What to Ask Users When They Say They Can’t Log In

The more details we have about where the user was when they clicked a link that failed to work for them, the better we can troubleshoot the problem and decide whether it’s something the library needs to fix or whether it’s a username/password problem that the user needs to get help with from the BCTC Help Desk or the CUNY SPS Help Desk (or use the password recovery/reset features when appropriate). If a user says that they can’t log into something, please try to get as many details as you can, especially if it sounds like something you’ll need to notify Mike or me about.

Is the error screen coming from a Baruch or a CUNY page or are you seeing on a page from the database/resource (alternately, can you give me the web address for the page that’s saying you can’t log in or send me a screenshot?)

What specifically did you click on before you got a logon page? Was it something in OneSearch? If so, what was the specific item? Or was it a link on the library website (including our A-Z databses page)? If so, what was the link and what was the library web page where that link is found?

Were you trying to get into something on e-reserve? If so, what was the specific item and what class is it for (instructor and course number)? Is it the course password that you can’t get past or did you get past that but now can’t access some specific item put on reserve?

New in OneSearch: Ejournal Holdings Summaries and CUNY Academic Works Records

Ejournal Holdings Summaries

Until yesterday, if you wanted to find out what years of online coverage we had for a given periodical, you had to use the “Journal Search” feature in OneSearch, then click through from the results page to view a full record, and then eyeball the list of databases where holdings details are available. Now, there’s a shortcut. When you run a search, you’ll see on the results page a summary of online holdings for each periodical that has any:

When you first see the search results of a journal search, it may take a few seconds for the online holdings summary to load after the “Available online” text. If you click through to the journal record, you’ll see the same summary statement at the top of the record. You can see this from the links below:

As you can see from the sample journal record for Developmental Psychology, if the journal also has print or microform holdings, those don’t display tidy summary statement at the top of the record or in the brief display in the search results; for that info, you’ll still need to scroll down to the Locations section of the record.

CUNY Academic Works Records

When we moved from Primo to Primo VE in August 2020, we lost the ability to have OneSearch index records in CUNY Academic Works. That feature is now finally back thanks to work by CUNY OLS.

CUNY Login Now Available for Off Campus Access to Library Resources

This week, we updated the EZproxy server used for authenticating off campus users before they are passed on to our licensed resources. For most of our resources, users will now see a new login page that gives them the preferred option of logging in with their CUNY Login (the same set of credentials used for Zoom, Blackboard, CUNYfirst, and library borrower accounts in OneSearch). The new login page also offers the option to log in with a Baruch username and password; this option will be removed at the end of the spring 2022 semester.

There are still a few resources that require a Baruch username and password: O’Reilly and FitchConnect. These, too, should be switched over very soon to use the CUNY Login system.

There are also a handful of other databases, mostly business ones, that have other login schemes (such as Calcbench, Comscore, FactSet, Refinitiv Eikon, etc.) I’m working on a spreadsheet that will go in the Library Services wiki that lists each database and what kind of login system it uses. Also worth noting here is that those databases that have a non-standard way of logging in should already have that noted in some way in the database description in our LibGuides system.

I’ve updated the page on our website, “Logging into Library Resources and Services,” to reflect these recent changes. If you run into any unexpected problems with remote access, please contact both Michael Waldman and me ASAP.

Factiva Is Back Up

Access to Factiva is back. On the EZproxy mailing list, someone shared some additional lines to add to the configuration settings in EZproxy for Factiva.

Now that I’m able to get back in, I can start looking into this announcement on the News Pages tab in Factiva and work with Mike to figure out how to proceed once the News Pages feature goes away in January 2022:

Dear Factiva Users,

Please note that the News Pages feature in Factiva will be removed at the end of January 2022. We will be discontinuing this feature and reinvesting the resources to focus on improving high traffic areas and developing new features.

To ensure that you have access to similar functionalities, we have enhanced your Factiva Home pages experience. Read more about the Home pages feature here.

Admins and Librarians, the document has a dedicated section to help you set up Home pages for your end-users.

Please contact your library for more information.

Factiva Is Down (see update)

UPDATE: As of 1:30 PM, access has been restored. Details on this new blog post.

Thanks to alerts on the EZproxy mailing list this morning, I learned that Factiva access is down. I’m not sure that the problem is but once you log in, you get this error message on a Factiva page:

We are unable to process your request at this time. Please try again in a few minutes.

Error: 210905
Server: AWSPFWAPPS07

I’ve added a “temporarily unavailable” note to the database link in LibGuides. As soon as access is restored, I’ll post an update on the blog.

Database Trial: Guangming Ribao Digital Archive

Description (from the vendor)

The Guangming Ribao digital archive contains published issues from 1949-2010 in full-text, full-image format, with the capability to view articles side-by-side as text and images. The Guangming Ribao digital archive offers scholars the most comprehensive collection available for this title, and features full page-level digitization, complete original graphics, and 100% searchable text. The interface is in Simplified Chinese, and content is in Traditional Chinese.

For more info, see this product PDF from the vendor.

Trial Ends

December 15, 2021

Access

On and off campus. Use the link on the Trials tab on 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).

Wiley Remote Access Problems Fixed

The problem reported last week about our inability to get remote access to Wiley content has now been resolved. Wiley explained the problem this way:

Due to an abnormally high amount of web activity on Wiley Online Library, Cloudflare, our security solution, put extra checks in place to identify and prevent any potential for malicious activity. These checks flagged EZproxy traffic as a potential threat, blocking all access via EZproxy, as well as other third-party solutions, linking directly to the PDF. We are working on whitelisting these providers to restore access, and have already done so with OCLC-hosted EZproxy traffic.

Database Trial: Digital Theatre+

Description

This database, which provides streaming video of recordings of productions on the stage, will be of special interest to any faculty member who wants students to view the performance of plays and musicals.

Trial Ends

November 14, 2021

Access

On and off campus. Use the link on the Trials tab on 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).

Continuing Problems with Off-Campus Access to Wiley Online Library (updated)

The problems that all Wiley customers using EZproxy for authentication were reporting yesterday are still lingering. Users from off campus have been seeing an error message from Wiley that reads “This web property is not accessible via this address” and looks like this:

While we can now view and download PDFs from articles from off campus, if you try to download a book chapter, you’ll likely see this error message. This content should still be available though to users on the campus network.

As soon as Wiley sorts out this mess with their Cloudflare firewall, which as acting as though incoming traffic from EZproxy servers is part of a DDoS attack, I’ll post an update.

UPDATE: As of 11/2/2021, this problem is now fixed. See this blog post for details.

EDGAR Pro Subscription Ends While Calcbench Subscription Begins

The last day of our subscription to EDGAR Pro is October 19. As a replacement, we have already started our subscription to Calcbench and added a link for it on our A-Z databases page. Here is our description of Calcbench, which is intended serve as a replacement for EDGAR Pro:

Financial data platform providing company financials and fundamental research for over 12,000 listed public companies. Includes financials, footnotes, and source documents of every 10-K, 10-Q, Earnings Releases, proxy statements, 8-Ks, and SEC comment letters. Data is sourced via XBRL from the SEC’s corporate repository, and available in Calcbench as they are filed.

Register for an account using your Baruch email address.