By Lauren Cummings, IALS Document Supply Supervisor

The Document Supply Service at IALS is a subscription-based service providing clean, accurate copies of published legal information from our collections. As one of the UK’s leading academic law libraries we have a wealth of UK and foreign legal information in our collections, which we can supply to law firms, government departments and other organisations. We are delighted to have received a Customer Relations Initiative Award from the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians, and always aim to provide the best possible customer service.

The document supply process begins when we receive an order – usually by email, but we can also take orders or enquiries by phone. We can supply copies of almost anything from our print collections (subject to copyright restrictions and the condition of the item, as some of our older material is quite delicate). As the Library has such a large and broad collection, this could be anything from a recent UK law report, to Caribbean legislation from the 19th century. One request even involved scouring through a volume written in Law French!

When the order has been received, fetched from the shelf and confirmed, our Library Assistant Mano or Graduate Trainee Shaun copies the item and enters the details into our transactions database. Then, it’s ready to go! We offer two services to meet our clients’ needs: Standard and Express. Standard service orders are sent in two batches depending on when the order is placed, one shortly before midday and one shortly before 4pm, while we aim to send off Express orders within an hour of confirming. Orders are invoiced after the end of the calendar month, and we can add order references or client matter codes if requested.

Members of staff at firms with a membership to the Document Supply Service are also able to come to the library to consult print material in person. Our newly refurbished library offers PCs, desk space, WiFi and printing and copying facilities, as well as a quiet, professional working environment. We can reserve books for you at the enquiry desk – just call or email us before your visit, and we’ll make sure it’s ready for you.

More information about the Document Supply Service is available on our website here , including application forms for any firms or organisations looking to join. Please feel free to send us an email at ds.ials@sas.ac.uk if you have any questions or suggestions. We’d love to hear from you!

Lauren Cummings  is the IALS Document Supply Supervisor.