The library's digitisation service provides electronic access to journal articles and book chapters that would be otherwise unavailable through scanned copies of material in our print collection or from the British Library.
This service removes the need for module supervisors to upload personally scanned copies of resources to reading lists and ensures that reading list materials are compliant with copyright law. When you request a digitisation for a book chapter or journal article, the library will confirm that your request complies with copyright law and upload a scan to the reading list. If we cannot fulfil your request, we will also contact you to discuss possible alternatives.
Digitisations can only be made available through Talis reading lists and must not be uploaded separately to Moodle. Talis reading lists are automatically linked to Moodle once the list is published and they can be further integrated into Moodle, if you want your students to access their resources through this platform.
As part of our review process, library staff will check resources that are suitable candidates for digitisation and submit the requests ourselves, so you do not necessarily have to worry about this service if you publish your reading list(s) early. However, you can request digitisations when updating your list(s), and this will mean that the requested material is available earlier.
For guidance on requesting digitisations, see the Request a digitisation section on the Talis help pages.
Copyright law sets a limit on how much material from a book or journal can be made available through digitisation. The library is permitted to digitise up to:
This limit only applies to books and journals that are covered by the university's license with the Copyright Licensing Agency. If the book or journal you have requested is not covered, then the library can only provide a digitisation with explicit permission from the publisher. Where this is the case, we will contact you to discuss alternative options.
If you have any questions about digitisation please email libline@essex.ac.uk.
For more information about copyright regulations, please see our copyright FAQs.
