Reference at Newman Library

Tag: Technical Problems

Should We Include bX Recommender in ScienceDirect

This week, we activated the bX Recommender service in ScienceDirect. The service works somewhat the same as it does in SFX menus: when you are viewing an article, the bX service recommends three relevant articles. Here is a screenshot of a SFX menu with bX recommendations:

Here is what bX looks like in ScienceDirect:

Although bX in ScienceDirect does recommend articles based on the one you are looking at, it suffers from two problems, one that is probably fixable and one that probably isn’t:

  1. Fixable problem: If you access ScienceDirect from off-campus (i.e., via EZproxy) the bX Recommender service doesn’t work at all. ScienceDirect is aware of this problem.
  2. Probably unfixable problem: the recommendations from bX in ScienceDirect only point to other articles in ScienceDirect (the bX service in SFX menus is neutral about its recommendations).

Given the two problems, especially the one that limits recommendations to articles in ScienceDirect, do you think we should keep the bX service active in ScienceDirect or turn it off? Please leave your comments on this post and vote by Feb. 24 on this Qualtrics poll.

Problems with New Project MUSE Interface

In January, Project MUSE rolled out a new interface that now looks like it’s got a few quirks and missing functions.

“Find it” Icon and Link Icon

As noted on my January 6 post about the new interface, Project MUSE doesn’t make it possible for libraries to include an icon for their link resolver, so for us here in CUNY, the connection to SFX is via the link labeled “Find it! @ CUNY.” It’s now apparent that the link to SFX only appears on the search results pages; article records inexplicably fail to offer the SFX link.

What makes the disappearance of the SFX link from article record pages worse is that the pages offer a confusing set of login options at the bottom (none of which are any use to Baruch users) and the pages show on the top right corner a legend for Project MUSE access icons that might on first glance seem to suggest that we do have access (when in fact we really don’t). This screenshot shows the problematic sections of article record pages:

“Saved Citations” Feature Doesn’t Work (Yet)

Although the top right corner of the screen suggests there is a way to have “Saved Citations,” I couldn’t see a way to save anything. I assume this functionality is coming eventually. Here’s a screenshot of the “Saved Citations” feature as it appears right now:

Filter to Search Beyond Baruch’s Subscription Toggles Off

13 Feb. 2012 update: this filter problem now fixed

There is a checkbox on the left side of the search page for “Access” that lets you expand your search beyond “Only content I have access to.” If you run an expanded search and move back and forth between your search results page and article record pages, you’ll see that the checkbox setting you made gets undone and your search results page just shows the more restricted search to “Only content I have access to.”

I’ve reported these issues to Project MUSE and will let you know when they’ve been fixed.

Library catalog unavailable January 20, 2012, 7 a.m. until January 22, 2012, approx. 12 p.m.

On Friday, January 20, 2012 at 7:00 A.M. CUNY Central CIS will be migrating CUNY’s library systems to newer, more powerful hardware. For the duration of this maintenance, the library catalog will be unavailable.

For users who wish to find out if Baruch owns a specific book, please check WorldCat.  For help with WorldCat or any other questions, please feel free to contact us.

We expect service to be restored by approximately 12:00 P.M. on Sunday, January 22, 2012.

Wikipedia Going Dark Tomorrow (Wednesday)

This is just an FYI as it occurred to me that we may well get questions or complaints on Wednesday–my apologies if you already know all about this:

Wikipedia (along with a number of other sites) is planning to shut itself down for 24 hours this Wednesday as a protest against SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act. SOPA (the Senate version is called PIPA, the Protect IP Act). As you might guess, the idea of the act is to stop piracy by making it possible to “blacklist” or shut down sites that host pirated content.

Critics–including a lot of major websites–say that the effect will instead be to cripple them, and cripple access to information in general, because the law would mean any site with anything on it that might possible be piracy could be shut down entirely (so, like one pirated video on YouTube would mean YouTube would disappear).

I imagine Wikipedia and other sites participating in the protest will have explanatory statements on their sites, but I am also guessing we may get questions from students, so it’s probably best to be prepared.

Read more about Wikipedia and other sites going dark on Wednesday:

h/t to Laura Crossett for post idea and language

Public PC Error Message for “Paused” Printer

At the reference desk yesterday, I noticed that a few of the standup terminals by the circulation desk were giving students an error message when they tried to print. When the student brings up the print dialog box and clicks the OK button, a small pop-up window appears in the lower right corner indicating that the printer is paused. The print job does not get sent.

There is a way to work around this problem until it gets fixed. When the student is looking at the print dialog box, they should click on the part of that box that lists available printers. They’ll see that the one selected says “paused.” If they select the regular “B&W” printer from the options, the job will go through and everything will be fine.

After submitting a BCTC Help Desk request for this (and getting a ticket number for it), I spoke with Bruce Little from BCTC. He indicated that BCTC will resolve the problem, which is connected in some way to the Windows update program on those terminals. In the meanwhile, the trick I detailed above should allow you to help students move beyond the paused printer error message.