Document Delivery
Service Update
- All those using the document delivery service can now pay request fees online using the University Online Shop. Payment options and the Online Shop link will display when you submit your online request form.
- Requested journal articles will, where possible, be delivered as electronic copies via The British Library’s Secure Electronic Delivery (SED) service. If you wish to request a photocopied version of the item, please indicate this in the relevant field on the request form.
- All requesters should read the SED section below for important information.
Using Document delivery
Do you really need to use Document Delivery?
As the Document Delivery service is expensive, check if there is an alternative source available within the Library which has the information you need.
Check our other resources first. SOLAR is available online 24 hours a day. You may be able to find alternative material within our stock.
For journal articles we recommend that you read its abstract before making a request, as this will give you a better idea of whether the article will be of use.
Resources to use include:
Document Delivery Service – Online Requesting
You can submit requests electronically using the online request form.
The Document Delivery team will process online requests as we receive them. When you submit your online request form, payment options will be provided on a second screen.
The existing PDF version of the request form will remain available on our Document Delivery web-page.
Requesting items
How do I make a Document Delivery request?
Once you have identified the item(s) you require, you can, using the links below, submit your requests electronically or print out and complete a paper request form.
- Document delivery form
- Document Delivery form [pdf] - print off the form and complete.
The standard fee for this service is £2.50 per request
Prior to submitting a request you must search for the item on SOLAR to ensure that it is not already held in library stock. We cannot obtain material via the document delivery service if it is held as part of our collection.
If you submit a request for an item we hold in stock we will not order the item, but you will still be charged a request fee.
You can submit completed paper request forms at any library desk, where you will also submit the appropriate fee at this time.
When you submit an online form you will be given payment options.
Please be aware that the fee is non-refundable and is not transferable.
What is the charge for this service?
The £2.50 charge goes towards the administrative costs for a standard request, it is non-refundable and non-transferable. The real cost of lending is heavily subsidised by The Library as the following table illustrates.
| Supplier / Service | User pays | We pay |
|---|---|---|
| British Library Document Supply Centre Standard request - article (photocopy) | £2.50 | £7.75 |
| British Library Document Supply Centre Standard request – article (Secure Electronic Delivery, SED) | £2.50 | £6.25 + VAT |
| Standard request - loan | £2.50 | £11.60 |
| UK theses from non-EThOS participating institutions | £2.50 | No fixed charge |
| World-wide search | £10.00 | £50.00 |
| Proquest-UMI US/Canadian thesis | £20.00 | £24.00* |
| Application for loan renewal | £2.50 | £4.30 |
* minimum charge
College payment for Document Delivery requests
Researchers and members of University staff may be able to have their document delivery request charges paid by their College.
This is totally at the discretion of your College and you must obtain their approval by applying to the relevant contact below, prior to submitting requests:
- College of Arts and Social Sciences – Contact your Head of School
- College of Health and Social Care - Contact your Finance Officer – Jackie Seddon for School of Health Sciences, Clair Millen for School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work
- College of Science and Technology - Contact the College of Science and Technology Finance Office, Maxwell Room 725 or email finance-cst@salford.ac.uk
If your application for funding is successful, your College will email The Library to confirm they have agreed to fund your requests. Once we receive this confirmation we will email you a relevant number of Pre-paid codes, one for each request.
You can then place your requests and should:
- Complete all relevant fields on the request form.
- Remember to tick the box to indicate your school has agreed to pay the fee and add one of the Pre-paid codes we have allocated to you in the relevant field. If you are submitting a paper request form, please write the code on the top of the form.
- Submit the online request form in the usual way using the Submit option.
How soon will my request arrive?
It is essential that you plan your work in advance and that you allow The Library sufficient time to obtain the item that you require. Although many items arrive fairly quickly a minimum period of three weeks is advisable. Unfortunately, we can not guarantee that your request will be successful or that you will receive a response from a supplier within a particular time scale.
How do I complete the Document Delivery form?
In order to get the best from the Document Delivery service, it is essential that you give as many details as possible and complete the Document Delivery form legibly and comprehensively.
Follow this checklist:
- Ensure that your name, address and borrower number (starting with P...) are filled in on the form
- Indicate on the form whether the item you require is a book, journal article, thesis or conference paper
- The author, title and ISBN (where applicable) are essential for books, theses and conference papers. For journal requests the journal title, author(s),volume, part and page numbers are essential. It is also helpful to have the date of publication and the article title.
- If you are requesting a thesis, please ensure that you provide the year, Institution and type of award, ie, Masters or PhD.
Any requests that lack essential information will be returned to you prior to processing.
Is there other information I should be aware of?
Journal article requests
If the requested item is available electronically from the British Library, it will be delivered in electronic format as an Adobe PDF to your email account. If it cannot be provided electronically then a paper copy will be supplied which is yours to keep. However, if you request more than one article from a single issue, this contravenes copyright regulations and our supplier, the British Library, will be unable to supply photocopies of the articles. Instead, the whole journal issue is sent to us as a reference-only item for you to use in the library.
