British Library Readers Group

SELF-HELP DIGITAL SCANNER PILOT IN THE RARE BOOKS & MUSIC READING ROOM

We will be starting a pilot for self-help digital scanners in the Reading Rooms from Monday 14th July. This is new technology which will enable Readers to save a digital image of an item to a USB/memory stick. The pilot will initially consist of one scanner in the Rare Books & Music Reading Room; this will be trialled by Readers and staff and fully evaluated at the end of the pilot.

How is the self-help scanner different to a photocopier?
 It is an overhead scanner which has a book cradle for safe handling of fragile material
 Images will be available in colour
 It produces a double page scan, with a maximum scanning area of up to A2 size
 Images are formatted into JPEG files and saved to a USB/memory stick
 It is easy to use without prior training, with a display screen with instructions to provide information if needed
 It offers the ability to check images and re-scan before saving to the USB/memory stick (a maximum of three re-scans)
 It has an in-built electronic BL watermark which will be embedded in the images, ensuring copyright compliance
 Due to the book cradle and size of scanning area, it will open up more of the collection for copying

If the pilot is considered successful we may extend this service to other Reading Rooms when the leases for our current photocopiers expire.

Please email any comments or queries on this new service to sara.mihaljovic@bl.uk