University Library Services offer a digitisation service under the terms of the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) Higher Education Licence. This guide highlights the benefits of adding digitised extracts to Library Reading Lists and explains how to make digitisation requests. 

Why use the digitisation service?

When many students require access to a particular book chapter at the same time and there are limited copies available from the library.  Or if there is a journal article you would like your students to read for a class, but they are struggling to locate it, or maybe the access route is unreliable?  In these cases, digitising the book chapter or journal article can ensure students can locate and access their key reading directly from their module reading lists. 

Key benefits of digitisation on library reading lists:

• Copies that are requested via this service are fully checked to ensure they comply with the CLA HE License.
• Enables quick and easy reading list access to print book extracts.
• Make ebook chapters and articles available to students irrespective of cohort size.
• Make materials which are currently only available in print available to a larger number of students.
• Our copies are made to the highest standards and include accessibility checks and OCR optimisation as standard.
• Provide access to reading that the library does not already have within its collections (see section on requesting extracts not available via library search).

Please use this guide to find out what can be digitised and how to add extracts to your reading lists.

If you'd like to find out more information about the digitisation service or have a query about a request you've submitted, please contact the Library Digitisation Team by emailing: digitisation@sunderland.ac.uk

When will my digitisation be available?

Please allow up to 15 working days to process your digitization request. Once the request has been actioned, it will automatically be available on your reading list.

The University holds a Higher Education Licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) which allows members of library staff to scan and make digital copies of certain items for teaching purposes. This means that you can ask us to scan a book chapter or a journal article and make a digital copy of the scan available on your module reading lists for all students to access simultaneously.  To be eligible for digitisation the library must own or hold a current subscription to item that you wish to make a copy of.

The CLA HE Licence allows us to;

• Make copies from books, magazines and journals that the library owns or subscribes to.
• Share copies with students and staff.
• Store copies on our intranet.
• From a book, copy up to one chapter or 10% of the total, whichever is greater.
• From a journal issue, copy up to two whole articles or 10%, whichever is the greater.
• From a conference proceeding, copy one paper.
• From a volume of judicial proceedings, copy one case / report
• From a play, copy one scene.
• From an anthology, copy one short story, poem or play

Need more than 10%?

If your request exceeds 10%, it may be possible to buy a second extract licence to obtain this content via the CLA Second Extract Permissions Service (SEPS) which offers an option to buy permission to copy and use an additional amount – a ‘second extract’ – e.g., another chapter from the book or another 10% of the total pages.  This option is expensive and reserved for essential items only, please contact your Liaison Librarian to discuss this before making an application.

Need content that we don’t already own or subscribe to?

If the library does not have the item you require in the collection, it may still be possible for us to purchase a copyright-fee-paid version via the EHESS Service from The British Library. There is no guarantee that the service will be able to supply so each request is taken on an individual basis. 

Please note that you must not scan and upload copyrighted material to Canvas or Library Reading list yourself. This could be a copyright infringement and may result in legal action against the person who made the scan, the University, or both.  All requests for the digitisation of copyrighted material must be made by adding the item to a Library Reading List to comply with the license. Digitisation can be requested for UK based modules and for modules accessed by UK based distance learning students (not taught at an overseas campus).

You can make digitisation requests from the Library Reading List service or within the Canvas virtual learning environment.

If you would like to know if a book or journal is covered by the CLA HE Licence before you make a request, you can use the CLA permissions checker: https://cla.co.uk/resources/tools/check-permissions/.  Just choose 'Higher Education' from the drop down 'Licence Type' menu and enter the ISSN or ISBN of the item you want to copy from.

To make a request, follow the instructions below;

first log in to Library Reading Lists

Start your request by opening the reading list that you want to add a digitised extract to

Click Add Items and then select the Library Search icon

Enter your search criteria, for example an article or book title. Select your item from the search results and then specify which section of the list you want to add it into.

Then click Add & Edit.  It’s important to click on Add & Edit (instead of Add) as this enables you to specify more information that we'll need to process your request your request quickly.

• Click on the Type field drop-down menu to select the relevant type of reading. For digitization requests, you'll need to choose Book Chapter rather than Book or Ebook. If you're requesting an article to be digitised, choosing the type Article is correct.
• Check whether the ISSN or ISBN is correct in terms of your source resource being in a print or digital format.
• Add as much detail as possible including publication year and chapter and page numbers.
• Complete your request by clicking on the item you just added to your list and in the item record, click Request Digitization

• The Ask Library For Digital Copies window will open. 

• Check the chapter and pages are correct and enter the number of participants (students) taking the module and use the notes fields to add any further information you think relevant to your request.

• Click Send to complete your request.

Top Tips

• You can use Amazon, Google Books or the publisher website to check page numbers if you don't have a copy of the book handy.
• Use the ISSN portal to check the name or ISSN number of a journal.

If you'd any further help with finding information for your request email: digitisation@sunderland.ac.uk

When will my extract be available?

Please allow up to 15 working days to process your digitisation request. Once the request has been actioned, it will automatically be available on your reading list.

If the Library does not already own or subscribe to the reading extract you need, you can still place a request for digitization. If the extract is available via the British Library EHESS service, the Library will buy an additional copyright cleared licence for the extract you need.

• To request reading not already owned by the Library, use the Blank Form option instead of Library Seach when submitting your request.
• Use the Add item details form to complete as much of the item citation details as you can.

Useful to know

Find ISSN serial numbers at: https://portal.issn.org or at the CLA Check Permissions website.

Once you have added in your extract details, please refer to 'How to submit a request' to complete and submit your request.

If you’d like to find out more about the digitization service or discuss an active request, please contact us at library.eresources@sunderland.ac.uk

Q. When will the item I requested be available on the reading list?

A.  We aim to process requests as quickly as possible. We require 15 working days notice for digitisation requests to be completed.  Each request is different and the amount of time it takes to source content and gain permissions can vary.  Straightforward requests for content we have in the library collection can usually be completed faster than requests for which we have to source material and get copyright approval or publisher permission for.