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Document Supply Service

Document Supply Service for the academic community.

British Library secure electronic delivery service

Many items requested from the British Library can be supplied via their secure electronic delivery service. This means that you do not need to come to the library to collect your document; it can be accessed wherever you are in the world. After you have completed the initial set-up process (explained below), you will need to enter your British Library on Demand username and password each time you wish to access your document.

Initial steps
You must register with the British Library's on Demand service: https://ondemand.bl.uk/onDemand/home (use the 'Register' link at the top right). 

  • You will also need to ensure that you have Adobe Acrobat 10 or later installed on your machine. This can be downloaded from Adobe here.

Receiving your document

  • If your document is available via secure electronic delivery, we will email you a copyright declaration form. You must sign and return this form to us (by email or in person).
  • When we have received your signed copyright declaration, the download link for your document will be emailed to you.
    • Please note that some browsers (such as Google Chrome) will try to open this link using their default PDF readers, which will fail. If this happens to you, please either disable your browser's default PDF viewer, or save the document to your PC and open it in Adobe Acrobat. 
  • On opening the document, you will be asked for a username and password. These will be your British Library on Demand credentials. 
  • The document can be accessed via the secure link for a limited period of time, so we recommend that you download it as soon as possible. Once it has been downloaded to your own PC, you will be able to print it once and access the electronic document for three years. The making of any further copies is not permitted.

If you have not downloaded the document within two days of its expiry date, it will be printed for you to collect from the Library desk in the Sammy Ofer Centre. Once your document has been printed, you will not be able to access it electronically.

Further assistance
We are always happy to help with any questions or troubleshooting. Please email us at document.supply@london.edu.