Be more efficient and environmentally friendly when using On Demand

Laptop with hand

By switching from paper to digital deliveries when receiving your British Library On Demand documents you will not only receive your items more promptly, but you will be more environmentally friendly.

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Digital delivery allows the same access to materials while using software that doesn’t require plug-ins. This has been shown to make the user experience much more friendly and efficient.

Our recommended digital delivery format DRM Lite allows users to download content without installing third party software. Documents may be accessed for up to three years on multiple devices including laptops, tablets and smartphones offering a fully mobile delivery solution.

Moving away from paper deliveries will also allow the British Library to continue to improve its social responsibility and minimize environmental impact by reducing the amount of paper and plastic packaging currently used with postal delivery. The British Library is continuously looking at ways to be more environmentally friendly and we will provide updates as we make improvements.

To request digital delivery of articles, select the relevant delivery method via the On Demand screens or replace the PHOTO code with SED99 when using ARTEmail.

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you require any further assistance or more information regarding these changes. 


Case studies

…Working with the British Library has been the best co-operative development I’ve ever experienced…

Jennifer Perkins from Clio tells us why her customers have seen a 75% reduction in failed requests since they integrated their Interlibrary Loans software with British Library On Demand

…British Library On Demand is a major pillar in our strategy, without it we couldn’t provide the service we do…

For the University of Sheffield, British Library On Demand does more than just supply articles. Their relationship with the British Library enables them to come good on their core promise to students and researchers.

News stories

RMS collection embargo

8 March 2022

We're enhancing our storage facilities in Boston Spa and some of our collections are being moved to enable this work. As a result, some of the items you requested might not be available while they're being moved.