You can search the database without logging in / registering. You
only need to log in / register when you want to order documents
or check earlier orders.
You must complete all fields
marked with an asterisk (*) when registering. All other fields are optional.
The password you enter will be case-sensitive. Make sure that
you keep your password details safe. If you forget your password,
contact British Library Direct
Helpdesk and we will send a password reminder to your registered
email address.
Enter the address to which you will want most of your items delivered.
When you need a document sent to a different postal or email address,
you can override your registered details during the order process.
Telephone number
If we encounter a problem with processing your order, we will
contact you by telephone. Please submit a landline number where
we can contact you during working hours.
Credit / debit card information
We do not ask for any credit or debit card information during
the registration process. You only need to enter credit / debit
card information when you are submitting your orders. This data
is sent directly to Netbanx, our credit card authorisation agent,
not to the British Library. This information is not stored by
us in any way and you will need to re-enter it each time you order.
Terms and Conditions
We cannot create your account
unless you agree that you have read and accepted our Terms and Conditions.
This agreement forms part of the process of registration.
Data Protection
We may occasionally want to email you about British Library products, services
and events. We will not disclose your details to any third party,
within the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998. The British Library's
privacy policy is available on our website.
Updating your registration details
If your contact, delivery or email address changes, or you want
to change your password, you can amend your registration details
by visiting the Login page and clicking Amend Details.
Database coverage
You can search contents page information for the British Library's
20,000 most popular journal titles, covering almost all subjects,
languages and places of publication. You can search the last five
years' worth of data using British Library Direct, around 9 million
records.
This is a subset of the
British Library's Inside database. You can browse the full list of titles
on the British
Library's Inside web pages.
How do I get access to more data or
functionality?
British Library Inside is a combined searching, ordering and account management
system to which you can subscribe. The complete Inside database
contains over 12 years' worth of contents page information from
over 20,000 top research journals, plus contents page data from
over 100,000 conferences - that's well over 20 million records.
Inside also contains a full account management system. A simple account supervisor
function lets you stay in control: your colleagues can search Inside
and place orders but you manage the budget. You can even mark your
local holdings so colleagues don't order something you already have.
Visit the British Library Inside web pages for subscription information.
Basic Search
The Basic Search is for quick and easy searching.
Type your keywords into the Search box. If you want to search
for a specific phrase, type it within double quotes, e.g. "document
supply". Keywords can be truncated by using '?' for a single character
and '$' for one or more characters, e.g. book$ would display results
for book, books, booking, bookbinding etc, whereas book? would
display results for book and books, but not booking etc.
Click on the Go button
and we will display all articles on the database containing all
of your keywords in date order, beginning with the most recent.
Click on the checkbox after "Limit search to items available
for immediate download" to search only for documents
that are held in electronic format and are therefore available
as Immediate downloads.
To buy a copy of any of the articles that your search has found,
you will need to log in or, if this is the first time you have ordered
through British Library Direct, register and create an account.
Advanced Search
If you want to search using your keyterms in a very precise way, you can click the link for Advanced Search, to the right of the search term field.
Advanced searching works in just the same way as the basic search,
except that you can specify exactly how and where British Library
Direct applies your keywords, ensuring that the records you find
are as suitable to your research as possible.
Type one keyword in each row and, if necessary, change the search
operator and search field for each keyword.
You can change the way in which your keywords are searched by
changing the search operators in the drop-down boxes to the left.
- AND - Default setting. Will display records containing
all of your keywords.
- OR - Displays all records containing one or more of your
keywords.
- NOT - Displays all records containing your
first keyword, but not those that also contain any subsequent
keywords.
You can use the drop-down boxes on the right to specify the exact
type of information from which you want British Library Direct
to find your keyword, e.g. search for Baker as an author
rather than as a word in the title. The default setting, Any
word, will search for the keyword across all fields.
If you want to create a search using more than three keywords, click the Add a Row button for as many additional keywords you need.
If you only want to search for the latest research within your
subject field, you can restrict your search to find only the records
added in the last 7 days, the last 30 days, the last 3 months
or the last 12 months, by choosing from the drop-down Date
Range list. The default setting is to search for all records
throughout the database, regardless of date.
The results of your search will be displayed in date order, beginning
with the most recent. Above your table of results you will see the
keywords you used for your search and the total number of matching
records.
