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Electronic Document Delivery
Frequently Asked Questions
Below you'll find a series of frequently asked questions about the document delivery service. If there is additional information you'd like about document delivery, please feel free to contact the ILL office.
- What is Electronic Document Delivery (EDD)?
- How does EDD work?
- Should I worry about copyright usage guidelines?
- Do my documents really get delivered to me faster?
- Why do I need Acrobat Reader?
- How long will it take to download my material?
- How do I find my NetID?
- What do I do if I have trouble accessing my document?
- Why are some of the pages in my articles upside-down or sideways?
- How come the pages in my article are blank, included twice or in the wrong order?
- What should I do with an invoice or bill included in my document?
- What should I do if some of the pages in my article are missing or illegible?
- Do I have to check my email account to access my articles?
- Can I get back an article that I accidentally deleted?
- How do I make sure that my articles won't be lost after 30 days if I go out of town?
- Is there a limit on the number of articles I can request?
- Why does an error message display when I load a document in Acrobat Reader?
- Which browser do you recommend?
- Why does my document display as a blank white page when I try to open it from Netscape Navigator?
- Why am I having trouble viewing my documents when using Internet Explorer?
- How do I sign up for Electronic Document Delivery?
1. What is Electronic
Document Delivery (EDD)? 
Articles requested through Document Delivery/Interlibrary Loan can be made available over the World Wide Web in Portable Document Format (PDF). As a result, these articles can be viewed from practically any computer that is connected to the Internet using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Individuals who request articles through Interlibrary Loan will be notified by email when their requests arrive. This email message will contain instructions about how to view your documents. These articles can be viewed using the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.
3. Should I
worry about copyright usage
guidelines?
Copyright usage guidelines apply equally to printed and electronic versions of copyrighted material. A copyright restriction statement is included on the login page. Use of this service implies your willingness to observe copyright restriction.
4. Do my documents
really get delivered to me faster?
While the actual process of acquiring your document remains relatively the same, the material can be in your hands much faster when it's delivered electronically. If you would normally go to the Homer Babbidge Library or your Regional Campus Library to pick up your requested material, consider how much time you'd save by not driving to campus, finding a parking spot and walking to the library.
5. Why do I need
Acrobat Reader?
Acrobat Reader (from Adobe) is a very popular, widely available, and free PDF viewer. In fact, Adobe is the company who created the PDF (portable document file) standard. While there may be other programs capable of reading PDF files, Acrobat in particular is a very robust and stable application with many user-oriented enhancements. For example, owing to the nature of document scanning and delivery, there may be instances where a page may be upside-down and rather difficult to read. Acrobat allows you to rotate the file as necessary for proper viewing. Additionally, it will allow you to zoom in or pan out when viewing a page if you need to adjust the size of the image.
If you don't already have the latest version of Acrobat Reader, be sure to visit the Adobe website and obtain a copy appropriate for your operating environment (PC or Mac).
If you need details about configuring the Acrobat Reader for different platforms and browsers, the Adobe website offers extensive technical support information.
6. How long
will it take to download my material?
This will vary depending on the type of connection to the Internet you are using and the size of the file. Generally speaking, the faster types of connections are those using the University network (university offices, residence halls, computing centers, etc.), broadband cable, or DSL (digital subscription line). Downloading a file using these connections takes a very short amount of time--perhaps only a matter of seconds. Dial-up access using a modem, however, is the slowest method. Below you'll find some approximate times based on using a 56K modem:
- Article = 3 pages, approximately 5 minutes*
- Article = 10 pages, approximately 15 minutes*
- Article = 50 pages, approximately 30 minutes*
- *It is very difficult to anticipate how large a file will be based on the number of pages in the article. This is highly dependent on the scanning resolution the sending institution uses, as well as the content itself. An article with graphics and pictures tends to create larger files compared to another article of the same length, comprised mainly of text. Even then, the density of text per page (two-column vs. single-column ) can affect the overall file size of a given document.
You can find out your NetID and create a password for it here.
Your NetID and password will allow you to access your PDF articles. Anytime you want to access your article(s), you can simply log on with your NetID and password at the DD-ILL home page and select View Pending Request and PDFs.
8. What do I do
if I have trouble accessing my document?
If you are having trouble downloading or viewing your document, please check the following items before attempting to access your document an additional time:
- Be sure that you have the most recent version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, as well as the appropriate plug-in for your browser. The plug-in is typically installed automatically when you install the reader. If you do not have either the reader or the plug-in installed, you will need to access the Adobe website to obtain the version appropriate for your computer (PC or Mac).
- Verify that you have enough free space available on your hard drive to store the document. The document size is shown in the document list on the server.
- Double-check that the file association for the PDF file type is set to "Acrobat." If not, you'll need to reset the association so that your system will open the document using Adobe Acrobat.
If you are still unable to access your document, please contact the ILL office (860-486-4959) immediately so we can help.
9. Why are some of the
pages in my articles upside-down or sideways?
When lending libraries copy journal articles using a scanner, they sometimes scan some of the pages in upside-down. If the journal is small enough that two pages can fit onto one 8.5x11 page, the article may be scanned in "sideways."
If you are trying to read an article that has upside-down or sideways pages, you can print the article and re-organize the pages. You can also read the article in Acrobat Reader using the latest version. This version has buttons on the Acrobat Reader toolbar which allow you to rotate the pages on the screen.
