The helpful iDiscover article sidebar

What is the iDiscover article sidebar? 

It’s a pane that appears on the right of your browser window when linking from certain citations you find in iDiscover.   In the iDiscover results list click a link, e.g. “Full Text Available” below an article citation, and iDiscover will open a content page.  The sidebar will appear to the right of the content, e.g. article full text.

Citation & journal information

The sidebar helpfully contains the citation that you read on a iDiscover search results page.  Once you’ve clicked on a link on that results page and left the iDiscover citation there is no easy way of keeping that citation on screen.  The sidebar solves that problem by displaying it.  This is useful for navigating if the link has not in fact resulted in your being delivered the content described by the citation.  The sidebar’s information gives you the option to navigate yourself to the article if, for instance, you have been taken to the contents page or home page of the journal rather than directly to the article.

Clicking on “Journal Details” under the article citation on the sidebar opens further details about the journal and gives a link to Ulrichsweb.com, the prime source for detailed information about journals.

Package & coverage detail & Problem report form

Below the citation and journal details you will see the “package” information (usually the name of the publisher database or platform the journal is to be found in), plus the coverage available (e.g. 1997 – present).  This area of the sidebar also contains a link: “Report a problem”.  Clicking on this opens a brief form you can fill in if your link has really failed and the content appears not to be available at all.

When you complete this problem form it will be picked up by us in the ejournals@cambridge team on the ejournals & eresources helpdesk and we will get back to you very soon to resolve the query.  We will try to provide an alternative route to the content you require, but please beware that fixing the linking issue may take longer as it involves working with our knowledgebase link provider.

There is no way right now to “force” the inclusion of the name and email address on this form, so we have put a message above the form that says:

“Please remember to add your name and email address in the form so we can send you a reply.”

(We’ve asked our provider of this service to make it mandatory the name is included in a future update.)

Still need help?

This is an area of the sidebar that offers links to further help.  This includes two links that construct a title or an ISBN search in iDiscover:

“Search the Library’s catalog – by title”

“Search the Library’s catalog – by ISBN”

You can use these links to search for alternative versions – e.g. in print format in libraries in Cambridge, records for which can be found in iDiscover.

There is here also a link to WorldCat that will provide further links to external sites that may be useful alternatives to access (note this is not working currently for discovering WorldCat holdings for Cambridge, but we are working on fixing this with OCLC).

And a link is here provided to the InterLibrary Loan service at the University Library where you can find all the necessary steps to making an InterLibrary Loan request.

Email and Export

This last section of the sidebar provides you with options to email the citation to your email account or export it to EndNote reference manager or in other formats.

“Open content in new tab” link

In experimenting with the sidebar it’s been discovered that there are some providers whose content is indexed in the Summon index (that lies behind iDiscover) but which does not interact well with the Summon search functionality.  This applies to a limited subset of the vast amount of content available to you.  We know searching on this content can, frustratingly, result in a blank white screen.  To help with this we have added a link at the bottom of the sidebar that says “Open content in new tab“.  So far we’ve found that clicking on this link does indeed open the missing content without any further hitch.

Finally a note about linking in general

iDiscover comprises links that are OpenURL links and links that are known (in our provider ProQuest’s terminology) as “index-enhanced deep links”.  These latter work very smoothly indeed as the referring source has the URI to direct link to the content and OpenURL does not need to be evoked at all.

OpenURL links, on the other hand, can be problematic for a number of reasons.  The sidebar in iDiscover will appear, therefore, only when the link followed is an OpenURL link and there could be a potential problem.

The sidebar presents you with options you didn’t have easily to hand before – to try navigating yourself from the citation details; to report the problem to the helpdesk from where we’ll get back to you promptly; to try searching in iDiscover as an alternative; to try the option of an InterLibrary Loan; to export the details to your reference manager or email account.

Try out the sidebar with this example search on “Merry Christmas phosphates”, illustrated above.

So, no, the sidebar isn’t a mis-spelt cocktail or handy mini-bar-cum-motorbike sidecar that pops up with a refreshing early Christmas cherryade, but a new feature that you will see appearing alongside content pages opened from links in citation records etc. in iDiscover.  We hope it will make your use of iDiscover altogether an easier ride and if you need to fill in the problem form, please remember to include your name and email so we can reply to you.  Thank you and Happy Holidays!

