Course Instruction Scanning Service

FAQs

Where do I go to manage my course instruction scan requests?

The Course Instruction Scanning service is managed by staff in the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) office. You can create, download, cancel, resubmit, and check the status of your requests from inside Your ILL Account

Course Instruction Scan requests in your ILL account may be in one of the below statuses:

• Available for Download – your requested scan has arrived and can be downloaded from your ILL account.
• Awaiting Patron Email Reply – ILL staff have sent you an email with a question about your request. Please check your email and respond.
• In Process – your request has been received and is being processed by Interlibrary Loan staff.
• Request Finished – this request is complete.

What do the scans look like?

Scans of UW print journal content are in PDF format and 200-300 dpi and black and white or grayscale. These PDFs may be downloads of “born digital” documents or scans from print volumes. Scans will be a good representation of what the page looks like, and will usually include optical character recognition (OCR). Scans may also include some of the flaws that are present in the original volume including the curvature of the page as the volume is opened, gutter shadows, and hints of text that shows through from the back side of a page. You may even see an occasional scanned image of someone’s hand holding the original as flat as possible to get a good scan. Libraries staff do their best to minimize flaws and give you the best scan possible, but scans will never looks as good as a “born digital” document.

Our scans are primarily intended for research, not reproduction, publication, or archiving.

May I share the PDFs I receive with colleagues?

• It is sometimes OK to share your scanned item with UW colleagues for instructional or research needs.
• It is often OK to make a small number of print copies to share with non-UW colleagues.
• It is almost never OK to post your scanned item on a publicly accessible website or to sell or redistribute its content.
• For more information, see the Step-by-Step Guide to Copyright Compliance.

How many requests can I make at a time?

You can have up to 100 active ILL requests at a given time. Scan requests are active from the time they are placed until 30 days after the scan is delivered, or until you delete the article from your account, whichever is sooner.

Why was my Course Instruction Scan request cancelled?

ILL staff do their best to fill all Course Instruction Scan requests. Sometimes, unfortunately, we have to cancel a request. Visit our Reasons for Cancellation page to learn more about the most common reasons for cancellation and some possible next steps.

What are the copyright restrictions for Course Instruction Scan items?

Interlibrary Borrowing items are covered by United States copyright law (Title 17. United States Code.), which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy/reproduction is not to be “USED FOR ANY PURPOSES OTHER THAN PRIVATE STUDY, SCHOLARSHIP, or RESEARCH.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes IN EXCESS of fair use, that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.

For more information, see the Step-by-Step Guide to Copyright Compliance.

Are there limits on how much material I can have scanned for course instruction?

Copyright will usually allow us to scan one book chapter or one article per journal issue. These limits apply per person rather than per request.