If any of the pages in your article have sections or pages missing or illegible text, please contact the ILL Office (860-486-4959) immediately with the name of the article so that we can re-order the missing pages.
10. Why are some of the
pages in my article blank, included twice or in the wrong
order?
If there are detailed illustrations in your article, the lending library will usually scan those pages in twice; once for the text, and once with a special setting to make the illustrations clear. Also, lending libraries sometimes make mistakes when scanning articles, and some pages may be included twice or located in the wrong place, such as at the end of the article or as a separate document. Please check through the document to make sure that all of the pages are included. If there are missing or illegible pages, please contact the ILL Office (860-486-4959) immediately with the document's reference number so that we can re-order the missing or illegible pages.
11. What should I do
with an invoice or bill included in my
document?
If a bill, invoice or reference to a charge is included in the pages of your document, please disregard it.
12. What should I do if
some of the pages in my article are missing or
illegible?
Please check through the document to make sure that all of the pages are included. Some pages may be included out of order, or at the end of the article. If there are missing or illegible pages, please contact the ILL Office (860-486-4959) immediately with the document's reference number so that we can re-order the missing or illegible pages.
13. Do I have to check
my email account to access my articles?
You access your documents by logging in with your NetID and password on the DD-ILL home page. However, you will still receive a notification email each time you receive a new article from Interlibrary Loan.
14. Can I get back an
article that I accidentally deleted?
You must contact the ILL Office (860-486-4959) with the reference number of the document/article. The department is open Monday through Friday from 8-5.
15. How do I make sure
that my articles won't be lost after 30 days if I go out of
town?
You can request that the article(s) to be sent to a different recipient or email account so that they can be retrieved and printed within the 30 day period, or you can view and print your articles while out of town by logging in with your NetID and password on the DD-ILL home page.
You can also contact the ILL Office (860-486-4959) and ask that the article(s) be held for you at the Library.
16. Is there a limit on
the number of articles I can request?
There is no limit on the number of articles you can request. Please remember that the documents in your account will be deleted 30 days after you are notified. This means that the document will be removed 30 days after a notification email is sent to you, not 30 days after you first view the document. If you no longer need an article, you can delete it manually by pressing the "delete" button. If you find that you will need to use the document longer than 30 days, be sure to save the PDF locally before deleting it.
17. Why does an error
message display when I load a document in Acrobat
Reader?
Please contact the ILL Office (860-486-4959) with the text of the error message and the document's reference number. We would like to know of any errors you encounter while using the electronic document delivery service. If your document then displays as a blank page, please see "My document displays as a blank white page when I try to open it from Netscape Navigator" directly below.
18. Which Browser
do you recommend?
We recommend either Netscape Navigator version 6.0 or greater or Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or greater. Both are available for Windows 3.x, Windows 95 or NT, and Macintosh O/S operating systems. We do not recommend using AOL. We have had several problems with AOL's ability to download and view PDF files.
This results from certain settings in Netscape Navigator and Acrobat Reader. If you are able to modify the settings in Acrobat on your computer, please try the following:
1. Close Netscape Navigator.
2. Start your Acrobat
Reader.
3. From the File menu, choose Preferences >
General.
4. Uncheck the checkbox "Web Browser Integration" in the
Options section and then click OK.
5. Exit from the Acrobat viewer.
6. Restart Netscape Navigator and try accessing your
document(s) again.
Another solution is to try using Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later.
20. Why am I having trouble
viewing my documents when using Internet
Explorer?
If you are using Internet Explorer and are having problems viewing documents, consult the Internet Explorer fix at Q262213 Error Message "Error Locating Object Handler" When Downloading a .pdf File or try using the Netscape browser.
21. How do I sign up for Electronic
Document Delivery?
The UConn Libraries Document Delivery / Interlibrary Loan Office provides desktop electronic delivery of articles via scanned PDF files!
If you wish to have articles delivered directly to your desktop, the ILL Office recommends you meet certain technical requirements. If you qualify, please see the test file instructions below on how to download and print the test file.
21.
Recommended Technical Requirements
- Hardware
- PC: Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, 8 Mb of RAM minimum (16 Mb recommended), 100 Mb available space on hard drive
- Macintosh: System 7.1 or higher, 8 Mb of RAM minimum (16 Mb recommended), 80 Mb available space on hard drive
- Valid Email Account
- Adobe Acrobat Reader: can be downloaded at no charge. See above link to Adobe download page.
- Netscape or Internet Explorer: version 6.0 or higher
- Laser Printer (recommended)
- Internet connection speed of at least 56k bps via modem (best: cable/modem or higher)
If you meet the technical requirements, try downloading and printing a test document.
- Click on this link to retrieve the test document.
- After retrieving the document, make sure you can print it.
Upon successful printing of the test file, follow the directions below to modify your profile to reflect your desire to participate in Electronic Document Delivery as the delivery option for any document request submitted.
Log in with your NetID and password on the DD-ILL home page and choose your request form from the menu. Select Electronic Document Delivery as your Delivery Method.
Remember: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Articles delivered in PDF format are for your own personal use only.
Contact the DD/ILL Office (860-486-4959) if you have questions or experience difficulties.
This page is maintained by Joseph Natale