Join the ONEAL Community Discord for support as you work through the curriculum. This is a great place to find a negotiation partner for practice.
Module 1: Foundations
The Foundations Workbook
Each lesson in the foundations module integrates hands-on activities that allow you to put learning into practice. We have consolidated all of these activities into a workbook that you can download, edit and save in both a PDF and .docx format. These activities are also available as individual documents within each lesson. (docx download) (PDF download)
Introduction to the ONEAL Curriculum
A brief introduction to the ONEAL Curriculum, including historical context of library and vendor resource negotiations, and navigating the lessons.
Contracts & Licensing
This lesson introduces common concepts around library contracts and licensing so that learners have a baseline understanding of common legal clauses.
Introduction to Negotiations
This lesson provides information about why negotiations often make library professionals feel anxious, introduces what it means to be in a business relationship, how to advocate for yourself and your library, and introduces how principled negotiation can be used to improve outcomes.
This lesson is broadly applicable for all library professionals to learn how to negotiate at work and in life.
Negotiation Planning Part 1
This lesson provides a framework for negotiation planning and introduces negotiation strategies to use during the planning process and mid-negotiation. Learners will understand why BATNA is important, how to predict their ZOPA, and how to manage difficult behaviors, among other best practices.
This lesson is broadly applicable for all library professionals to learn how to negotiate at work and in life.
Negotiation Planning Part 2
This lesson focuses on how to do an internal review of the library’s position when planning for negotiations.
Negotiation Planning Part 3
This lesson focuses on how to do an external review of a vendor when planning for negotiations.
Module 2: Strategies
The module is under development with plans to launch in late 2024. Content includes values-based priority setting, managing vendors, and stakeholder engagement.
Module 3: Issues
Additional issues modules on privacy/surveillance, acquisition models, text and data mining (TDM), and authentication are under development.
Accessibility
This lesson introduces accessibility issues that commonly occur within library resources, including providing hands-on exercises to learn how to experience what it is like to navigate a resource using a keyboard, and provides guidance on how to advocate for accessibility in licensing.
This lesson includes components that are broadly applicable for all library professionals who wish to learn more about accessibility and library resources, as well as specific content to aid in negotiating accessibility into licenses.
Case Studies for Practice
The foundations module includes two negotiation case studies to practice your new skills. Additional case studies are under development to launch in late 2024.
Recommended Resources by Library Workers
Short video and text interviews with different library workers on resources they recommend to support negotiations. This list will continue to expand as we interview more people in the community.
- Toolkit Recommendation: Negotiating with scholarly journal publishers: A toolkit from the University of California (Video Interview) (Link to Resource)
- Book Recommendation: Thompson, L. (2013) The truth about negotiations. New Jersey: Pearson Education. (PDF Interview) (Link to Resource)
Glossary
Quick reference to terms introduced within the curriculum.
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SPARC has partnered with the ONEAL Project to host its open educational resources developed to teach negotiation skills within the context of academic libraries. The ONEAL project builds on professional development opportunities for negotiation skills organized as part of SPARC’s Negotiation Community of Practice.