Digitisation Service
Overview
Aberystwyth University holds a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), which allows library staff to digitise, or scan material for the purposes of academic teaching subject to copyright clearance, licence restrictions and cost centre funds. A summary of the licence can be found by visiting the CLA Licence webpage.
The Library provides the digitisation service through the online reading list system, Aspire. Working within copyright regulations, chapters from books and articles from journals can be scanned and the digitised version linked directly to the relevant Aspire reading list. The digitisation service uses the CLA’s Digital Content Store to check copyright compliancy and deliver digitised extracts as links for students to access as a PDF document.
Library staff ensure compliance by:
- checking for any copyright restrictions
- creating professional and high quality scanned extracts
- uploading links directly to the module reading list on Aspire
- keeping records and reports as stipulated by the licence
Benefits - why digitise material for reading lists?
Digitising material has many benefits. Making items more widely available in this way means…
- all students on a module can access the item/s outside library hours – 24/7
- distance learners and other off-campus users can access items from wherever they are
- the pressure on loan stock is reduced
- problems of missing/mislaid items are reduced
- library resources more effectively meet the needs of your students
- we can be sure that we adhere to the CLA scanning licence conditions - copyright infringement could potentially mean the loss of the licence, penalties and costs
- encouraging students to read more widely
- making materials which are currently only available in print available to a larger number of students
Digitising chapters from print books in the library
A chapter digitisation service has been introduced. More information on this service and the request form is available at https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/is/library-services/digitisation/chapterdigitisation/