Interlending articles and book chapters may be delivered electronically using the British Library's secure electronic delivery service.
Place your request as normal and if it's available from the British Library, it will be sent to you as an encrypted PDF using a service called DRM Lite.
The document that you receive is linked to a person rather than a device - it can be viewed on any machine, including mobile devices.
There is no need to install additional software other than Adobe Reader.
Before you can receive British Library Interlending documents, you need to:
To register:
There's a 15 minute delay between registration and the account becoming active, so if you can't access your document the first time, try again a bit later.
Because the PDF document you'll be sent is encrypted, it can only be opened using Adobe Reader.
Reader is installed on managed PCs in classrooms and offices on campus.
If you don't have Reader, you can download and install it for free from the Adobe website:
A link to the document download page will be sent to you by email.
Help
If you're having any problems with the Interlending service, please send us a message using LibAnswers.
Once you've opened your document, you can save multiple copies of the document to different devices and can print one copy.
The PDF is encrypted so it's not possible to add notes or comments.
Only Interlending items which are available from the British Library can be sent via this delivery method.
Electronic delivery of whole books is not possible due to copyright restrictions (though one chapter of a book can be delivered electronically).
If we're unable to send your document to you electronically, we'll supply with you a paper copy.
A link to the document download page will be sent to you by email.
Once you Click to download your document you will prompted to login.
Some mobile devices may require you to go to the 'downloads' notification before you are prompted to login.
You may print only one paper copy, from which you may not make any further copies.
You may not make further electronic copies or convert the file into any other format. You may not cut and paste or otherwise alter the text.
Once the document has been downloaded, only the British Library On Demand user who downloaded it may access it.
However, download links may be forwarded to another email address if the document is not yet associated with a British Library On Demand account.
Are you online?
Online access to the Internet is needed every time you open the document.
Are you using Adobe Reader as your PDF viewer?
If your browser's default PDF viewer is not Adobe Reader, it will need disabling before documents can be read.
Google Chrome's viewer can be disabled:
Chrome users may avoid this step by using a different browser eg Firefox.
Are you using a compatible version of Adobe Reader?
Adobe Reader 10 or above is required on any device you use to view documents, including mobile devices.
Has a previous user locked you out by clicking 'Remember me on this computer'?
If so, go to Edit | Preferences | Security and click and confirm the ‘Clear remembered account information button, then retry the download link.
Has the download link expired?
The download link will remain live for 30 days from the date of the original email. If the download link has expired, the item will need reordering.
Unfortunately, British Library's DRM Lite service only works with Adobe Reader 10 or above, and documents will not open with any other PDF viewer.
The article is not automatically saved - you must click File | Save As and save it to your computer or filestore.
Once you've saved the document, you should have access to it for three years from the date of supply.
If file is not saved, access to it via the download link will end after 30 days and the item will need reordering.
If you have forgotten your British Library On Demand username or password, there are links to have reminders sent from the British Library On Demand login page.
If your password changes, use your new password to access saved documents. You may need to clear the remembered account information in Adobe Reader.
To ensure access for up to the three year expiry time, you will need to maintain FileOpen or Adobe Digital Editions on the machine the document was originally downloaded on.
Information about the old delivery method is available at: