Driven adaptation: A grounded theory study of licensing electronic resources

• The grounded theory method is used to theorize licensing work in academic libraries.
• A substantive driven adaptation theory explains and theorizes e-resources licensing.
• Licensing is driven by three major forces—imposed changes, tensions, and dialog.
• Licensing librarians use three major strategies to adapt to licensing work.
• Licensing has become a new specialization in the library field.

Using the grounded theory approach, this study generated a substantive theory of driven adaptation that explains and theorizes the basic social process of licensing as an emerging specialization in the library field that is driven by three major forces: imposed changes, tensions, and dialog. Licensing librarians use three major strategies to adapt to licensing work: coping, positioning, and aligning. Each strategy includes multiple dimensions. As the outcome of the driven adaptation, licensing work has emerged as a new specialization in academic librarianship. The theory explains the major concerns in the licensing work: how licensing librarians adapt to licensing work and how they handle the challenges in this relatively new specialization. It also identifies the behaviors practitioners engage in as they cope with licensing work. Findings of this study can help new electronic resources librarians to adapt to licensing more effectively. This theory can also be expanded and generalized to explain the creation and assimilation of any new specialization of work.