Digitisation service

Digitisations (also known as scans) are digital copies of a book or article. Usually, a scan is made from a print original and saved as a PDF. How much can be copied is strictly controlled by copyright limits.

Digitisations on ORLO Lists

To share a digitisation with a student cohort, list creators can request a scan to be uploaded to their ORLO lists. These requests will be checked to ensure they adhere to the Copyright Licensing Agency Higher Education (CLA Licence) regulations. One chapter/article or 10% of an item, whichever is greater, can be scanned for ORLO. Eligible requests will then be created and uploaded to ORLO by the Bodleian Libraries.

In rare circumstances, we may upload a digitisation to ORLO under a copyright exception or with the copyright owner’s permission. The University of Oxford endeavours to use reasonable care when it makes content available via ORLO, but that content may be affected by circumstances outside of the University's knowledge. View our take down policy (PDF) if you have any concerns about content made available on ORLO.

Personal digitisations

If you require a personal scan for your own research, please use the Scan and Deliver service. One chapter/article or 5% of an item, whichever is greater, can be scanned for personal use.