No results
If you receive no results from your search, you could check the
spelling or try amending your search terms. Alternatively, if
the specific article you are looking for was published more than
5 years ago or is not a journal article, the item might not be
recorded in the British Library Direct database. If you have the
bibliographic details of an article you want, you can still send
your order to the British Library, using a Blank
Order Form, by following the links on screen. Please
note that the blank order form, which makes use of a service called
Articles Direct, has no shopping basket facility and your British
Library Direct registration details will not be transferred.
Navigating your results
Ten results will be displayed on each screen and you can move
between screens by clicking on the numbers at the top of the list.
Clicking 'previous' or 'more' will display a different range of
possible display screens. You can also click on the navigation
arrows 
or 
to go straight to your first or last page of results.
Immediate Download Icon
If you see this icon next to a record, it means that the journal
is stored in digital form and you will have the option of downloading
the document from an electronic store as soon as you have made payment.
Important information about Immediate Downloads and Electronic Delivery.
Abstract Icon
If you see this icon next to a record, it means that an abstract
summary of the document is available. If you hold your mouse cursor
over the icon, both on the list of search results and on the full
article details page, you can read the first 800 characters of
the abstract. This will only remain on screen as long as you hold
your cursor over the icon.
Full article details link
If you click on the article title in the record, you will go to
a page containing the full bibliographic data for the article, including
the copyright fee set by the publishers for this particular article.
On this page you can choose the speed of delivery and delivery
method. The service charges for each delivery option are given,
but remember that the copyright fee must be paid in addition to
this service charge as well as VAT if applicable. All charges
are made in Sterling (GBP).
If you don't want the document to be sent to the registered postal
or email address for your account, which will be displayed at the
bottom of the screen, follow the link to change the delivery address.
These changes will only be applied to this particular order, any
future orders will default to your registered details.
If you want to buy a copy of the document, choose the delivery
option you want to use and then click on Add to basket.
Your order will then be placed into your basket along with any other
documents you add.
Prices
In addition to the service charge, a copyright fee must also
be paid
(if you are performing non-commercial research in the UK, find out whether you qualify for a copyright fee exemption here)
along with VAT at 20% where applicable.
There are four levels of service: Immediate Download, Standard,
24-hour and 2-hour. Current charges for the different service
speeds are quoted beside the delivery options.
Immediate Downloads are always available, even on weekends and
holidays, because you download the electronic document directly
from our server, where it is stored, without our staff needing
to scan a copy for you. Once payment has been confirmed, you will
find a link to your electronic document in your list of Confirmed
Orders on the Orders page.
A copyright fee must be paid for each article delivered as an Immediate
Download.
Remember, before you pay for and attempt to download any electronic
document, please make sure that you have Adobe Reader correctly
installed and set up. You can only download the document once,
so ensure you do not click on the link before you are ready to
download the file.
Unlike Immediate Downloads, which are stored in electronic format
ready for instant download, our staff will make a high-quality digitally
scanned copy of the document you need. You can then download this
document from our secure server any time that suits you.
Once the document has been scanned, we will send you an email
containing the hyperlink(s) to your document(s). This email will
tell you how many pages are in the article and how big the file
is, so you can make an informed decision as to when to start the
download. You must, however, download the document within 14 days
from when we send you this email. Because the PDF files are not
attached to the email, there is nothing to interfere with firewalls
or clog up your inbox.
Remember, before you pay for and attempt to download any electronic
document, please make sure that you have Adobe Reader correctly
installed and set up (see above).
When you are ready to send your orders to the British Library,
click on the Basket link at the top of the page and you
will go to a page listing all of the documents that you have added
to your basket, including information about the delivery method
you chose and prices. At the bottom of the page, you will find a
total price for your order, including the Copyright Fee and VAT.
NetBanx sends you a unique reference number by email for each transaction.
Use this number in any communications about your payment. The British
Library does not receive your credit card details.
If you have logged in, you can find a list of all of your confirmed
orders, displayed in date order, by clicking Orders on
any page. On the Orders page you will find information
about the status of each of your orders: whether it has been supplied,
is still in process or is not available.
If you have asked for a document to be supplied as an Immediate
Download, it is on this page that the link will appear once your
payment has been processed. When you are ready to download your
file, visit this page and click on the link. Remember that you can
only download each file once.
Ten results will be displayed on each screen and you can move
between screens by clicking on the numbers at the top of the list.
Clicking 'previous' or 'more' will display a different range of
possible display screens. You can also click on the navigation
arrows
or
to go straight to your first or last page of results.
