An update on our recovery

Future service improvements ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [View in browser]( An update on our recovery An update on our recovery Hello, Thank you for your continuing patience following last October’s cyber-attack. The attack caused substantial damage that is complex and challenging to repair, and includes the installation of a completely new computing infrastructure for the entire Library. As we approach completion of that first phase of work, our CEO, Sir Roly Keating, has shared [a new blog]( with information about our ongoing recovery, and we’re able to give an update on the service improvements you can expect over the coming months. Service improvements Access to more collection items held in Boston Spa – July Material stored in our Additional Storage Building in Boston Spa should be available by the end of July. Access to materials held in the National Newspaper Building is more complex and is likely to take longer. In the meantime, you can find a wide range of newspaper titles available in microform in the Newsroom at St Pancras. Digital collections acquired through Non-Print Legal Deposit (NPLD) – August We expect NPLD materials deposited prior to the cyber-attack (October 2023), including e-journals and e-publications, to be available in some form by August. We’re continuing to explore options for collecting and storing items deposited after October 2023. Learning websites and digitised manuscripts – September We hope to restore our unique collection of digitised manuscripts, and our popular Learning resources, including Discovering Literature, by September. For all these services, we will confirm full details of what will be included as soon as we can. The complex work of recovery As described in the [detailed paper]( on the cyber-attack that we published in March, the particularly destructive nature of the attack means we need to take a ‘safety-first’ approach to restoration. While we are confident that our data, digital holdings and digitised collections are safe and intact, many of our legacy IT systems were encrypted, damaged or deleted. This means we currently don’t have the computer systems we need to provide access to our collection. Once our new computer infrastructure is complete, reloading all the Library’s data can begin – a painstaking process which involves the sampling and checking of each dataset to ensure that no malware has been left by the attackers that could be reactivated once a file or drive is accessed. This means different services and subsets of the collection will become available at different times. Online and advance ordering In our recent survey, you told us the ability to pre-order collection items before you visit was what you were missing the most. At the moment, we don’t have the computer systems we need to make this happen. We’re working on a solution, though, and we’ll let you know as soon as we can about how and when we’ll be able to restore this service. [Image of readers] How can we help? We know this attack has been incredibly disruptive to all our users, and we’re really sorry for the impact this is having. Our team are here to help. [Send us your research questions]( and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. [British Library Instagram]( [British Library Facebook]( [British Library Twitter]( [British Library YouTube]( [British Library LinkedIn]( [British Library TikTok]( [British Library Instagram]( [British Library Facebook]( [British Library Twitter]( [British Library YouTube]( [British Library LinkedIn]( [British Library TikTok]( © 2024 British Library. 96 Euston Road, London. NW1 2DB. [Privacy Policy]( [Visit us]( • [View our privacy policy](