Frequently Asked Questions
Access questions
1. Can I email my students links to digital readings?
A. No. Access can only be made available through a secure site restricted to members of the UniSA community, for example UniSAnet.
2. How do I access the readings once they have been digitised?
A. Once the readings have been digitised they are accessible via the Library catalogue – only staff and students can access the readings, as you must use an authorised login and password. Click on the Access: link on the catalogue record, enter your login details. Access is also available via your UniSAinfo course page under the course eReader link.
Interlibrary loan questions
3. I have requested an Interlibrary Loan for the purpose of research or study and included it in my book of course readings. Can I now have this item digitised?
A. No. You cannot use the copy for any purpose other than your own personal research or study, which includes adding the copy to your book of course readings. You will need to request another copy for the purpose of inclusion in the Library collection to include in your book of course readings. The copy obtained for this purpose can be digitised providing that it meets digital copyright regulations.
Other questions
4. Will the service that the Digital Resource Service provides cost me anything?
A. There is no charge for having your reader digitised.
5. I haven't had my course reader printed before, what steps do I need to take to obtain a digital reader?
A. Information on how to request a reader to be digitised can be found on the Make a digitisation request page.
6. What if the readings for the course change? How do I get them updated?
A. If you only require the change for an online reader, send the hardcopies of new or changed readings to the Digital Resource Service with details of the change required, for example replacement for reading number 4. If you require the change for a print and online reader, you will need to submit your change request to Document Services and also notify the Digital Resource Service.
7. Can I scan my own readings and email them to the Digital Resource Service for digitising?
A. The Senior Management Group has decided that it is essential that all items digitised and made available to student or staff of the University be recorded in the Library catalogue. It is desirable that all digitisation under the new CAL license be carried out either by the Digital Resource Service or by Document Services. This will allow an accurate record to be kept of what is being digitised by the University and will ensure that the University will not be charged excessive royalties. It also protects the University against prosecution for copyright infringements.
The Library will accept scanned material for inclusion in its electronic collections. However, experience to date is that copies supplied via the Document Services unit are consistently of better quality than those resulting from local scanning. Documents Services has the equipment and expertise to provide the best quality digital copies possible. Their normal process to produce print masters includes clean up of copies and this process is extended to scanning for the Digital Resource Service.
8. What information is required before digitisation can occur?
A. Name of the course and reading details, along with your contact details and a time frame of when the job needs to be completed.
If it's a journal we require the title of the journal, the issue that the article comes from, the name of the article, the page numbers and the author, and ISSN if known.
If the reading comes from a book we require the title of the book, the author or editor, publication date and place, ISBN if known, chapter number and title if applicable.
9. I want to have my reader burnt to cdrom for external or offshore students. What do I need to do?
A. If the readings are the same as your print reader, provide the Digital Resource Service with the reading list and the Digital Resource Service will check for digital copyright compliance. If the reading list is new, then you will need to provide a hard copy of each reading to the Digital Resource Service with your reading list. When you have received notification that your reader conforms to digital copyright regulations you need submit the cdrom request to Document Services. If you include your Document Services order form, we will forward the entire packet to Document Services when it is cleared.
10. How long does it take?
This can depend on a range of factors. Long lists take while to process, as do lists with many copyright problems. The beginning of Study Period 2 and 5 reading lists take longer to process due to increased demand.
On average it take 1 week to process a reading list, urgent readers can be processed within 2 working days. However where individual readings need to be sourced from outside the Library, they are not included within this timeframe.