Athens to Shibboleth migrations – eBrary and RefWorks

The move from Athens to Shibboleth authentication for both eBrary and RefWorks is now scheduled to take place during the last two weeks of August.

RefWorks’ technical team are running tests on a sample data set that we have provided before moving to the wholesale transfer of the existing accounts from Athens to Shibboleth identifiers – this will mean that existing customer accounts (including all saved references and folders) will be automatically transfered over when the move to Shibboleth is effected.

For LLR customers with ‘Bookshelf’ content (saved favourites, notes, highlighted sections of eBooks, etc) in their eBrary account, a different method has been agreed with the providers. Once the Shibboleth login process has been activated on eBrary, customers will have the option to pull across their previously stored ‘Bookshelf’ information from their Athens to their Shibboleth account. This involves the customer copying a ‘key’ number from the screen into an email to eBrary along with their Athens username; eBrary then manage the move of the data on their behalf. Customers who have not previously used the ‘Bookshelf’ facility, or who do not wish to transfer their previous saved content, are not required to take any action. The simple process of arranging the ‘Bookshelf’ transfer will, of course, be fully documented with eServices providing all necessary technical support.

New resource: Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET)

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Library Catalogue has been added as a new resource in eSearch. Access to the catalogue is unrestricted on-campus and off-campus. The resource is described as follows:

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Library covers all aspects of electrical engineering, electronics, manufacturing, computing and communications, control and related subjects such as physics, management and historical aspects.

The Archives reflect the IET’s many activities since its foundation in 1871. It also holds collections that have been purchased by or deposited with the IET due to their importance in the history and development of SET from the 14th century to the present day.

New resource: esp@cenet

The esp@cenet patents database service has been added to eSearch as a new resource. Access is unrestricted on-campus and off-campus. The resource is described as follows:

The esp@cenet service offers the general public free access to worldwide patent information via the internet. It has the following main aims: to offer basic patent information to individuals, small and medium-sized enterprises, students etc; to increase awareness and use of patent information at the national and European levels; to support innovation, reduce wastage in the innovation cycle; and to supplement existing channels for the dissemination of patent information.

‘Find a database’ searches in eSearch for either ‘espacenet’ or ‘esp@cenet’ will retrieve this resource.

New resource: Biosciences Image Bank

The Biosciences Image Bank has been added as new eSearch resource. Access is unrestricted on-campus and off-campus. The resource is described as follows:

Bioscience ImageBank consists of freely available images contributed by academics, researchers, learned societies, industry and individuals with rights cleared for educational purposes.

Vistors are able to search for images based on keywords or browse within a wide range of bioscience subject areas. Images are then ‘downloadable’ along with informative descriptive text provided by the contributor. All images undergo a validation process. ImageBank also offers reviews of, and links to, existing bioscience image databases.

New resource: ALT Open Access Repository

Access to the ALT (Association for Learning Technology) Open Access Respository has been enabled in eSearch. Access is unrestricted on-campus and off-campus. The resource is described as follows:

The ALT Open Access Repository was developed as part of the wALTer project which aims to provide a resource base and supporting technologies to ensure effective support for e-learning professionals. It contains journal articles from all issues of ALT-J (up to 2007), conference presentations, unpublished papers, learning technology software guides and more.

Delegated Centres Access to Emerald Restored

Emerald have now confirmed, that the access problems we have been experiencing form the Delegated Centres page has been resolved.
Access from our Delegated Centres page for Internet Explorer users has been tested and works fine, Firefox is still gives a security prompt. However, it is ok to accept this and click continue and log on as normal.

Firefox Emerald Athens

CSA databases now available

The problem affecting the CSA databases yesterday (Wednesday 8th July) has now been fixed. Our suppliers had experienced network problems which prevented users from connecting to their website. So, access to all of the titles in our subscription suite has been restored. This means users can now access:

  • ANTE (Abstracts in New Technology and Engineering)
  • ARTbibliographies Modern
  • ASSIA (Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts)
  • Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
  • BHI (British Humanities Index)
  • Criminal Justice Abstracts
  • DAAI (Design and Applied Arts Index)
  • ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center)
  • PILOTS Database
  • Polymer Library
  • Social Services Abstracts
  • Sociological Abstracts
  • CSA_02

    CSA databases unavailable

    The CSA range of databases are currently unavailable due to a server failure in the States where the databases are hosted. Engineers are investigating the problem, and we’ll give a further update once we have more news.

    These are the databases which are affected:
    ANTE (Abstracts in New Technology and Engineering)
    ARTbibliographies Modern
    ASSIA (Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts)
    Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
    BHI (British Humanities Index)
    Criminal Justice Abstracts
    DAAI (Design and Applied Arts Index)
    ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center)
    PILOTS Database
    Polymer Library
    Social Services Abstracts
    Sociological Abstracts

    CSA_02

    SFX (Find it @ NTU) menu links to the Library Catalogue

    Following a series of database and software updates to the SFX (Find it @ NTU) service, which were deployed yesterday afternoon, links to the Library Catalogue from the SFX menu were no longer appearing consistently.

    The problem which was affecting the display of the various Library Catalogue options has now been resolved, and all links are now displaying as intended.

    SFX_01

    Emerald – Shibboleth authentication

    Off-campus access to the Emerald platform is now by university username and password (using the Shibboleth framework). Links and prompts in eSearch and SFX have been updated accordingly.

    A guide to Shibboleth authentication on the Emerald platform has been added to the eServices Support wiki.

    Members of relevant Delegated Centres and NTU Alumni will continue to use an Athens username and password to access the Emerald service.

    Emerald_01