UK Access Management Federation logins problems - ebooks, RefWorks and others

We're having some problems this afternoon with access to UK Access Management Federation resources. Please bear with us while we get this fixed.

VLEbooks (Askews and Holts ebooks) downtime - Monday 23rd November 5.30pm - 7.30pm

Temporary maintenance to VLeBooks will be carried out on Monday 23rd November 2015 at 17:30. It is expected to last for up to 2 hours during which time you will be unable to access the site.

Improvements coming to Lexis Library - 5th December

Lexis are making a number of changes to make Lexis Library easier to use. The changes will take place on Saturday 5th December.

They are promising:

A more intuitive search experience. The Explore search box moves to the heart of the homepage and includes content filters.
A tidier, bigger, better display of results. Single results list opens up the page, with filtering in one place and the option to deliver multiple documents.
Glossary searches move to the home pageQuick access to over 3,300 legal terms.

There is a full guide to the new interface here.

Changes to the Document supply service for final year undergraduates, postgraduates and staff

The British Library (BL) is changing the way it delivers digital documents as a part of its improved Document Supply service. That includes benefits for University of Bedfordshire staff and students.

From 23 November 2015  all University of Bedfordshire staff and students eligible for our Document Supply services will no longer need to use File Open. 

Instead a new service - BL On Demand - will offer University of Bedfordshire staff and students the opportunity to receive digital documents on any device with internet connectivity.

Main benefit: you will no longer need File Open so you are no longer restricted to one machine to collect your requested items. 

To qualify for this service eligible staff and students will need to create their own BL On Demand account using their University of Bedfordshire email address,  at this link:

https://register.bl.uk/Ui/RegOnline.aspx?ServiceId=3

University of Bedfordshire staff and students will use this account to receive their requests only - do not use it to place requests, this should be done via the Learning Resources website as before.

If anyone at the University of Bedfordshire uses this account to make a request they will be personally liable for the costs (and will have to pay up front). The University will not refund them for this action. Current costs are

£5.25               Standard electronic delivery of a born digital copy

£10.50             Standard electronic delivery of a copy from print

Eligible University of Bedfordshire BL On Demand customers request items via the forms available on this web page.

The requests are processed (and monitored) by Learning Resources, and BL will deliver requests directly to your University email account.

Learning Resources staff will be available by appointment at Luton LRC and Bedford Campus Library  from 23 November 2015 or on a drop in basis at Luton LRC and Bedford Campus Library 11 – 12 Monday – Friday 23 – 27 November, to help you set up your BL On Demand account and talk you through the process.

Ebooks on demand - you choose it, we buy it!

Ebooks on Demand is back and this year £50k is available for spending on the ebooks of your choice.

All you have to do is choose your ebook from the library catalogue or DISCOVER and request access to it for a one week rental (don’t worry, you don’t have to pay to rent it – Learning Resources does!) When two people have requested access to the same ebook then it is automatically bought for the Library collection, again paid for by Learning Resources.

How it works:

1. Choose your ebook from the library catalogue or DISCOVER
2. Request access to it for a one week rental
3. When two people have requested the same ebook we buy it for the library collection 

 Why? ... This is a great service for students because:

•     you can choose the books the library buys
•     these ebooks are available immediately
•     you can always find a book for your topic
•     you can read an ebook anywhere with an internet connection
•     any number of students can read an ebook at once
•     a lot of extra money is being spent on making sure you get the books you need.

 If you have any trouble accessing any of our ebooks, please let us know. 

Palgrave and Nature ejournals - downtime for scheduled maintenance

On Saturday 14th November from 10am top 2pm GMT the www.nature.com, www.palgrave-journals.com and www.palgraveconnect.com websites will be unavailable for scheduled maintenance.

During this time journals with URLs continaing nature.com or palgrave-journals.com will not be accessible. The publishers apologizes in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Ebooks and RefWorks - login problems solved

The problem with logging in to resources via the UK Access Management Federation (including ebooks via Dawsonera and VLEbooks, RefWorks and Reading Lists) has now been fixed. Please let us know if you continue to have any problems.