We are working to a go-live date of 1 August 2024.
If your HEI uses the DCS, you will be able to place an order through the ‘order from EHESS’ button as usual. The CLA team will then liaise with the British Library to manage the order to closure or upload of scan. If you usually order directly from the British Library, please continue to do so. The team there will pick up and manage your order directly. If you normally order via Talis Aspire, please order place your EHESS requests by emailing the British Llibrary directly at E-Hess@bl.uk until further notice.
The copyright fee element of an EHESS fee is set by the publishers for their titles. There is an agreed default fee for any title where the publisher has not set a specific fee (currently £30 for a book chapter and £38 for a journal article). In the automated EHESS process, HEIs would see the fee before placing the order. In the more manual interim process, this won’t be possible. We aim to limit the number of email interactions by requiring HEIs to only place an order if they accept up to £45 for the copyright fee. This is close to the default fee and accounts for most current requests. If a fee is above £45, the British Library will inform the HEI, who can then take the decision to order at this price or not. We will monitor the service to ensure the pre-approved price cap serves a balance of control for HEIs and FEIs, and manageability for the British Library.
The British Library used to receive and manage the majority of orders via API, and had automated internal systems for almost all aspects of the service. These have not yet been rebuilt and so the management and processing of orders will be more manual. This naturally takes more time.
Since the British Library doesn’t yet have all digital systems running, the service will be provided in a more manual way. Key differences include:
  • An increased supply turnaround (from 48 hours to 4 days)
  • A pre-approved copyright fee acceptance of up to £45 per extract
  • A cancellation limit of 24 hours from placing an order (after which the order will be in process and so cancellation will not be possible)
  • This service currently applies to print material only, not digital sources