Reference at Newman Library

Tag: SFX

Setting Up Google Scholar to Link to Our Full Text

As we moved to Alma in August, we also switched the link resolver system that powers the “Find it @ CUNY” button in databases and the “Find Full Text at Baruch” links that appear in Google Scholar search results like these:

Google Scholar search results

Anyone who wants to use the “Find Full Text at Baruch” feature in Google Scholar will have to change any settings they’ve saved in Google Scholar or start from scratch as follows.

STEP 1: On the Google Scholar home page, click the menu icon in the top left corner and then choose “Settings”

Google Scholar settings option in menu

STEP 2: On the settings page, select “Library Links” and then run a search for “baruch” in the search box.

Search for baruch in library links

STEP 3: If the search results show 3 listings, select the middle one only and then click the “Save” button.

Select 2nd listing in results

Background on the problem

In time, there should be only one listing for Baruch in the library links settings. Right now, we’re in a transitional period with our systems and are still waiting for Google Scholar to recognize that we’re about to retire the old SFX link resolver (which is behind the first of the three listings in the library links).

December 14-15 Downtime for Library Catalog and OneSearch

Beginning at 6 AM on Saturday, December 14, and ending (at the latest) by 6 PM on Sunday, December 15, CUNY CIS will be doing maintenance on systems that will affect the following services:

  • The library catalog (also known as CUNY+) may be entirely unavailable
    • Workaround: Use OneSearch to see if we actually have the item
  • OneSearch will be searchable but users won’t be able to get real-time info on the status of print books found, nor will users be able to log into their patron accounts to check loan periods, renew loans, etc.
    • Workaround: Stop by the circulation desk in the library
  • OneSearch will not be able to display the green “full text available” links in records
    • Workaround: Use the A-Z journals search tool to identify what database has access to any particular journal, magazine, newspaper, etc.
  • Databases will not display the “Find it @ CUNY” buttons or those buttons won’t work
    • Workaround: Use the A-Z journals search tool to identify what database has access to that journal, magazine, newspaper, etc.
  • Self-service kiosks won’t work: laptop kiosks on the 2nd floor of the library and Vertical Campus building; book loan kiosk on the 1st floor; self-checkout machine by the elevators on the 2nd floor.
    • Workaround: borrow laptops from the 3rd floor Tech Loan Desk and checkout books from the circulation desk.

Full Text Available Links Not Working in OneSearch (resolved 10 Dec 2019)

See updates in comments at bottom of the post.

SFX, the system that powers the green “Full text available” links in OneSearch seems to be down. When you click a link, you get an error page from SFX that says something like:

This site can’t be reached

The connection was reset.

Try:

Checking the connection
Checking the proxy and the firewall
Running Windows Network Diagnostics
ERR_CONNECTION_RESET

I’ve got a support ticket in to CUNY OLS to see what the story is with this. With any luck, it’s something that will get fixed shortly (maybe it’s just the SFX server at CUNY central that needs to be restarted).

As a workaround, use the A-Z journal tool to figure out where online access is for any given article you find. For ebooks, streaming audio, video, etc., try going directly to the database on the A-Z database page.

Full Text Available Links from OneSearch That Are Failing

A recent update from Ex Libris to the SFX system has broken links into ProQuest databases from OneSearch records. If you have found item in OneSearch and the “full text available” link is programmed to take to you to the text in a ProQuest database, you’ll get a weird error page from SFX that reads “Target URL could not be created” and looks like this:

Error page from SFX

Until a fix can be applied, use this as a workaround: use the A-Z journal tool from Serials Solutions to look up access for the needed item and use the links from there into the appropriate database.

Please note that you’ll only see this particular problem with links from OneSearch to ProQuest databases; links to Gale, EBSCO, etc, are not affected.

This problem is affecting all customers using Primo for their discovery service. A fix from Ex Libris may come at any moment. If it looks like Ex Libris is having problems with getting the fix out in a timely manner, we have a plan B here at CUNY to downgrade ProQuest links if there are also full text links to the same content from other vendors (Gale, EBSCO, etc.)

If you want to see the problem in action, try to connect to the full text for this article.

November 9 Downtime for Library Catalog and OneSearch

Between 8 am and 10 am on Saturday, November 9, CUNY CIS will be doing maintenance on systems that will affect the following services:

  • The library catalog (also known as CUNY+) may be entirely unavailable
    • Workaround: Use OneSearch to see if we actually have the item
  • OneSearch will be searchable but users won’t be able to get real-time info on the status of print books found, nor will users be able to log into their patron accounts to check loan periods, renew loans, etc.
    • Workaround: Stop by the circulation desk in the library
  • OneSearch will not be able to display the green “full text available” links in records
    • Workaround: Use the A-Z journals search tool to identify what database has access to that journal, magazine, newspaper, etc.
  • Databases will not display the “Find it @ CUNY” buttons or those buttons won’t work
    • Workaround: Use the A-Z journals search tool to identify what database has access to that journal, magazine, newspaper, etc.

