Harvard students will not have to rely on Google to read library books from the comfort of their rooms in the warm glow of their laptops, thanks to a new, free program which Harvard University Library (HUL) hopes to introduce this spring. HUL’s “Scan and Deliver” program will assure that students no longer have to battle their way through Cambridge snow to Widener Library to request that obscure book needed for a paper that, unfortunately, sits in the off-campus depository. Scan and Deliver represents a great step in making HUL’s holdings more accessible and modernized. After its implementation, students will hopefully be able to access digitalized book excerpts from the University’s massive library collections.

HUL’s collections are extensive to the point that many students cannot conceive of their magnitude. This new program will ideally work to open up resources that have been under-utilized in the purgatory of the Depository. Students’ ability to request excerpts from a book and then receive it after two business days from their computers represents a step forward in such accessibility. Removing delivery trucks from the equation also means that books might be accessible well before the stated wait of two business days, depending on how quickly a library can upload the work.

Scan and Deliver demonstrates a willingness on the part of HUL to utilize technology to the Harvard community. The Electronic Document Delivery (EDD) project website acknowledges that this innovation has been requested by library users for years. HUL has clearly listened; it has answered such requests comprehensively. Students will be able to request up to five books per day. The limit of 30 pages per work might cause some difficulties for students writing longer papers needing citations from multiple works, but additional materials can be requested the following day, and this realistically should not pose a major problem.

Alhough the EDD does not specifically address the issue, it seems likely that Scan and Deliver will also eliminate queues of students waiting for someone to finish using a book. As that student will have the scan of his part of the book, presumably as many students as wish to use the book will be able to obtain their own scans as well. Some fragile books or books so old that they might be damaged by the uploading process will not be available, but these books would not be easily available under the old system either. Those books that face growing damage or wear problems, on the other hand, will actually be preserved by the system as the books will remain in the care of the libraries.

Even though this program will not go into effect until this spring, its announcement this fall is fitting given the University’s recent focus on sustainability. The transportation toll on resources and the environment will no longer be issue. Other small impacts will also become evident, such as a decrease in the amount of plastic bags required by HUL to distribute to students transporting hard copies of books.

Scan and Deliver represents a positive step forward by HUL both in modernization and in recognizing students’ concerns. It also shows a responsible and timely concern for the environment. However, one unfortunate limitation to the program remains: files of the scanned copies of books will not be stored for future use because of copyright constrictions. Such copies would have meant that future requests for books would gradually become near-instantaneous, while ensuring the preservation of the books in HUL’s archives should the hard copy be destroyed. We hope that HUL will push for even greater access moving forward.