House of Commons Parliamentary Papers new platform

The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers has now been upgraded and launched on the ProQuest Government platform and can be accessed at this link.  It will run concurrently with the legacy Chadwyck Healy platform here until end of March 2016.  The links on the eresources@cambridge A-Z and subject pages and on the LibGuides A-Z have been updated accordingly.

The House of Commons Parliamentary Papers are an essential primary source for Britain, its colonies, and the wider world. They are the working documents of the British government for all areas of social, political, economic, and foreign policy. 

They include Bills, Reports of Royal Commissions, Reports of Select Committees, Accounts and Papers and other materials. The Papers influenced public opinion and social and political philosophy, and provided a forum for ideas of hundreds of thinkers including Edward Jenner, Matthew Arnold, Anthony Trollope, John Stuart Mill, Michael Faraday, Carlyle, Darwin, and Marx.

Before the advent of a fully formed Whitehall departmental system, Parliament was the main source of public information, ordering the publication of papers, returns, reports and evidence on a grand scale.

On the new improved platform, you will find searching faster and more intuitive, be able to apply post-search filters, bookmark search forms, use dedicated search forms for members of parliament; find full text PDFs fully searchable and discover related news content.

Debate Tonight: Whether a man’s wig should be dressed with honey or mustard! A 1795 cartoon satirizing the content of debates.

Silence Gentlemen, to Order, only 10 speak at a time! for if you all Bray together it’s impossible to decide on this important Question.

 

U.S. Declassified Documents, the new Declassified Documents Reference System

Further to our post on 3 December 2015, we are pleased to report that today the Declassified Documents Reference System has been launched and is now live on the Artemis platform from Gale Cengage.  The DDRS is now known as U.S. Declassified Documents and can be accessed here.

To search the U.S. Declassifed Documents resource only, click on the “Searching 10 of 10 databases” tab, untick the “Check all” tick box and tick just the “U.S. Declassified Documents Online” tick box (bottom right).

The U.S. Declassified Documents can now be cross-searched with the other archive resources on the Artemis platform.  You can filter search results by document type, classification level, publication year and by other categories.  Results can be analysed using the built-in Term Frequency and Term Clusters tools.

Government documents constitute a significant resource for researchers in almost every discipline.  Limitations on the access to this information, severely restricts our understanding of the development of domestic and foreign policies. U.S. Declassified Documents makes it possible for researchers to easily and quickly access and review selected previously classified government documents online.

This digital collection fills an important gap in post-World War II domestic and foreign policy studies and provides unique opportunities for undergraduate and graduate comprehensive research in a rich primary source.  In addition, U.S. Declassified Documents provides basic research for journalism, public policy studies, international law and security, and other disciplines.

The cartoon above represents post-war Europe, for a full explanation on the cartoon visit this link. Cartoonist: Woop, Date 27th September 1947 –

Bibliographie de la littérature française

The University Library now makes available online the Bibliographie de la littérature française

The online BLF is an inventory of all the studies which have appeared in France and abroad since 1998 concerning French and Francophone literature from the sixteenth century to the present day. It is a precious resource for anyone carrying out research on a writer, theme or period from French or Francophone literature.

The online BLF is the result of a convention signed in January 2014 linking three institutions: the Bibliothèque nationale de France, the Société d’Histoire littéraire de la France, and Classiques Garnier numérique.

The database is enriched daily with new references thanks to the work of the team at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, who are in charge of its creation, and the help of the Société d’Histoire littéraire de France. The digital editor of the BLF, Classiques Garnier numérique, ensures that the database is up to date.

The aim is to offer users an updated database which is a real crossroads of information in which bibliographic references link to contents available online. The three partner institutions are working to establish permanent links to the resources they each develop (such as Gallica and data.bnf for the BnF).

Alongside these projects, the conversion of all paper volumes of the BLF predating 1998 is being managed by Classiques Garnier numérique. Once finished, the online BLF will allow users to search for all studies produced since 1894 which relate to French and Francophone literature from the sixteenth century to the present day.

 

The Bibliographie de la Littérature française is a research tool which has long been available only on paper. At first a simple bibliographic chronicle appearing at the end of issues of the Revue d’Histoire littéraire de la France (from 1894 to 1949), it later became a separate volume constituting the annual special edition of the Revue d’Histoire littéraire de la France, published by the Société d’Histoire littéraire de la France (PUF).

Sometimes referred to as the ‘Rancoeur’ – the name of the first bibliographer to be in charge of its production in the 1950s – the Bibliographie de la Littérature française has been produced by a custodian of the Bibliothèque nationale de France since 1996, in line with a convention linking the BnF and the SHLF.

