VLE books problem fixed

We're pleased to announce that the problem accessing VLE books has now been fixed.

If you do continue to have any problems, please let us know.

VLE books problem

We are having a problem with access to VLE books this morning. Once you've logged in with your UoB details you may see a further login screen and not be able to get past it:

We have raised this with the supplier urgently and hope to have it resolved soon. This affects ebooks purchased through Askews and Holts

and with vlebooks.com in the URL. Ebooks on the Dawsonera platform are not affected.

New Android app: VleBooks eBook Reader

A lot of the ebooks the library catalogue has are on a platform called VleBooks. (All the eBooks On Demand titles are on that platform this year.) The books can be read from any internet browser (like Firefox or Safari) but if you have an Android device you may like to install the VleBooks app.

The app was recently released and is now available on Google Play here. It was a bit glitchy initially but is now reported to be working well.

UPDATE: Shibboleth down

Shibboleth fault now fixed!!!. Good work ICT. (Update time: 10.30 am)

It looks like the authentication system known as Shibboleth is down. This is affecting access to our ebooks platforms (DawsonEra and VLEbooks), as well as RefWorks and the private areas of Readinglists.beds.ac.uk. (The public pages of the Readinglists site will still be accessible without logging in.)

Our ICT department are aware of the problem and are working to fix Shibboleth as soon as possible.

VLEbooks: 'It won't let me in without an organisation code'

Some of the university's ebooks are on the VLeBook platform. This - like Refworks and other Digital Library products - uses the Shibboleth login system for authentication so you do not need an Organisation ID to open up an ebook. Underneath the "Forgotten Password?" prompt, is a link to the Shibboleth Login route; just pick the University of Bedfordshire from the list of institutions and use your usual login details to access your personal VLeBooks account.

Use the "Shibboleth Login" link at the bottom to prove you belong to the University of Bedfordshire

If you link to a VLeBook from DISCOVER or the readinglists site, you will bypass this step. It only happens when people go straight to the external provider's website.

VLeBooks Platform maintenance Monday 16th March from 8pm

Due to planned annual maintenance, the VLeBooks platform will be unavailable, for up to two hours, on Monday 16th March 2015. The planned maintenance will begin at 8.00 pm.

This will affect all ebooks with vlebooks.com in the URL.