What To Do When SFX and the Catalog Are Down

This weekend, from 6 pm on Saturday (September 7) to 6 am on Sunday (September 8), the servers hosting both SFX and the library catalog will be down for planned maintenance. This will affect not only on the library catalog and the “Find it! @ CUNY” button that pops up in databases but also OneSearch. Here’s how it will change things temporarily and how to work around it.

SFX and the “Full text available” links

Say you’ve just run a search on “turtles’ in OneSearch. In this screenshot of the first four search results in OneSearch, you can see there are green “Full text available” links for each item; these links won’t work at all because SFX is down.

OneSearch results for turtles

(click image to enlarge)

Although SFX is down, that doesn’t mean we can’t get to the full text. Here’s the workaround for each of the four items in the screenshot.

Item #1: Morphology and evolution of turtles

  1. This is an ebook. Click the title of the book to get to the OneSearch record that has the full description of the book.
  2. On the OneSearch record for the book, you can see references to “SpringerLink.” That’s a database we have at Baruch.
  3. Go back to the previous screen to see the OneSearch page with the search results.
  4. Click “Databases A-Z” at the top of the OneSearch page.
  5. Look for “SpringerLink” on the list of databases and click to launch it.
  6. Search in SpringerLink for the book using the book title.

Item #2: Turtles

  1. This is a “reference entry,” which means it’s an entry in one of our encyclopedia databases. Click the title (“Turtles”) to get to the OneSearch record that has the complete description of the reference entry.
  2. On the OneSearch record for the reference entry, you can see a mention near the bottom of “Gale Virtual Reference Library” as the source.
  3. Go back to the previous screen to see the OneSearch page with the search results.
  4. Click “Databases A-Z” at the top of the OneSearch page.
  5. Look for “Gale Virtual Reference Library” on the list of databases and click to launch it.
  6. Search in Gale Virtual Reference Library for the reference entry using the title “turtles.”

Item #3: Turtles

  1. This is an article from a journal. Since you can see the name of the journal, the Journal of the American Mosquito Control Association, you don’t need to click through to get more info. All you need is here (the name of the journal and year of publication).
  2. Click “Journals A-Z” at top of the screen.
  3. When the “Journals, Newspapers, & Magazines” page opens up, search for the name of journal to see what database(s) have access to it and what years.
  4. Click to connect to the database that has the year you need and then search within that database for the article.

Item #4: The Turtles

  1. This is another journal article. Use the same steps as for previous item (#3).

The catalog and the real-time availability info in OneSearch

The other part of OneSearch that will be affected by this weekend’s maintenance is connected to the catalog being down. You’ll still be able to find print books and other physical items in our collections by searching OneSearch, but you won’t be able to tell if it is checked out or not. The only workaround is to look for the book on the shelf.

 

 

Off Campus Access to Business Expert Press Ebooks Is Restored

We’ve fixed the problem reported here on March 21 that was preventing off campus users from going from OneSearch records for ebooks from Business Expert Press to the full text on the iG Library platform. The problem turns out to be that when the database company changed the URLs slightly for all the ebooks in that collection, that new URL syntax was not shared with Ex Libris, which stores them in the SFX knowledgebase that we use to connect users in OneSearch from records to the places where full text is actually found.

Thanks to the CUNY Office of Library Services for finding a clever hack to rewrite the ebook URLs in SFX. Next, we’ll work on getting the vendor and Ex Libris to update the URLs in SFX. For now, the hacked solution we have works well enough.

Workarounds When Full Text Available Link Doesn’t Work in OneSearch

If you’re in OneSearch and the green “full text available” link fails to connect you to the full text, there are a number of workarounds you might want to try.

  1. Click “Additional options for finding full text”

Scroll down the record to the “FT Options” section to find this link:

additional options for finding full text
Once clicked, a SFX menu will open in a new browser tab showing other databases where full text may be found.

2. Use the A-Z journal lookup tool from Serials Solutions to verify what database has access (for articles only)

If you’re in OneSearch, the easiest way to get to Serials Solutions is to click the “Journals A-Z” link at the top of the interface.

Link to A-Z journals in OneSearch header
3. Go to the ebook platform where the book should be

If the item is an ebook and the full text link isn’t working, try going to the A-Z databases page, connecting to the appropriate ebook database, and running the search there for the ebook.

If you’re in OneSearch, the easiest way to get to Serials Solutions is to click the “Journals A-Z” link at the top of the interface.

A to Z databases link

4. Report the linking problem

This isn’t a workaround but a plea to share with Michael Waldman and me any OneSearch record that fails to connect to full text. Every OneSearch record should have a “Report it” link you can use to quickly notify us of a problem.

Report it feature in OneSearch