Introduction
Following the October 2023 cyberattack on the British Library, Universities were unable to place EHESS requests directly from the British Library for content which they did not own. As part of their recovery the British Library has now begun offering a modified version of their original service, and we have worked with them to provide a route for users to request material directly from within the Talis Aspire interface.
Do note that this is not a like-for-like replacement of our previous integration as the API route which that used remains unavailable. Differences include:
- Supply turnaround has increased from 48 hours to 4 days
- There is now a pre-approved copyright fee acceptance (up to £40 per extract)
- Orders may be cancelled up to 24 hours from being placed
Setting Up
Before you can place EHESS orders from within Talis Aspire, you'll need to switch on the option. In your digitisation area, navigate to the Admin area and select 'Settings'. Under the CLA tab you'll now see a new 'Enhanced Higher Education Supply Service' area:
You'll need to enable BL copyright fee pay ordering and outsourced scanning requests. You will also need to enter your BL account number and an email address for which requests can be sent on behalf of. We recommend this to be a shared email account.
Making a Request
Once it's set up, and when a relevant request - eg one that's been referred - is received, you'll see a 'Source request from British Library' option:
Selecting this will bring up a modal window with details of the item in question. You may also add any necessary additional notes before submitting your request. Once you send it, your chosen email address is cced into the request.
Your request will now contain an additional 'View EHESS order details' option under the Action menu. This will open another pop-up which shows other users the order status and can be used to update costs once these are confirmed:
Receiving the Document
Once the British Library has confirmed via email that your request can be fulfilled, you can update your request by selecting 'Acquired via British Library Copyright Fee Pay' in the 'Source Request' menu.
The scan you receive can then be uploaded in the normal way - see this support article for more details.
If you have any queries around the new British Library integration, please let us know via a support ticket by emailing support@talis.com .