Electronic Document Delivery - EDD - via Email Made Easy

By Judy Kraemer
Norris Medical Library, University of Southern California

It is easy! You do not need to purchase ARIEL or any other Electronic Document Delivery software.

As an ILL Borrower, specify four things on the Routing Instructions screen when making DOCLINE requests.

1. Add a comment in the Comments field that reads "Please Email!"
2. Select either E-mail (PDF) or E-mail (TIFF)* next to Network Delivery
3. Select either E-mail (PDF) or E-mail (TIFF) next to NLM Delivery
4. Add your email address in the Email field.

*The USC Norris Medical Library prefers that you choose E-mail (TIFF) for the following reasons.

1. We use an ARIEL version that creates TIFF files, not PDF files. The next ARIEL version will allow us to create PDF files but until it is released, we must reject requests for E-mail PDF delivery even if we own the requested item.
2. TIFF files are significantly more compact than PDF files and are received more easily over telephone lines.

What do you do now that you have requested delivery via email and have received an email message with an attached TIFF file? Begin by opening the email message and save the TIFF file (.tif) to your local computer's hard drive. Ignore other files that come with the email.

The saved TIFF file can be quickly viewed and printed with the National Library of Medicine's DocView software or the Imaging for Windows software.

1. DocView (http://archive.nlm.nih.gov/proj/docview/project.htm) is free downloadable software that allows for viewing and printing of TIFF files. (See URL for downloading instructions.) Once DocView has been downloaded, any TIFF file received may be viewed simply by clicking on it.
2. Imaging for Windows is graphics software available within Windows 95, 98, 2000 and NT operating systems. To use Imaging for Windows, click on Start, then Programs, then Accessories, and then Imaging. Once Imaging for Windows opens, click on File and Open to retrieve your saved TIFF file. Double-click on the TIFF file to view it.

To convert the TIFF file to a PDF file, use the National Library of Medicine's DocMorph server. DocMorph is a free Web server (http://DocMorph.nlm.nih.gov/docmorph/default.htm) where files are converted remotely. Once at the DocMorph site, scroll down the page and click on 3. Register to Use DocMorph and submit your registration. Once registered, click on 4. Log into DocMorph and enter your email address and the password chosen during registration. Choose File Conversion: 1. Create a PDF file and enter. Click on Browse to insert the path for each saved TIFF file and Submit. When the instructions state the document is ready, click to download the PDF file. Note: DocMorph will merge all TIFF files chosen at the same time into one PDF file. If you prefer to have separate PDF files, convert one Tiff file at a time.

I hope you find receiving ILL articles via email easy and fun. If you want a sample document sent to you, please send a request to me at kraemer@usc.edu. Call me at (323) 442-3313 if you have questions.

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