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Academic Support: Digitised Resources

Introduction

The digitisation service offered by the University of Suffolk Library (the Library) aims to supply digital copies of teaching resources with limited or no online access. This includes digitising book chapters/sections per the Copyright Licensing Agency’s (CLA) regulations and, where appropriate, utilising the British Library’s Enhanced Higher Education Supply Scheme (EHESS) to procure articles and book sections unavailable in our existing collections. 

Only University of Suffolk staff associated with a current course at the Ipswich Campus can submit digitisation requests. We are unable to accept digitisation requests from partner institutions or staff. 

Our full Digitisation Policy for Teaching can be downloaded below. 

Digitisation Process

Digitisation requests should be: 

  1. Required for delivery of teaching 
  2. Have limited or no existing electronic availability 

Is it required for teaching? 

Digitised copies will only be supplied where resources are required for the delivery of teaching. A resource required for the delivery of teaching will:   

  • Be signposted to all students enrolled on the module  
  • Form part of the essential, recommended or further reading list 
  • Be uploaded to the module area on Brightspace 

Is it already copyright compliant? 

All materials uploaded to Brightspace should be copyright compliant. To remain copyright compliant, you should not: 

  • Upload scanned sections of personal or library books to Brightspace 
  • Upload PDFs of eBook chapters obtained from the library or other sources Brightspace  
  • Upload PDFs of digital articles obtained from the library or other sources to Brightspace 
  • Upload PDFs of other digital content (i.e., website pages, blog posts) to Brightspace 

Resources should be linked to rather than directly added to Brightspace whenever they are available electronically. In cases where a resource is unavailable electronically or has limited access (such as a single-user eBook license), it should be requested through the UoS digitisation service. 

Digitised copies can be made of most printed books, journals and magazines subject to the Copyright Licensing Agency's (CLA) restrictions. We are entitled to copy 10% of each work or the following amount for each course (whichever is greater): 

  • Whole chapter from a book  
  • Whole article from a magazine or journal issue  
  • Whole scene from a play  
  • Whole paper from a set of conference proceedings  
  • Whole report of a single case from a volume of judicial proceedings 
  • Short story, poem or play (not exceeding 10 pages in length) from an anthology 

CLA Restrictions

Please note the following CLA restrictions: 

  • The resource is covered by the CLA. This is verified by using the Check Permissions tool on the CLA website.  
  • If requesting a section of a book, the book is already available in print or online in the library’s holdings.  
  • The request adheres to the maximum stated copy entitlements.
  • The digitised copy is shared digitally via Brightspace.  
  • The digitised copy is available only to a named cohort of students, on a named module, on a validated course for a defined period of time.  

All requests must be submitted via the online form, available here.

Requests received via alternative channels (such as email) will be directed to this form. Completion of this form is compulsory; requests will not be considered submitted until the form is completed. 

What Next? 

The Library Services team will begin processing your digitisation request as soon as possible. We aim to review and action all requests within two weeks of receipt.

Please note that requests may be delayed in the following circumstances: 

  • Inaccurate or incomplete module / bibliographic information has been supplied 
  • Request exceeds the stated CLA limits 
  • Item is currently on loan, or not available in our existing holdings

We ask that you monitor your email inbox for correspondence from us, to ensure any issues are dealt with promptly. 

Where digitisation is not possible, the requestor will be contacted via email and their affiliated Learning and Teaching Librarian will be copied in. The requestor is expected to communicate with their Learning and Teaching Librarian to discuss alternative options and/or resources.  

Please note that each digitisation request made for the current academic year, and not all time. 

Materials made available through the digitisation scheme are automatically archived in July of each academic year. When requests are archived, access links are automatically deactivated. 

We ask that you resubmit all requests using the Digitisation Request Form every academic year. This ensures our information is up to date and initiates an essential internal approval process, allowing Librarians to identify alternative access methods (e.g., via eBook) when available. 

Service Level Agreements

The library will:  

  • Email course teams six weeks before each module block to remind them to review reading lists and submit requests for digitisation. 
  • Review and action all digitisation requests within two weeks of receiving them. Please note that delays may occur due to item unavailability, submission of requests over CLA limits, or if the requester provides inaccurate information. 
  • Notify requestors via email if there are any issues with their request. 
  • If applicable, provide links to items already available in the collection.  
  • Provide links to digitised items. The requestor acknowledges that the library will not upload materials to Brightspace on their behalf. 

The requestor will:  

  • Submit all digitisation requests via the online form, available here. 
  • Ensure all requests are submitted well in advance of their required date. Requests will be reviewed and processed within two weeks of receipt whenever possible; however, requestors are strongly advised to submit requests as early as possible to avoid delays. 
  • Complete all mandatory fields on the form supplying accurate module and bibliographic information. The requestor acknowledges that inaccurate information will delay the digitisation process. 
  • Respond to emails from learningservices@uos.ac.uk regarding request status where necessary.  
  • Withdraw access to all digitised materials following the end of module.