20 October 2015 – 7 February 2016

The Bibliothèque nationale de France presents ‘l’alchimie du livre’, an exhibition of more than 100 books, made by Anselm Kiefer between 1968 and 2015. These will be exhibited alongside recent paintings and sculpture.

 

Altmetric Top 100 2015

Altmetric today unveils its Top 100 list of the most shared and discussed academic research of 2015: http://www.altmetric.com/top100

Recreating Van Gogh’s masterpieces, risky Christmas gifts, plastic pollution in our oceans, and the return of the autism debate all caught the imagination of the public and mainstream media this year.

Articles in the list can be filtered by institution, journal, access type and subject category. 42% of the articles that made the 2015 list were published under a gold Open Access license.

The ranking is determined based on which research papers published in the last year have received the most attention from the sources tracked by Altmetric – including mainstream media sites, Wikipedia, blogs, social networks, post-publication peer-review forums, and online reference managers, amongst others.

To explore the list (including our new interactive institutional affiliation map!) visithttp://www.altmetric.com/top100, and join the conversation online with #altmetrictop100

The Altmetric Explorer can be explored here:

http://ezproxy.lib.cam.ac.uk:2048/login?url=http://altmetricexplorer.com

JSTOR Hebrew Journals Archive Collection

New on ejournals@cambridge A-Z: JSTOR Hebrew Journals Archive Collection

‘Jerusalem Old City’ by Christopher Chan (on Flickr)

From the JSTOR website:

“With a minimum of 40 titles, the Hebrew Journals Collection draws from an interdisciplinary range of titles published primarily in Hebrew. The collection is the first on JSTOR to be released in a non-Roman alphabet, creating an essential resource for scholars in Hebrew worldwide.

Top disciplines include Jewish Studies, Language & Literature, and Archaeology, with journals drawn from leading organizations such as the Bialik Institute, the World Union of Jewish Studies, and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

The JSTOR platform has been adapted in ways that now support the requirements of the Hebrew language. These include right-to-left reading, searchability in Hebrew, and journal metadata in both Hebrew and English when provided, including author names, titles, and tables of contents.”

Notable titles include:

• ‘Atiqot
• Cathedra
• Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Literature

A full title list for the package can be found on the JSTOR website.

Access the various titles from JSTOR Arts & Science XIV Archive Collection via the ejournals@cambridge A-Z.  Access to the articles will be available in iDiscover next week.

JSTOR Arts & Science XIV Archive Collection

New on ejournals@cambridge A-Z: JSTOR Arts & Science XIV Archive Collection

‘Guerreiros de Terracota em Xi’An, China’ by Ana Paula Hirama (on Flickr)

From the JSTOR website:

“The Arts & Sciences XIV Collection brings together more than 140 journals devoted to the study of culture and communication, from civilization’s earliest traces to the growth and governance of peoples. A group of titles in science and technology also cover aspects of STEM education, and explore the legal implications, cultural impact, and historical development of science and technology.

All titles are new to the JSTOR platform at the time of launch. Journals in the collection span 17 countries, 23 disciplines, and date back to 1839. They are drawn primarily from the fields of Archaeology, Language & Literature, Communications Studies, Asian Studies, Political Science, and Education.”

Notable titles include:

• Journal of African Archaeology
• Mexicon
• Discourse & Society
• Technical Communication
• Bulletin of the Asia Institute
• Science Progress
• Esprit

A full title list for the package can be found on the JSTOR website.

Access the various titles from JSTOR Arts & Science XIV Archive Collection via the ejournals@cambridge A-Z. Access to the articles will be available in iDiscover next week.

JSTOR Arts & Science XIII Archive Collection

New on ejournals@cambridge A-Z: JSTOR Arts & Science XIII Archive Collection

“late byzantine cross-in-square” by fusion-of-horizons (on Flickr)

From the JSTOR website:

“The Arts & Sciences XIII Collection adds an increasingly international set of journals in disciplines including Language & Literature, Art & Art History, Philosophy, and Religion. Represented subdisciplines include European church history and the literature of the American West.

The collection offers a global scope. European countries including Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands each contribute several titles, with an additional title published in South Korea, the Journal of Korean Religions.

The Arts & Sciences XIII Collection also complements JSTOR content in History, Music, and Classical Studies. The collection will contain at least 125 titles by completion.”

Notable titles include:

• Journal of Indian Philosophy (1970-)
• Gregorianum (1920-)
• Impressions (1976-)
• Philosophische Rundschau (1953-)

A full title list for the package can be found on the JSTOR website.

