COPAC v.3 interface – SFX enabled

The migration to the v.3 interface of the COPAC union catalogue has now been completed, which means that outbound SFX links from catalogue records are automatically visible on-campus, and can be activated by Athens authentication off-campus.

An updated guide to SFX integration with COPAC can be found here.

Firefox web browser

IS have confirmed that the Firefox web browser has been deployed to a number of clusters of student PCs (particularly within Art & Design areas), at the request of individual lecturers. Firefox has been installed alongside, rather than as a replacement for, the standard Internet Explorer browser – giving students the option to select their preference. While IS have indicated that there are currently no plans to deploy Firefox across the network, it is now possible to request installation of the Firefox browser on individual staff PCs via an email request to ITS Service Desk.

Firefox v.2 has also been installed on a number of eServices PCs, so again it is possible to troubleshoot any browser-specific eservices issues raised by the use of Firefox.

Internet Explorer v.7.0 – OPAC, SFX and eSearch compliance

Ex Libris have confirmed that the versions of ALEPH OPAC, SFX and eSearch that LLR is running are fully compliant with the new version of the Internet Explorer web browser – Version 7. This is currently of relevance only to off-campus users, as no decision has yet been taken to upgrade the university’s existing Version 6 of Internet Explorer on the campus network. An announcement from Ex Libris regarding product compliance with the new Windows Vista operating system is expected in April (again, this will only be currently of relevance to off-campus users).

IE v.7.0 has been installed on an eServices PC, so it is possible for us to replicate any other browser-specific eservices issues that the team is alerted to.

Land, Life & Leisure

Following a hardware failure, EDINA advise that the Land, Life & Leisure service will be temporarily unavailable. EDINA are working to restore access as soon as possible – though a return of service may not be in place until next week. The login buttons on the LL&L interface have been suspended and an out-of-service alert posted.

Informaworld journals – article level linking now enabled in SFX

Following the deployment of the March SFX KB update, OpenURL requests to journals on the Informaworld platform will now resolve to the article level (when requested) rather than to the title level as previously.

Screenonline – audio-visual content now accessible on-campus

Following a series of service enhancements at the BFI (British Film Institute), on-campus access to the streaming audio-visual content of the Screenonline collection has now been restored. Changes in the authentication management procedures required by the BFI mean that the previous licensing complications which interrupted NTU’s access to the multimedia content last year have now been resolved.

On-campus visitors to the Screenonline database, will enjoy automatic access to that multimedia content via Windows Media Player (on both PC and Mac).

Due to continuing licensing constraints, there are no plans to extend multimedia access to off-campus visitors.

The listings for Screenonline in LLR’s resource discovery environment have been updated accordingly.

New resource: Film Literature Index Online

The Film Literature Index Online has been added to the Film and Media sub-category of the Arts & Humanities category of eSearch. On-campus and off-campus access is unrestricted. The resource is described as follows:

The Film Literature Index Online contains approximately 700,000 citations to film and television articles, film reviews and book reviews published between 1976-2001.

Trial access: PILOTS (Published International Literature on Traumatic Stress)

CSA are making available to until the end of March trial access to the PILOTS database. This trial has been activated by the provider rather than requested by LLR, but will be visible and available to NTU staff and students. The resource can be accessed through the CSA Illumina platform (by following links to one of the CSA databases such as ASSIA, Avery, BHI, DAAI and so on). Like all CSA Illumina databases, access is direct on-campus with off-campus by Athens username and password.

The resource is described by CSA Illumina as follows:

PILOTS is a bibliographic database produced at the headquarters of the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in White River Junction, Vermont, and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Its goal is to include citations to all literature on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental-health sequelae of traumatic events, without disciplinary, linguistic, or geographical limitations, while offering both current and retrospective coverage. Document types covered include journals, books, book chapters, pamphlets, technical reports, and materials in all languages.

Trial concluded: ABI-INFORM Global

Trial access to ABI-INFORM Global has now concluded and the listing for the resource has been withdrawn from eSearch. Any remaining feedback on the resource should be sent to Andrew Kernot.

Access problems to Electronic library resources section of the LLR web site resolved

Our colleagues in IS have been able to resolve the technical problem that was causing a username and password challenge to present when visitors selected several of the resources within the Electronic Library Resources section of the LLR web site (including the Subject portal, and the database and ejournal A-Z lists).

If you experience any remaining problems, please close and re-open your browser, and clear your browser’s cache. If problems persist, please contact the eServices team.