Depending on level of demand, we endeavout to supply scans on a next day basis, excluding weekends and holidays.

We will provide up to the following number of scans per academic year:

Undergraduates = 25

Postgraduates (Taught) = 100

Postgraduates (Research) = 100

Staff = 100

To request a scan, simply click on the request scan button located on the right-hand side of the Library search screen

This will take you to the single-sign on page, where you need to input your username and password details. You will then be directed to the Scan and Deliver page where you can enter the relevant information:

Make sure you have read and understood the copyright declaration before clicking submit request.

You will receive a confirmation email that your request has been successfully submitted.

Providing there are no problems, you will receive a link to the pdf of your requested scan. This will be available for you to download for 30 days. Should there be any issues with your request (e.g. the item is not available or is in too poor a condition to scan), we will contact you to let you know. If your request contravenes the copyright legislation, we will provide you with the physical copy.

Most scanning of library material follows the rules of the CLA Licence – these are the rules you see on the notices on our printers, copiers and scanners.  

However, for our ‘Scan and Deliver’ service are not made under the rules of the CLA Licence. Instead, we are making use of an exception in section 42A of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act.  

For each request supported by a declaration form, you can provide a scan of:  

a) one article from any one issue of a periodical, or
b) a reasonable proportion of any other published work,  

The law does not define what it means by a ‘reasonable proportion of any other published work’. In general, you can take it to mean 10% of a work.

The exceptions to this are books made up of multiple individual works e.g. anthologies of poems, collections of short stories, photographic books, and atlases. In these cases, it is harder to define what a ‘reasonable proportion’ is – library staff will deal with these on a case by case basis.  

Anything that the library has lawful access to can be scanned for ‘Scan and Deliver’. This means that in addition to books and journals, you can request things like newspapers, printed music, and any international works, whilst still subject to the limits noted in a) and b) above.  

No contract with a publisher can override section 42A of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act.  

You can therefore ignore any contracts or copyright notices in books stating that copying for scan and deliver services is not permitted.

Want to request something the Library doesn't hold - use our Inter-Library Loan Service