Electronic document supply: experience at the British Library

In recent years there has been an increasing move towards publishing in electronic format, sometimes as facsimiles of paper originals and sometimes “born digital”. For anyone concerned with publishing and document supply, whether as a supplier or customer, this trend cannot be ignored. The British Library ran a wide programme of projects (“Initiatives for Access”) to develop an understanding of how digital technologies might be used to support and enhance its operations and some of those particularly relevant to document supply are described. These projects were valuable in highlighting many of the issues to be considered in the use of electronic documents in document supply and an overview of these is given from four perspectives, namely business management, operational, technical and customer. Finally, the library’s current “Digital Library” programme is mentioned, together with two recent additions to the library’s remote service operations: Ariel® for electronic delivery and an integrated electronic journal store.