one of my job duties is to negotiate license agreements for electronic resources that the library subscribes to. i really like this part of my job. i’ve liked the language of law since my first part-time library position at the law library at the univ of florida. i taught myself a lot while on that job, and learned that contracts can be written beautifully, clearly, and simply. contracts are an easy concept: here’s what we agree to, here’s what you agree to, here is what we are both bound by, and here’s how we’ll resolve any discrepancies that come up later. why, my lawyer friends, do you make the license agreements i deal with so dark, murky, and one-sided? didn’t your momma ever tell you to keep your audience in mind when you write? 🙂
