IS has confirmed that the network problems affecting on-campus access to external web resources (reported on 3 December and 10 December) have been resolved, following the implementation of several network management changes. Please report to Lib eServices details of any instances where remote access problems continue or reoccur.
Category: eSearch
Newton: solution agreed to secure on-campus
eServices have been able to agree with IS new configuration arrangements which will re-enable IP authentication from PCs in the newly re-opened Newton building. The solution requires LLR to register additional IP information with all providers offering IP-based authentication. While this work is being urgently undertaken, it is likely that the re-registration process will not be fully completed until the new year. The advice to NTU staff and students attempting to access electronic resources from locations within Newton continue to be to use the eSearch, SFX and Library Catalogue access routes to these resources (rather than using any previously stored bookmarks). This will ensure that such requests are automatically routed to the appropriate off-campus login screens (wherever necessary) on which staff can login in exactly the same ways as if they were off-site.
Newton – ‘on campus’ access issues
LLR is working with IS to resolve issues affecting on-campus access to electronic resources from the first staff offices to be occupied in the newly re-opened Newton building. Because of the way that Newton PCs have been registered on the NTU network, external web connections from these PCs are not recognised as coming from Nottingham Trent University locations. This is because the IPs of these PCs are outside the normal IP-range of the university. This means that academic staff accessing electronic library subscription services which use IP authentication are not automatically logged in, and are effectively treated as being ‘off-campus’.
While LLR works to secure a resolution to this problem, the advice to NTU staff attempting to access electronic resources from locations within Newton is to use the eSearch, SFX and Library Catalogue access routes to these resources (rather than using any previously stored bookmarks). This will ensure that such requests are automatically routed to the appropriate off-campus login screens (wherever possible) on which staff can login in exactly the same ways as if they were off-site.
Further updates will follow as a resolution to this issue is progressed.
Continuing problems with on-campus access to external web resources
Technical issues affecting on-campus access to external web resources, previously reported on 3 December, are continuing to cause significant intermittent problems. As IS’s attempts to isolate the cause of the technical difficulties continue, the advice from eServices remains unchanged:
“If you encounter problems with accessing external web sites, please report details of the issue to the eServices team for us to investigate. We may be able to suggest an alternative means of access to the resource, and will also need to confirm that the problem you are reporting is not caused by an unrelated service issue.”
Problems affecting on-campus access to external web resources
LLR staff and customers working on-campus may continue to experience intermittent problems accessing external databases and online services, pending the resolution of a technical issue affecting the NTU network which our colleagues in Information Systems are urgently investigating.
The problem results in the slow return of some web page requests, and often a time-out “Page cannot be displayed” error. In some instances, refreshing the page in the browser may result in the page loading correctly; but in other cases the site may remain inaccessible.
If you encounter problems with accessing external web sites, please report details of the issue to the eServices team for us to investigate. We may be able to suggest an alternative means of access to the resource, and will also need to confirm that the problem you are reporting is not caused by an unrelated service issue.
A further update will follow once IS has been able to identify and resolve the cause of these difficulties.
If you’ve any questions about this, please contact eServices for more information.
EBSCOhost databases – Shibboleth authentication working once again
EBSCOhost have confirmed that the issue affecting their Shibboleth service has now been resolved. Off-campus access to all EBSCOhost databases is once again available by univeristy username and password.
The temporary off-campus access account details provided by EBSCOhost in the interim will shortly be disabled.
All of the service issue icons and customer notifications on EBSCOhost databases have been removed from eSearch.
If you continue to receive reports of any off-campus access difficulties affecting EBSCOhost databases, please report the details to eServices.
New eSearch Sub-Category: Education > Images
A new resource Sub-Category has been added to the Education Category in eSearch: Images. This new Sub-Category contains the same 12 images-based resources which are also include in the Art & Design > Images Sub-Category.
New entry for MyiLibrary in eSearch
eBook titles available on the MyiLibrary platform are accessible from the library catalogue, where deep-links to individual titles are provided. A new platform level entry for MyiLibrary has now been added to eSearch. When customers access the MyiLibrary platform via this eSearch route, they will be resolved to the home page of the MyiLibrary service from where they can access the search and other facilities provided by MyiLibrary.
GMID – off-campus access restored
The problem preventing off-campus access to the GMID service has now been resolved. On-campus access continues to be direct with off-campus access by university username and password (using Shibboleth). The ‘service issue’ icon displaying in eSearch for this resource has been removed.
Now resolved – campus wide user authentication problems
IS have now fixed the user authentication problems that were affecting services campus wide. So all services that use Shibboleth or ADS authentication, such as NOW, ‘My Library Card’ in Web OPAC, eSearch and RefWorks, are working again.
However, if you do discover any further problems, then please let eServices know.
Major problems with user authentication campus wide
We are experiencing major problems with University username and password authentication. This is affecting access to all services that use Shibboleth or ADS authentication, such as NOW, ‘My Library Card’ in Web OPAC, eSearch and RefWorks. IS are currently investigating the problem.
In the meantime, these services are unavailable.
A further update will follow once there is more news to report from IS.
ICE Virtual Library Archive: off-campus access restored
Off-campus access to the ejournal content in the ICE Virtual Library Archive has now been restored following a recent interruption in service. Access on-campus remains direct; with off-campus access by university username and password. It has proved possible to re-establish off-campus access to this content following a series of upgrades on the ICE platform. Because the ICE Virtual Library is not yet Shibboleth compliant, off-campus access is made available via eZprozy. ICE expect to be able to support Shibboleth based authentication in the near future, when LLR will migrate to full Shibboleth authentication for the service.
The ejournal content provided through the ICE Virtual Library Archive is as follows:
* Transactions of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1836-1842)
* Life of Telford (1838)
* Minutes of the Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1837-1935)
* ICE Engineering Division Papers (1942-1951)
* Journal of the Institution of Civil Engineers (1935-1951)
* Proceedings of the ICE Parts 1 and 2 (1952-1991)
* Proceedings of the ICE – Civil Engineering (1992-2001)
* Proceedings of the ICE – Municipal Engineer (1992-2001)
* Proceedings of the ICE – Structures & Buildings (1992-2001)
* Proceedings of the ICE – Transport (1992-2001)
* Proceedings of the ICE – Water Maritime & Energy (1992-1999)
* Proceedings of the ICE – Geotechnical Engineering (1994-2001)
* Proceedings of the ICE – Water and Maritime Engineering (2000-2001)
In addition to this archival access, LLR has current subscriptions to a number of ICE journal titles. An audit of LLR’s electronic holdings entitlements for these titles is currently underway.
eResource updates 
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