Digitisation Service

Need more information on the digitisation service?
Contact us by email: library.scanning@keele.ac.uk

What is the Digitisation Service?

Academic staff can use the service to request electronic copies of extracts from frequently used books or journals in our library collection, a service we are able to provide thanks to our signing the Copyright Licensing Agency's Higher Education Licence, which runs from 1 August 2019 to 31 July 2022.
The Digitisation Service uses the Copyright Licensing Agency's (CLA) Digital Content Store to deliver documents created by Keele.
Digitised documents are provided to staff as web links, which can be added to module websites on Keele's Blackboard virtual learning environment.

What material can be scanned?

Text and still images from most printed books, journals and magazines published in the UK and many published overseas, plus many digital publications.
You can check whether a publication is covered by using the CLA's Check Permissions website.

How much can we copy?

You can copy up to the following amount for each module:

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

...OR 10% of the total publication, whichever is the greater

The CLA HE Licence allows us to scan from any edition of a published work for a module in any one academic year - but only from one edition. We can not provide extracts from different editions of the same work for the same module in any one academic year.

Textbook substitution must be avoided - this would occur if a particular combination of photocopies and/or digital copies made available through a module had an adverse impact on a student's decision to buy one or more textbooks for their course. This would be in conflict with the principles of non-substitution set out in the Licence.

Who can we make copies for?

Registered students and members of staff, in connection with a specific module. We recommend that each module has a single contact for liaising with the Digitisation Service, as this simplifies management of digital collections for both the module co-ordinator and the Library.

Request a digitisation

Requests can be made by completing the Online Digitisation Request form or emailing library.scanning@keele.ac.uk

The following information is essential:

  1. Academic's name
  2. Course title and code for which the scan will be used
  3. The number of students taking the course (who will be using the scan)
  4. The course duration (in weeks) and end date
  5. As much information about the work to be scanned (author, title, volume or issue number). You must provide the page range of what is to be scanned

If the page range is missed out from a request, there will be a delay.

Before making a request, please check on Library Search if the required extract for scanning isn't already available from the library's electronic journal or book collections. If items requested are available electronically, we will provide a link to the relevant Library resource.

Deadlines for requests

Digitisations are dealt with on a first-come, first-served, basis. The deadline for semester 1 modules is 31st August, for semester 2 modules the 31st December. If we receive requests by these dates we can usually deliver in time for semester. Requests after these dates will be digitised and provided as soon as possible.

How to use the digital document links

Staff will provide your documents as web links, which can be added to your module's space on the Blackboard VLE system. Use Blackboard's 'Build Content' tools to add the web links to the appropriate place on your module's page. You must tell us if you want to use the same reading on more than one module.
The links to documents are permanent and can be used year-on-year (subject to the item still being covered by the Licence). We re-check the licence status of digitised items every August and will contact academic staff if we can't continue to provide a previously supplied reading.

However, please do get in touch if;

  • you want to change anything in your module’s digitised readings collection (i.e. add or remove readings)
  • your module is not running in the next academic year, or changing semesters (archived document links can easily be re-instated)
  • another member of staff is taking over co-ordination of the module (so we can update our records)
The CLA HE Licence 2019-22

User guidelines

Reporting -
Using the new Digital Content Store means that all content we provide is recorded automatically by the CLA - when we add your module's digitised content to the DCS it is recorded by the CLA. Every June, all the information about our content is gathered into an annual report used to distribute royalites to authors - and then we roll all of the content on the DCS forward for the next academic year.

Renewing Readings -
Staff no longer need to "renew" their module's digitised readings for the next academic year.

Overseas Campus Based Students (OCBS)

Keele has signed up to the CLA's 'OCBS' Pilot scheme to allow provision of digitisation services to students studying for Keele qualifications based at overseas partner institutions.