What are Jisc agreements via the Chest platform?

Features of a typical  agreement

• Standardised licence
• Based on UK Law
• Consistent and easy-to-understand language

• Transparent, fixed, may be banded 
• Usually over three-year term

• Between the institution and the vendor or service provider   
• Site licences frequently cover use by all staff and students   
• Use for administration and management often  allowed

Background

The first Chest agreement was offered in 1998. It was an immediate success with 98 universities benefitting from the cost savings and favourable licence terms. Other vendors soon came to realise the advantages of our collaborative approach, and a permanent team, with licence knowledge and negotiation skills, was formed at the University of Bath to secure more deals. By the end of the decade further education colleges were taking part, and soon after, digital content was added to the portfolio.

In 2019, Eduserv, the parent company of Chest, merged with Jisc. Now part of Jisc, the team continues to negotiate agreements based on our original values - saving money and favourable terms.

More than 700 universities, colleges and associated organisations currently benefit from our agreements.

Jisc offer:

• A dedicated help desk to answer all your licensing queries
• Bespoke newsletters to promote agreements

What kind of resources do Chest Agreements cover?

These include a wide range of digital resources including e-journals, e-books, backfiles, databases, reference materials, standards, videos, and more.

These cover products widely used in teaching, research and on-going management of the organisation. We offer generalist products from vendors such as Microsoft and Adobe; a range of cyber security solutions; and subject specific products in geographic information systems, statistics and mathematics, qualitative data analysis, and mind mapping. Moving forward, we will be introducing more products in the spaces of accessibility, employability and skills, data and analytics.