Information Services

How to request digitisations for teaching

Use your Resource Lists to request copyright-compliant digitisations of book chapters, extracts or articles for use in teaching.  We work with the Library's E-reserve team to digitise material on your behalf and link it to your list.

Essential and Recommended reading

The Library will provide digitisations if:

  • No suitable e-book or e-journal is available 
  • The print edition is covered by the copyright licence 
  • The extract does not exceed 10% of the whole title/issue or 1 chapter/article, whichever is the greater 
  • We have obtained permission from the copyright holder, in limited cases

You can request digitisations from books not yet held by the Library - we will buy a copy to allow for scanning  (if permitted). 

If you are creating or updating a Resource List yourself

If you include chapter/extract details in the Public note the Library will try to provide a scan if no e-book is available.

  • Add a Priority tag (Essential or Recommended)
  • Add a Public note with information about the required extract - include page ranges and the chapter title, if there is one, as pagination can vary between editions
  • If you have added more than one chapter from the same book to your list, Make sure you have prioritised the readings in case the Library is unable to provide them all 
  • Add any additional information using 'Library Discussion' in the right-hand panel - add a note in the expandable box and then click 'Submit comment'
  • When you have finished all editing, click the ‘Request Library Review’ button

If the Library will be creating or updating your Resource List

  • Provide a list of the course resources with full references 
  • Highlight the chapters or pages of Essential and Recommended items that you would like to have digitised
  • Include page ranges and the chapter title, if there is one, as pagination can vary between editions
  • Indicate the order of priority if requesting more than one chapter from the same publication
  • Use the online form to send the list to the Library

What happens next?

The Library prioritises requests received before the deadline and any requests received after that are prioritised by date received. We add a status tag to the citations so that you can check the progress of your requests: 

  • Digitisation available means the scan is linked to the list. Students can filter by this tag to see all the digitisations of key extracts at a glance.
  • Digitisation pending (for Course Organisers only) means we are waiting for copyright permission from rights holders or for access to the print copy to scan.
  • Digitisation declined (for Course Organisers only) means we cannot fulfil your request. You will usually receive an email about this from the E-reserve team. 

The Library is governed by the Copyright Licensing Agency’s Higher Education Licence and not all requests can be fulfilled. Please be prepared to use an alternative text. 

Further reading 

As a rule, the Library does not provide digitisations of Further readings. If the Scan & Deliver service receives multiple requests from individual students for the same Further reading chapter, we will try to make it available to the cohort through the corresponding Resource List. Students can also use the Interlibrary Loans service to request Further reading materials.  

Can I use my own scans? 

You should not scan copyright materials yourself or upload scanned content to Learn, Moodle or a Resource List unless:

  • The material is out of copyright
  • You have explicit permission from the copyright holder
  • You hold the copyright for the work.

If in doubt, please check with the Library. We will take down any files you upload to Resource Lists that are in breach of copyright and try to source a copyright-compliant scan that can be used for teaching.   

Help and information

For help with your Resource List, contact Library.Learning@ed.ac.uk  

For copyright questions, contact the University’s copyright enquiries service at copyright@ed.ac.uk