RSCVD, an initiative by the IFLA Document Delivery and Resource Sharing Section, aims to promote international resource sharing to ensure access to high-quality scientific literature. By leveraging ILL-DD library services, RSCVD depends on the expertise and dedication of volunteer librarians to provide access to hard-to-obtain documents. These challenges often arise due to barriers such as limited communication between library networks across different countries, language differences, or the lack of robust, internationally recognized, or even functioning library resource sharing network in certain regions.

Through the RSCVD App, librarians can request digital copies of materials such as articles or book chapters. The lending library then uses the platform to securely deliver the requested content electronically, adhering to its national copyright laws and e-resource licenses. Both accessing documents and using the software are completely free of charge.

But RSCVD goes beyond that: it promotes the sharing of best practices, informs users about the availability of open-access documents, and serves as a community of volunteer librarians who support one another, emphasizing the importance of the human network as a valuable resource.

RSCVD was originally designed for digital delivery, but this also facilitates the consultation of difficult-to-obtain books by providing copies of the Tables of Contents, indexes, etc., which bring the content closer to the researchers.

You can find out more about this initiative on the IFLA DDRS webpage and the RSCVD webpage