If you wish to request more than one article from a single issue, you should simply submit one request card noting the journal title, volume and issue number and the date of publication. You should then add 'whole issue' in the field for page numbers.
It should be noted that we have to abide by the rules and regulations of the British Library. For example, the British Library operates a six month loan ban on all journal titles. This means that British Library will not supply a journal until it is six months old.
Book requests
For loan material such as books and conference papers, you will be advised by letter of its arrival and you must collect it from the site specified on the letter.
Whole issues of journals, microfilm, microfiche and theses cannot to be taken out of the library. These will be issued to you on the understanding that they are not removed from the library site.
How long can I have Document Delivery books for?
The British Library's usual loan period is six weeks
Can I renew my Document Delivery loan?
Renewals are only permitted in special circumstances. You must pay a £2.50 charge before the renewal application will be processed and if you require a renewal, please apply before the item's due date. Unfortunately we cannot guarantee that The British Library will approve the renewal. The £2.50 charge will not be refunded if the application for renewal is unsuccessful.
Where do I return Document Delivery books?
Return the books to the library Enquiry Desk from which you received them. You remain responsible for the items until they are discharged from your record.
Please note: all Document Delivery items should be returned to a library Enquiry Desk and must not be returned via Self Service return bins. The books should also be returned to the library site from which the material was requested and collected.
SED - Secure Electronic Delivery
How does it work?
Where possible, we will provide an electronic version of the Journal article you request using the Secure Electronic Delivery (SED) service from the British Library.
The Document Delivery request form requires you to provide an email address.
If the requested item is available electronically from the British Library, it will be delivered in electronic format as an Adobe PDF to your email account. If it cannot be provided electronically then a paper copy will be supplied as standard.
Important points to consider
We will supply the British Library with the email address you provide on the Document Delivery request form and when an SED document is ready for you to download, you will receive an email notification to this address containing a web link to the requested material.
Before clicking on the link
- Once the email notification arrives, you will have 14 days to view the material.
After this time the link will no longer be live and you will be unable to access the document. - Due to copyright regulations, only one copy of the SED document can be printed and this must be done the first time the document is opened.
- The document cannot be saved electronically.
- You can forward the email notification before you open the link but once opened, you will only be able to view the material on that specific PC.
- If you do not view the material within 14 days of receipt, you will have to request the item again via the Document Delivery Service and pay the standard fee of £2.50, as the British Library will charge the library each time an order is placed in this way.
Before printing the document
- Ensure that printing is available from your PC before opening the document.
- If using library computing facilities, check your printer credit balance before opening the document.
Viewing the document
To read your document you will need Adobe Reader version 4 or above with the FileOpen plug-in installed. You can get the plug-in by visiting http://plugin.fileopen.com.
You can download a test document, to check that you can receive FileOpen documents.
Fines
Document Delivery items must be returned to the library Enquiry Desk from which you received it. Please note, you remain responsible for the item until it is discharged from your record.
Fines for late returns
Please note that in the event of the late return of such material you will be charged a fine at the rate of 50p per day that the item is overdue. Therefore, it is important to remember the date that the item is due back.
The late return of an item will lead to an invoice being raised by The British Library for the set amount of £133.50. If an item is returned after an invoice has been raised, British Library will still impose an administration fee in the region of £60. All such charges will be passed to you, the requesting library user.
Renewals must be applied for before the due date (£2.50 per application).
British Library EThOS service and requesting theses
The British Library (BL) no longer provides an inter-library loan service for theses and will no longer provide theses material in microfilm. If the item you wish to obtain is a UK thesis, you MUST check the BL Electronic Theses Online System (EThOS) prior to submitting the request to Library Services. BL hope to eventually offer a one-stop electronic shop for all UK theses and EThOS aims to make the majority of UK doctoral theses available, free of charge to end-users through a single web interface.
Launched in January 2009, EThOS offers free access to the full text of UK doctoral theses stored electronically by BL, from items held at participating institutions. An online ordering facility is also in place on the EThOS website for theses held at participating institutions, which are not as yet available in digital format.
The dedicated BL webpage for the EThOS service is http://ethos.bl.uk. Universities participating in the EThOS scheme will no longer supply thesis material to other institutions but will advise that the item is available via the BL scheme. As the item you wish to obtain may be available for immediate download, EThOS can provide instant, free access to requested material.
Please be aware that we cannot give refunds for theses requests submitted that are subsequently found to be available via EThOS.
Theses exceptions
A list of participating institutions can be found on the EThOS webpage. In the event that the holding university of a requested thesis is not part of the EThOS scheme, requests can then be submitted to The Library and the Document Delivery team will apply directly to the home institution in an effort to obtain the item. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to satisfy such requests as the holding institution may decline to loan.
For University of Salford requests for theses from overseas institutions, The Library's Document Delivery team will endeavour to obtain such items by applying direct to the holding university. Similarly, we may try to obtain North American material via a company called Proquest. Again, we cannot guarantee the success of such requests and depending on charges levied by supplying institutions.