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Direct Delivery Service FAQs

Pricing & payment

How much does it cost?

  • For books, journals and newspapers, we charge $21.10 for the first 1–25 pages, then $4.90 for each additional 25 pages. If you order a high-quality TIFF, we charge $33.90 per page. 
  • For manuscripts (text only), we charge $21.10 for every 25 pages. If you order a high-quality TIFF, we charge $33.90 per page. 
  • For manuscripts (pictures, photographs, maps and architectural drawings), we charge $33.90 per image.
  • For pictures, photographs, maps and architectural drawings, we charge $33.90 per image. 
  • For microfiche maps, we charge $21.10 for every 25 pages.

Please note: fees for our Direct Delivery Service increased on 17 July 2023.

How do I pay for my order?

You can pay with the following credit cards: Visa, Mastercard or American Express.

When you place your order you will be quoted the approximate total cost for supplying the items you have ordered. If the final cost is found to be less than quoted, you will be charged the lesser amount. If the cost is found to be more than quoted, we will contact you with an adjusted price. We will not supply or charge until you have agreed to the adjusted price.

Your credit card details are automatically encrypted and retained by your financial institution until payment is required.

The Library does not receive or hold your credit card details.

How much does delivery cost?

Our delivery charges are:

  • file download – free
  • collect in person – free
  • standard post in Australia (including Victoria) – $11.30
  • express post in Australia (including Victoria) – $17.10
  • standard international post – $28.50

Logging into your account

Why do I need to register?  

To place a Direct Delivery order, you will need to be a registered member of State Library Victoria. This will enable you to access your Direct Delivery account where you can track your orders.

When placing orders, you will need to provide contact details to comply with copyright legislation and to facilitate the supply of your order. We will not use your personal details for any other purpose.  

Retrieving your Library membership details

If you don’t know your membership details, you can retrieve your lost membership details or send us a Membership inquiry online. You can also contact staff at the Redmond Barry Reading Room desk for assistance or phone 03 8664 7002 (10am to 6pm daily).

How do I change my address and contact details? 

Please send us a Membership inquiry online. You can also contact staff at the Redmond Barry Reading Room desk for assistance or phone 03 8664 7002 (10am to 6pm daily).

If you have already submitted your order, you can message us by logging in to your Direct Delivery account and using the message function. Otherwise, please contact us via phone on 03 8664 7159 or email [email protected]

Ordering copies

What is a TIFF?

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a standard image format for saving high-quality images. It is used for most commercial and professional printing needs. State Library Victoria’s TIFFs are saved with no compression, meaning that no image data is lost after image capture. TIFF is a great choice for archiving images when all detail must be preserved and file size is not a consideration. TIFF files are very large in size compared to JPEGs because no compression is used.

What is the minimum standard for a TIFF?

Our TIFFs are:

  • Quality: approx. A3 at 300ppi, suitable for print publication
  • Colour space: RGB or greyscale
  • File size: 20–60 MB or larger, depending on the type and size of original material

Can I get a digital file bigger than your standard A3 size at 300ppi?

In the instructions field please request this and we will give you the biggest file possible from our capturing device.

What if I only need part of the material copied?

If your request is for a newspaper or serial, our TIFF will be a digital copy of the whole page, unless otherwise instructed. For photographic images the same principle applies.

In our ‘further instructions’ box please let us know more specific instructions if needed.

These might be instructions such as:

  • ‘I only need the image of the dog on this newspaper page.’
  • ‘I don’t need the full page of the newspaper; I just need the cartoon and caption.’

Can I get my digital image retouched?

We do limited processing of our images after capture to maintain the original appearance of the material. We don’t remove scratches, increase contrast or change colour or do any ‘retouching’ to our images.

How do I order on behalf of a company or organisation?

If you are not already registered, when completing your registration, please enter the name of your company or organisation into the ‘Address Line 2’ field. 

If you are already registered, you will have the option of adding the name of your company or organisation during the order process.

How do I download my digital file? 

If you have requested ‘File Download’ as the delivery method, when your order is completed you will receive an email with a link to the location where you can download your file. If you order a TIFF, be aware that these can be large files and may take some time to download. You can also log in to your Direct Delivery account. All orders with a status of ‘Article Sent’ will include a link to download your digital file.

