UBC Library eResources: Service Bulletins

NUMDAM: A French Math Archive to Explore

Posted on May 4, 2009 @4:40 pm by irobb

So, what was the “new math” in 1810?  Find out in NUMDAM (Numérisation de documents anciens mathématiques), a database of 50+ mathematical journals and seminars. The  content is mostly French, but I am told there is English in there. Coverage runs from the 1800’s up to near Present (the most recent articles are only for subscribers). And if you have some relatively free time, you might want to look up Mr. A. Einstein’s “Théorie unitaire du champ physique” from 1930.

*CAUTION* Please do not try to view content with the DJVU links. Stick to .pdf for full text.

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Investext Lives!

Posted on April 17, 2009 @3:13 pm by irobb

*UPDATE*

sigh… The joy was short lived as the site seems to have a few quirks. We will try some experimentation to get this resolved. We are leaving the site up for now. Let us know if it gets too unstable. Stay tuned.

Previously… (more…)

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American Society for Microbiology: Access Restored!

Posted on April 14, 2009 @10:33 am by irobb

At last, ASM has restored our access to:

* Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy
* Applied and Environmental Microbiology
* Clinical and Vaccine Immunology
* Clinical Microbiology Reviews
* Eukaryotic Cell
* Infection and Immunity
* Journal of Bacteriology
* Journal of Clinical Microbiology
* Journal of Virology
* Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews
* Molecular and Cellular Biology

Thank you for your patience while we resolved this problem. Remember, if you ever have any questions or concerns about ANY eresource, you can email us at lib-ejhelp@interchange.ubc.ca

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ebrary Reader: Will it work with my browser?

Posted on April 8, 2009 @4:19 pm by irobb

Mostly, yes. If you want the full browser story from ebrary, visit here.

  • you must use Java 1.6 or higher
  • you must have browser cookies enabled and you may need to turn off pop-up blockers for ebrary.com
  • use Internet Explorer 5.x or newer ( if running under Windows you need only go view a book)
  • use Firefox 1.0.4 or newer (if running under Windows Firefox should handle the installation automatically. If you need to actively install the reader, you should read Installation – PC Firefox )
  • Use Safari 1.1 or newer (but you have to install. To install ebrary Reader for Mac OS X read Installation – Mac OS X. For Mac OS 9 read Installation – Mac OS 9.
  • Opera, iCab, NeoPlanet, Linux/Unix and WebTV are not supported at this time.

So, there you have it. I’ve viewed ebrary ebooks in Firefox, I.E. and Safari, and the reader worked fine. Yes, the first time can be annoying if a browser needs set up (*NOTE: on UBC Library Public stations users will have to load the reader each time they log in). But the full features of the reader –printing, copying, adding notes, etc– are worth it.

CAUTION: the reader can be damn slow to load… and there is often no little hourglass or spinning wheel or wiggling whatevers as it loads. Be patient. Remember, reading is possible in the Quick View mode, you just don’t get the fancy add-ons of the reader (i.e. no printing).

Try ebrary at e-Duke or Canadian Publisher’s Collection.

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Gale Databases: What’s “InfoMark”?

Posted on April 8, 2009 @3:55 pm by irobb

InfoMarkHave you ever seen this icon when searching in a Gale database (Business & Company Resource Center, Sabin Americana, and Literature Criticism Online to name 3 of several)? What it means is that the URL at the top of the page (in the browser’s window) is persistent… it lasts long after you have left the database. So, you can bookmark it, cut&paste it into an email, save it, whatever, and go back to that same page later. This includes pages where you have compiled a list of results from a search. Read the full detials, and fine print, at Gale’s InfoMark.

Note: For InfoMark to work, your browser must be set to accept cookies. (And everyone you email it to must have access to a Gale database)

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Google Scholar & UBC eLink: Dare I Say Success?

Posted on April 6, 2009 @1:46 pm by irobb

Searches in Google Scholar are yielding much more consistent results. Possible links are almost always listed as “UBC eLink” and only occasionally as “UBC Library Catalogue” (both go to the same SFX menu). But, alas, no eLink button yet. Some problems still exist, but these are due to the poor incoming information rather than a resolving problem on our end.

For example, try the following search:

  1. In Google Scholar search two words     Cronenberg AIDS
  2. The 2nd result reads   ” AIDS References in the Critical Reception of David Cronenberg:” It May Not Be Such a Bad Disease …- UBC eLink
  3. Clicking on “UBC eLink” gives you an abbreviated citation and no full-text results. Clicking on “AIDS References in the Critical…” takes you to the full text.
  4. You also see “All 4 versions” at the end of the 2nd result. Click on that, and you get four “UBC eLink” links, three of which take you to three different full-text sources.

Conclusion: it’s not perfect, but it does work better than before. So, don’t be disappointed by an initial “No full text available” message. Dig a bit.

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Black Friday for AACR and ASM journals

Posted on April 3, 2009 @4:50 pm by admin

*UPDATE*

Grey Monday? AACR titles are back. Still waiting on ASM.

Previously…
We’ve lost access to the current content published in our subscribed journals from the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society for Microbiology.     We’re working to restore access as soon as possible.    This is HIGH priority and we apologize for the inconvenience.

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Extra! Extra! Black Press Newspapers Now Available

Posted on April 1, 2009 @1:00 pm by irobb

The Kelowna Capital News, The Peace Arch News, the Omineca Express… and more! Sixty-seven new newspapers are now available online from ProQuest via the Black Press collection. Search for a title in the Library’s A-Z list of ejournals or see everything the Canadian Newsstand has to offer.

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Google Scholar & UBC eLink: Still a Mess

Posted on March 26, 2009 @5:34 pm by irobb

See the later post above. Or you can read about past problems (more…)

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DjVu Viewer: Some NetLibrary eBooks Want It

Posted on March 24, 2009 @2:02 pm by irobb

While most NetLibrary ebooks will display their full text nicely in Adobe Acrobat Reader, a few want something called the “DjVu Viewer”. A rival product of Acrobat? Anyway, in Internet Explorer and Firefox, trying to view the full text of the book (search “Schaum’s outline of theory and problems of business statistics” in the OPAC for an example) leads to a request to download a “nlreader” file. Don’t bother. The reader hasn’t been setup by Systems yet. And they are still reviewing the viewer to see if it is a solid piece of software we want to maintain, or something from the cyber-fringe that will be more trouble than it’s worth. So, if you run into one of these ebooks and REALLY feel we need to load that viewer ASAP, email lib-ejhelp@interchange.ubc.ca and we’ll try to speed up the roll out.

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