Reference at Newman Library

Year: 2015

Maintenance Work to Affect Catalog and OneSearch

Between 7 am and 11:30 am this Friday (April 3), the library catalog and OneSearch will be affected in different ways by planned maintenance work by CUNY CIS:

  • library catalog
    • entirely unavailable
  • OneSearch
    • searches can be run but there will be no way to log in (using library ID number) to see full search results when off campus (but you can still click through the “View Online” tab on or off campus to view the full text of those items your search does find)
    • real-time availability messages for items we own (e.g., books that can be borrowed) will not display

Remote access to library databases (handled through our EZproxy server) will be unaffected by this work.

Watch Out for Journal Sites That Offer Articles in ReadCube Format

Some of the major journal publishers, such as Wiley and Nature, have added ReadCube as an option for viewing the full text of an article. Depending on which journal platform you’re on, you may see links for the article as a PDF and as an “Interactive PDF from ReadCube” or just one option. Here are some examples:

Nature--ReadCube option

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v456/n7221/full/456450a.html

Wiley--ReadCube

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1017/S1464793106007032/abstract

Although these “ReadCube PDFs” may be billed as PDFs, they have some flaws, as noted by researcher Ross Mounce, who finds that they are not clearly labeled on the article page by Wiley and that in some cases the images are messed up from the original PDF. In the case of Wiley’s interface, if you want the original PDF, you first have view the ReadCube PDF and then within the ReadCube interface look for the “Download PDF” option on the bottom; only then will you be able to the traditional PDF.

Interestingly, Mounce suggests that people who are concerned about the usability problems with how ReadCube is presented and functions, and with the DRM that is built into the technology, and with its possible privacy issues may actually want to block ReadCube PDFs from even appearing in their browsers and offers a range of browser plugins and security settings to do so.

RiskMetrics Is Now Called ISS

The RiskMetrics database available on the WRDS platform has been renamed ISS. The link to ISS can now be found on the I-J tab of the main databases page. Through this summer, there will be a see reference link on the Q-R tab that redirects users to the I-J tab for the ISS link.

FWIW, I had forgotten about what was in this particular database. If you want data on directors (names, ethnicity, affilations, etc.) and governance of a publicly traded company, then ISS is the place to go.

Database Trial: World Cinema Video Collection

Database description

Nearly 400 full-length movies from legendary directors such as Ozu, Kurosawa, Eisenstein, Welles, Hitchcock, etc. Videos may be embedded.

Trial ends

1 April 2015 (CUNY-wide)

Access

On campus only via the link on the Trials tab of the databases page

Feedback

Please share with any faculty who might be interested and recommend they use the trial feedback form (also linked to on the Trials tab on the databases page)