we wish we were doing, and how to get answers to your questions about e-resources accessibility in time to prepare.
3:00-3:50pm CST: NDSU Libraries cancel Elsevier journals for rapid article delivery service: A pilot project
- Jolie Graybill, Dean of Libraries, North Dakota State University
- Jenny Sjoquist, Director of Information Services & Systems, North Dakota State University
This session will explore the growing trend of cancelling expensive journal subscriptions and the shift toward alternative solutions for academic content delivery, with a focus on NDSU Libraries' experience since cancelling Elsevier journal subscriptions at the end of 2024. Attendees will learn about the benefits and challenges of using article delivery services to provide researchers with timely access to high-quality research, while navigating the complexities of licensing, cost-effectiveness, and content accessibility in the evolving scholarly landscape.
3:50-4:00pm CST: Closing remarks – ERMN Conference Planning Committee
Planning Committee
- Greg Argo, Minitex
- Rita Baladad, Northern Arizona University
- Sunshine Carter, University of Minnesota Libraries
- Jessica Gilbert Redman, University of North Dakota
- Anne Hatinen, Minitex
- Christina Koss, Concordia University
- Pat Lienemann, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Code of Conduct
ERMN attendees are required to abide by the University of Minnesota Code of Conduct. ERMN seeks a variety of opinions, voices, and perspectives at our conference. We encourage participation from people of all races, ethnicities, genders, ages, abilities, religions, and sexual orientation. We strive to create an inclusive and respectful conference experience, inviting diverse perspectives and opinions.
Call for Proposals
The call for proposals closed January 13, 2025.
Requirements
- Proposals were due January 13, 2025.
- All presenters are required to present live during the conference; presenters attending sessions other than their own are required to register for the conference.
- Proposals with multiple presenters may include vendor presenters, but the vendor portion of the presentation should not exceed 50% of the session.
Information about Sessions
Session Formats
Each session will be 50 minutes in length and will include time for questions.
- Full Sessions: 40-minute lecture or workshop conference presentations.
- Half Sessions: 20-minute talks. Two short talks are grouped into a single session.
- Panel Discussion Sessions: 50-minute sessions offering participants a more in-depth opportunity to learn about an e-resource related topic or issue through a facilitated discussion involving multiple presenters
Proposal Submission Criteria
Proposals must include a title, description (250 words), 2-3 brief learning objectives, session type (full, half, or panel) and the names of all presenters.
The ERMN Conference Planning Committee is looking for sessions that appeal to those interested in or working with e-resources in all types of libraries. Tell us about your current projects, past successes (or challenges), experiments, ideas, or creative solutions related to e-resources. Topics might include (but are not limited to):
- Licensing
- Acquisitions
- Troubleshooting & maintenance
- Cataloging & metadata
- Link resolvers
- Discovery
- Collection development
- Open access & open educational resources (OER)
- Diversity, equity, inclusion, & accessibility
Proposal Evaluation Criteria
Session proposals will be evaluated for acceptance based on the following criteria:
- Potential interest/relevance of topic to staff managing and acquiring e-resources in libraries
- Currency of topic
- Appeal to diverse library audiences (public, school, special, academic, etc.)
- Quality of written proposal
Proposal submitters will be notified in late January 2025 whether their proposal was accepted.
If you have questions, please contact us at ermn@umn.edu.
