Digital Copies Service
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QuickLink: Request An Item
The Digital Copies Service is a service for teaching staff to request electronic reading materials for Vision courses. Digital extracts from books, journals and other published material can be requested to provide students with accessible, high quality reading materials from their VISION course 24/7 - on and off campus. We'll check everything complies with copyright regulations.
To request an item use our online request service
- What can be provided?
- Registering for the service
- Requesting material
- What happens to my requests?
- How long will it take?
- Why can't I digitise material myself?
- What happens when my request arrives?
If you'd like to request an eBook (full-text electronic books) to link to from Vision, please use our recommendation for order form or see more about requesting books.
What can be provided?
Depending on the request, we can provide any the following -
- digital copy (scan) of an extract of print material published in the UK, US and some other territories;
- PDF of full-text electronic materials to which the library subscribes (digital re-use) - published by participating UK and US publishers;
- eBook, if available and best match for need
- stable URL (one which won't break or change over time) to a journal article, eBook or other electronic resource.
The amount which can be scanned is similar to photocopying -
- Up to 5% or one chapter of a book.
- Up to 5% or one article from a journal issue.
- Up to 5% or one paper of one set of conference proceedings.
- Illustrations, photographs, tables, charts which can be disembedded from their original page.
These limits can be exceeded subject to permission from the rights holder (usually with a fee).
The Copyright Licencing Agency (CLA) Comprehensive HE licence and the licence conditions of publishers or providers of electronic material restrict how their material can be used in VISION courses, we will ensure that items provided do not infringe copyright or the licence conditions of publishers and providers of electronic material. Scans and PDFs will have copyright coversheets attached and usage reported annually to the CLA, as required by the terms of the licence.
Registering for the service
To register for the service:
Go to https://clioweb.hw.ac.uk/login.aspx and login using your Heriot-Watt
username and password. Fill in the Personal Information form. Please
note: we use email to communicate with you about your requests and to deliver
materials in digital format, so please make sure your email address is entered
correctly.
You can then request digital copies using the online forms.
Please Note: If you're uncertain about your HW username and password, you can
check it by logging into HW Webmail. Contact the IT Help Desk (ITHelp@hw.ac.uk)
if you're having problems logging in to the online ILL service, mentioning the
Clio ILL system.
If you are already registered to
use ILL you don't need to re-register.
Requesting material
You must be registered
to use the service. You can then request extracts for your VISION course using the electronic request service.
How long will it take?
Please allow 3 weeks for your request to be processed. If you require
material more urgently, please contact mailto:libscan@hw.ac.ukand we will do our
best to assist.
If an extract requested is not covered by the CLA
licence, permission from the rights holder can be obtained (usually for a fee). This can be a lengthy
process, but we'll contact you to let you know what the position is.
Why can't I digitise material myself?
What happens when my request arrives?