If you receive an email providing you with a Dropbox link to download your file, this will also be reflected in your Direct Delivery account. Click on 'Order History' and in the details of the request there will be a link to the item called 'External URL' which will take you to the Dropbox link.

Why won’t my file download? 

For large files, when you click on the ‘View File’ link you will see a message, ‘This file cannot be rendered in the browser. Please click the button below to download the file.' When you click on ‘Download’ it may seem like nothing is happening, however the file will be downloading in the background.  

It can take several minutes before you receive confirmation that your file has downloaded. If you close the ‘Download’ window and re-click on ‘View File’ and ‘Download’, this will re-set the download process, cancelling the previous download attempt.  

Also, repetitively clicking on the 'View File' will eventually cancel the link, as there is a five download limit per request. If you experience this issue, please contact [email protected]

How long will my digital files be available for download?

Digital files will be available for 21 days. After that time, access to your files will be removed and you will be prompted with a message to contact library staff to reactivate the files. 

How long will my order take?

You should allow 15 working days for your order to be processed. This does not include the time taken for copyright and/or cultural clearances to be completed or if we are waiting for you to respond to any queries we have about your request.

Please note: due to restricted conditions during COVID-19, the turnaround time for completing your request may be up to 30 working days. 

Why does it take 15 working days?

The Direct Delivery Service is highly customised. All orders are unique and each file is created just for that specific order. While many orders will take less than 15 days, different factors affect turnaround time. The fragility of the material, retrieval from onsite and offsite stores, the checking of copyright and cultural permissions, marking up of material, production of files and processing of orders are all separate steps where turnaround can be affected. 

How do I check the progress of my orders? 

Please log in to your Direct Delivery account to track your orders. 

My Saved Selections

In 'My Saved Selections' you will be able to review and submit incomplete or unpaid orders. If the status of your order is 'Ready to go' this means you are ready to proceed to checkout. Select the order you wish to submit and click on ‘Proceed to checkout’. 

You may also have selections that are incomplete. This means you have one or more steps to complete before the order is ready to submit. 

Track My Orders

You can see the status of all your orders via the ‘Track My Orders’ link. ‘Open Orders’ will show all orders that are still in process. 

You can see the status of your orders in the ‘Status’ column on the right-hand side.

Submitted: the request has been submitted.

In Process: we are in the process of locating the item you want copied and undertaking your request.

Unfilled: we are unable to supply the item you have requested.

Cancelled: your request has been cancelled.

Article Sent: your order has been supplied.

How do I give feedback or report technical problems? 

If you have any suggestions or comments, or you want to report a technical problem, please contact us via phone on 03 8664 7159 or email [email protected]. If your problem is urgent and it is outside business hours (Monday to Friday), please contact 03 8664 7000 during the Library's opening hours.

Changing your order

Can I change my order? 

Changes to an order will not be accepted if the Library has commenced work on the order. A new order must be placed and paid for.

Can I cancel my order? 

Once your order has been submitted, no refunds, credits or alterations are given if you have changed your mind, made the wrong selection or failed to verify or accurately provide information when placing an order.

An order will only be cancelled on our end if we are unable to supply the item requested. In this case, your credit card will not be charged.

Can I ask for a refund? 

The cost of your order may be refunded under the following circumstances: 

  • The copy we have provided is not what you ordered and we are unable to supply the copy that you require. 
  • We charge you more than our advertised prices without contacting you beforehand (we will refund the difference to you).

If you believe that you are eligible for a refund, please email [email protected] with the following information: 

  • your name
  • the order number
  • the transaction date
  • the transaction amount
  • a contact phone number (business hours)
  • the reason you are requesting a refund

Please do not send any credit card information via email – we will contact you by phone if we need any information. 

If a refund is granted, we will contact you to make the necessary arrangements.

How do I change my delivery address? 

You can change your email or street addresses during the order process; however, these addresses will not be recorded for any future orders. 

If you have already submitted your order, you can contact us by logging in to your Direct Delivery account and using the message function. Otherwise, please contact us via phone on 03 8664 7159 or email [email protected]