We support instructors by scanning course related materials for inclusion in course sites on UVA Canvas and similar platforms. ISS also provides articles and book excerpts from electronic databases and e-books available through the library catalog (Virgo) when appropriate.
The services of Instructional scanning are intended to support learning, teaching, research, and scholarship and are offered only to University of Virginia graduate instructors, faculty, and staff. As is the case with all other Library services, patrons are expected to comply with copyright in their use of materials obtained through instructional scanning.
Criteria for requesting course scans:
- Materials are for instructional use.
- Material is less than 50 pages (1 page per 8.5 x 11 PDF scan) or 100 pages (2 pages per 8.5 x 11 PDF scan).
- Material qualifies as fair use under U.S. copyright law (Title 17, United States Code), or copyright permission has been obtained by the instructor.
Request process
To get a scan of a chapter or article from the Library’s collections for use on your course site (Collab, Canvas, etc.), make a request in Virgo. To use your personal materials for scanning, see the ‘Personal Copies’ section of the Course Reserves page.
Please contact 4leo@virginia.edu with questions.
Notice: Instructional Scanning will start processing PDF remediation requests on September 15th, 2025
Instructional Scanning, within the Access Services department, in accordance with the Title II digital accessibility mandate under the Americans with Disabilities Act and with Virginia law on digital accessibility, officially known as the Information Technology Access Act, will begin processing PDF remediation requests for course material based on WCAG 2.1 AA standards on September 15th, 2025.
After April 24, 2026, course materials will need to be readily available and fully remediated for course content, beginning the first day of class. This means that adhering to the deadlines below for each semester is critical. The deadlines serve as guidelines for each semester; however, requests can be submitted earlier than the deadlines provided. The turnaround times below are estimates. Once more data has been collected in FY25, the turnaround times may be subject to revision.
Soft deadlines
- Soft deadline statement: Instructors are highly encouraged to submit their requests to Instructional Scanning for course material being uploaded to Canvas before the deadlines for each semester to ensure adequate time for PDF remediation, in preparation for the first day of class.
- Summer semester deadline: May 1st
- Fall semester deadline: May 1st
- Spring semester deadline: November 15th
- The above dates serve as soft deadlines, and although flexible, are critical to comply with to ensure you receive your material before classes begin each semester.
- Please note, anything submitted after the deadline will still be fully remediated; however, there would be a risk of requests not being remediated before the first day of class.
Turnaround times
Once the PDF remediation process has begun, the turnaround time will vary depending on how simple or complex the document is, and material will be sent upon completion of each request. The estimated turnaround time for a simple document is 3-5 working days and for complex documents 7-14 working days. Please refer to the information below for further details surrounding key elements for simple versus complex documents.
What makes a PDF simple?
- Predominantly text-based (i.e. little to no images, tables, charts, or scientific notation)
- Simple documentation structure (i.e. standard paragraphs, columns, etc.)
- Smaller number of pages
What makes a PDF complex?
- Multimedia content (i.e. graphics, tables, charts, scientific notation, videos, etc.)
- Format and layout (i.e. multiple columns, floating figures/tables, etc.)
- PDFs that require more cleanup: de-skewing, fixing color contrast, cropping, etc. The cleaner the PDF scans are the faster the process will be.
- Larger number of pages
Factors that may impact turnaround time:
- Number of requests we receive (if you are placing multiple requests, feel free to indicate level of importance based on urgency for what you need to have processed first)
- Staffing
Please note that Access Services will prioritize completion of requests as we receive them using effective prioritization strategies.