The British Library for Development Studies is located at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK.
BLDS has wide coverage of Southern publications particularly from Africa, and South and East Asia. Part of the remit of the library is to make the holdings of the library more accessible to librarians, researchers and policy makers with an interest in development based in the South.
If you are looking for a particular document, book or journal article, or have found a list of useful materials in our online library catalogue but can't get easy access to the item that you want, don't despair! As a researcher working for an RPC / DRC partner organisation, you can use our Document Delivery service. We can supply you with journal articles and book chapters (as email attachments or hard copy, depending on your preference) from our collection. (Please note that according to UK copyright law we are generally not able to send more than one article / chapter from a single journal / book, although in some cases we do have permission to copy whole documents.) Up to 20 items can be supplied per organisation per month. We will email the document within two working days of receiving your request.
One member of staff in your RPC / DRC partner organisation should be designated as the RPC Direct contact and you will need to ask him / her to make the document delivery request on your behalf. If you don't know who your RPC Direct contact is, please email us at bldshelp@ids.ac.uk
If you are the RPC Direct designated contact but haven't yet registered for the free Document Delivery service please register here: http://blds.ids.ac.uk/cf/docdelcf/blds/apprpclib.cfm
You will need to tick a box agreeing that each individual requesting or using a document delivery item will sign a Copyright Declaration Form (for each item) and that these signed forms will be kept on file. This is a requirement of UK copyright legislation. Once your organisation's application has been processed you will be sent an account number and password (usually within one working day) and you can then start requesting documents immediately. You will be able to request up to 20 documents per month for your organisation.
To search our catalogue please use the links at the top left of this page.
For further instructions on how to use the Document Delivery service, and the other free BLDS services on offer, please click on the PDF below.
Do you have difficulties finding development information to support you in your research? If you can't find an answer to a question related to development, or need help putting together statistics or a bibliography of sources, contact one of our trained librarians at the dedicated RPC Direct helpdesk at bldshelp@ids.ac.uk Please provide your name and organisation and explain as clearly as possible what you would like us to find out for you. If you have already tried to find the answer to your query, please explain briefly what steps you have taken and where you have already looked. We will provide you with answers to your enquiry within two working days of receiving your request.
Are you interested in receiving free email updates on new materials in BLDS in your subject or geographical area? If so, subscribe to up to 29 free BLDS Updates . They will be sent to you every 2-4 weeks, alerting you to the most recent publications in your field.
The British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) contains the largest collection of economic and social development materials in Europe (over one million items made up of books, journals, working papers and government publications). Approximately 50% of the collection originates from the South. BLDS celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006. It is one of a family of knowledge services based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) in Sussex, UK .
For further information about RPC Direct please contact us at bldshelp@ids.ac.uk, or telephone the RPC Direct Coordinator, Stephanie Watson. Tel: +44 (0)1273 873067.
BLDS is funded by
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