Tuesday 8 August 2017

Ebook problems (Dawsonera and VLeBooks)

We've had reports of off-campus users having trouble accessing ebooks in both Dawsonera and VLeBooks today. We are investigating this, if this happens to you please let us know with as many details as you can.


VLeBooks downtime this afternoon (Tuesday 8th August) from 4pm

VLeBooks is having planned downtime this afternoon, from 4pm for up to 30 minutes.


Student email problems

We have had a few reports of people being unable to access their emails after yesterday's system work. We think this may be related to cookies being stored on your computer - we advise clearing out your cookies and cache (see http://uk.pcmag.com/browsers-reviews-and/41051/feature/how-to-clear-your-cache-on-any-browser) and trying again. If that doesn't help please let us know.

Monday 7 August 2017

Downloading Dawsonera ebooks - update


Dawsonera are currently in the process of changing the way they deliver ebook downloads (when you download to your device to read later, not the Read Online option). 
  • At the moment there are two types of files .pdf and .acsm. The .pdfs are being removed over the next couple of months and replaced with .acsm - these .acsm files will use Digital Editions or Bluefire Reader
  • Meanwhile those files which are still .pdf need to be read in Adobe Reader. (Not in your browser - Chrome for example has a built in PDF Viewer that overrides the systems default PDF reader. Chrome then can’t read the DRM and fails to read the file. If you go to your download folder and open the .pdf file from there in Adobe Reader it should open without issue.)

Science Direct update - access restored

Access to ScienceDirect is (nearly) back to normal this morning. Only accessing using the Via UK Access Management Federation link is still unavailable.


Thursday 3 August 2017

Science Direct problems

We're currently experiencing major problems accessing Science Direct. The "Via Access Management Federation" link is not working. The first 2 links give you access to the database, but it is not allowing access to the pdf of articles.





















We have reported this to the supplier and hope to have it resolved soon.

Programs for reading e-books

If you download e-books from our library to read offline, please make sure that you have the correct software to read them on your laptop or smartphone. As for the start of August, our e-books for download are now largely in ACSM format, which cannot be read by Adobe Acrobat. (This does not affect viewing e-books online).

You can use the following free readers to read downloaded ACSM format e-books:

Windows/Mac users can download Adobe Digital Editions (http://www.adobe.com/uk/products/digital-editions/download.html)

For smartphones, there are several options. VLE Books provide details of VLEBooks eBook reader for iOS (https://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/Help/iOSHelp) and Android (https://www.vlebooks.com/vleweb/Help/AndroidHelp)

The Bluefire Reader (http://www.bluefirereader.com/bluefire-reader.html) is also available for iOS, Android and Windows.

If you are still having problems, please contact library.technical@beds.ac.uk, so we can be aware of any problems 

Wednesday 2 August 2017

DISCOVER searches in July

Here are the most popular DISCOVER searches from July:


NewsBank special reports August 2017



NewsBank’s Special Reports are news articles, images, maps and other useful content grouped for convenience under specific topics and themes. They enable users to quickly locate information while helping them gain better insight into current global issues and events.



Following is a listing of ones that may be of particular interest at this time.

August Topics
World Health - U.S. Health Care
Military Life - Transgender Ban
Issues in the News - Immigration Policy
World Politics and Government
World Terrorism and Conflict

Additional featured Reports covering current issues and events
Mental Health
World Economics
World Environment
Science and Health in the News
World Travel and Tourism

Special Reports are easily accessible from the left side bar on your online resource menu page, on search screens and the Other NewsBank Products link in full-text newspaper products.

This video shows you how to find Special Reports, what they are and how they can be used.  http://newsbank.com/videos/how-find-use-special-reports