Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Books24x7

Direct Links to Books 24×7 Ebooks Restored

Our catalog update last weekend restored direct links to our Books 24×7 subscription from the Baruch Library Catalog (CUNY+ catalog) . Clicking on the direct link in the Baruch holdings will now take users to the Baruch log-in screen (including on-campus access). Books 24×7 ebooks are available to current Baruch students, faculty and staff only, on and off campus. All users must log-in to reach the resource.

Users who wish to access Books 24×7 directly through our Databases page will continue to be able to do so, and will be presented with the same Baruch log-in screen (including on-campus access).

Books 24×7 ebooks OPAC record display Nov 16-17, 2013

In an effort to update records in our library catalog, bibliographic records for all Books 24×7 ebooks will be unavailable on the CUNY+ OPAC on Saturday and Sunday, Nov 16-17. Only ebooks in our Books 24×7 subscription are affected. These records will not appear in browse or search results as existing records are being removed. On Sunday, users might begin to SEE partially loaded new records (records without holdings or external links). We expect full functionality to be in place by Sunday evening. In the meantime, users can continue to access these ebooks via the publisher’s site (instructions). We hope that this update will lead to restoring direct click-throughs from the CUNY+ OPAC later on.  Thank you for your patience.

Testing Books24x7 Options

Mike and I are testing new configurations for Books24x7 as we continue to look for a way to restore direct access from catalog records to specific books in the collection. One change you’ll notice (for the moment at least) is that if you launch Books24x7 from the databases page, you get asked to enter your Baruch username and password even if you are on campus. The links from specific books in the catalog still don’t work, but all books can be accessed if you go into the database from the databases page and then search for the book once you’re in the Books24x7 interface.

We will keep you posted of any other changes as we work our way to a solution.

Books24x7 Links In Catalog Still Not Working

Just a reminder that the links to Books24x7 titles in the catalog still don’t work. If someone needs to get to a book in Books24x7, they can still do so by going through the main link to Books24x7 on the Databases page and then search by title for the book they need. One thing that you may notice when you are in the Books24x7 database is that the feature that lets users create their own accounts to save books in folders is overridden with a “CUNY Baruch College” account (click the annotated screenshot below for a larger image showing places where this personal account info can be seen).

There isn’t a way for users to create their own accounts right now, as this setup we have is just a workaround that the vendor came up with recently to meet our request that users not have to create personal accounts just to get into the database in the first place (users should be able to click right into a book or launch a search and then decide later if they want to create a personal account where they might save things).

We have been working hard with the vendor, BCTC, and the CUNY Office of Library Services to troubleshoot the problem with the links in the catalog. We’ve also reached out for assistance on several relevant mailing lists and gotten lots of solutions that haven’t quite fixed the problem. As soon as it is fixed, expect to see a new blog post about it (and sighs of relief from Mike and me).

Status of Books24x7 Login Issue

We are still seeing problems with access to Books24x7, especially when the point of connection is a link in a catalog record. From both on and off campus, you may still see odd Books24x7 pages requiring that you login with a Books24x7 account or create one. Since I first reported this problem a month ago, the library and now BCTC have been working with the vendor to identify what is the source of the problem. As soon as the problem is fixed, expect to see an update here on this blog.

In the meanwhile, it is still possible to access the ebooks in the collection; all you need to do is create a Books24x7 account and then use that login when you get the Books24x7 page asking for those credentials.

Problems with Books24x7 Logins

For a few weeks now, we have been working with Books24x7 support to figure out why direct access to that resource requires a user to login with a Books24x7 account first. This problem has cropped up in the past and been solved; it appears to have returned again. Since this is taking longer than expected to get fixed, here are some workarounds.

Accessing a book via the link for it in a catalog record

If you try to click on the link in a catalog record to an item in the Books24x7 collection (the link is usually labeled “Click here for the electronic version”), you’ll get this dead end page from Books24x7:

To get around this, you’ll need to go back to our “Databases” page, use the link there to go in the front door of Books24x7. When you do, though, you’ll see a Books24x7 page requiring you to login with your Books24x7 login or register for a login. You must login or register/login to get past this page:

Once you have logged in, you can either use the search box in the main Books24x7 interface to find that book from the catalog you wanted to access or you can go back to the catalog record (as long as it is the same browser) and click the link there to go direct to the book (it should work once you’ve logged in to Books24x7 in that browser).

Accessing the main Books24x7 interface via the Databases page link

If you haven’t logged in with a Books24x7 login yet, you’ll need to do so with your existing Books24x7 login or one that can create via the “Register” link on this page:

 

Accounting assignment on “push down accounting”

I helped a student in Acc 4100 who is part of a team doing research and a presentation on “push down accounting.”  They are to include references to companies using push down accounting.  Here are some possible sources:

Books 24×7 -search FinancePro collection for phrase “push down accounting”.  There are some books with chapters explaining this phrase.

ABI Inform and Business Source Premier can be searched for articles in accounting journals.  These can help explain push down accounting, which results in a new basis (from what I read quickly–I really didn’t study it).

CCH Accounting Research Manager–offers the FASB Codification and interpretations and explanations.  The FASB Codification relating to push down accounting is 805-50-15-7 through 15-9.   Among the results I looked at were some AICPA issues papers including pushdown accounting in practice with examples from the 1970s and 1980s mentioned.

For current/recent examples, I suggested to the student to try Factiva as we found some earnings releases (from Business Wire and other wire services) and also earnings conference calls in which a specific company’s  officers explained  how push down accounting affected their earnings.

Doing phrase searches for push down accounting in SEC filings on Mergent and Edgar Online I-Metrix also provided some recent examples.

The student was pleased with these suggestions.  I neglected to ask if they were to consider non-US companies.  I hope these suggestions are helpful in case the question comes up again.

Ebooks MARC Records – possible duplicates

As we purchased some ebooks collection by packages, not by individual titles, it is possible that you may find duplicate records in CUNY+ from different vendors (books 24×7, ebrary, credo, Gale Virtual reference, etc.). Our initial thought was to suppress duplicate records to one record. However, as these collections are constantly updated, titles may be deleted in the near future. We decide to keep multiple records for now.

So, if in case you find duplicate records in CUNY+, it is not a mistake. Please let me know if it occurs to you.