Access the various titles from JSTOR Arts & Science XIII Archive Collection via the ejournals@cambridge A-Z. Records for the titles in this archive will be available in LibrarySearch in the new year. Access to the articles will be available in LibrarySearch+ next week.

Mass Observation Online

The University Library is delighted to announce access is now available for the University of Cambridge to Mass Observation Online.

Mass Observation Online makes available original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organisation, as well as printed publications, photographs and interactive features. A pioneering social research organisation, Mass Observation was founded in 1937 by anthropologist Tom Harrisson, film-maker Humphrey Jennings and poet Charles Madge. Their aim was to create an ‘anthropology of ourselves’, and by recruiting a team of observers and a panel of volunteer writers they studied the everyday lives of ordinary people in Britain. This resource covers the original Mass Observation project, the bulk of which was carried out from 1937 until the mid-1950s, offering an unparalleled insight into everyday life in Britain during these transformative years.

The vast content of the Archive can be divided into two main types: material collected by investigators, and material submitted by volunteers. This raw data was, in turn, summarised in the file reports (or in a few cases, the official publications). The material collected by investigators comprises thematic studies, undertaken by paid ‘observers’, and comprising surveys, collections of ephemera, accounts of ‘overheards’ and covert observations of the general public. The material submitted by volunteers, on the other hand, are deeply personal accounts of individual lives provided by the amateur observers from MO’s ‘National Panel’. The duality apparent in these two opposing methods of data collection was present from the very beginning of Mass Observation’s conception, and has been attributed to the conflicting aims of the co-founders of Mass Observation, Tom Harrisson and Charles Madge. From the very start Mass Observation’s methods were divided: Harrisson taking his anthropological, scientific approach to Bolton for the Worktown study, in which the invisibility of the Mass Observation observer was essential, while Madge remained in London to build up the collection of diaries and personal writings from the volunteer National Panel.

The Archive of Mass Observation, a pioneering social research resource, provides access to around 115,000 digital images of material generated by mass observation between 1937 and 1949, with a few later additions from the 1950s and 1960s.

This is an invaluable resource for sociologists, cultural historians and a wide range of other disciplines.

Pamela Slater of 8 Wellgarth Rd N & W. II Single Architect 25, writes [on Monday 8, July, 1940, two months to the day before the first mass air raid on London on 7 September]:

Started new architectural job at London Bridge …

Had lunch with caretaker of the building and her husband where I work-she is sure that London is not going to get bombed “has said so all along!” Much talk about new tea rationing-most people philosophical about it- doesn’t affect me as I don’t care for the stuff.

I can’t bear to think about France – its like having to get used to the idea of a great friend suddenly dying of hidden cancer-till now unsuspected.  What satisfaction can be felt at the Navy’s action against the French fleet, it just makes one feel sick inside.

In lunch time today I walked along Eastcheap to Tower HIll where hundreds of people were standing round a tough, shirt-sleeved, perspiring individual high up on a buttress wall of the higher terrace.  After listening to him with much enjoyment for some time I realised that he must be the famous Donald Soper who I have only seen once before, respectably churchy at a public meeting.  He was grand- held the audience in the hollow of his hand, and kept everyone good-tempered inspte of saying all the time exactly what he wanted to say.  A wind was blowing over the Thames and, what with the new atmosphere of city workers in black coats, and the smells of warfs and granaries and store houses unimaginable goods, I came back to work most cheerfully.  It is really a sign of something healthy in our civilisation that in wartime a pacifist can stand up and talk Christian Pacifism for an hour to a mixed audience and get down amid the affectionate plaudits of that audience.

JSTOR Arts & Science XII Archive Collection

New on ejournals@cambridge A-Z: JSTOR Arts & Science XII Archive Collection

‘Syrian refugee’ by Bengin Ahmad (on Flickr)

From the JSTOR website:

“Arts & Sciences XII expands our coverage of the social sciences, and comprises disciplines with high usage and broad appeal.

Law, political science, and education content anchors the collection, and other titles in criminology and criminal justice, history,  social work, psychology, and sociology complement JSTOR’s offerings in the social sciences. Additional titles span African studies, Asian studies, language and literature, and Middle East studies.

The collection will feature a minimum of 125 titles at completion, and appeals to both the academic and practitioner audiences.”

Notable titles include:

• ABA Journal
• Foro Italiano
• Revista Chilena de Derecho
• Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka
• Zeitschrift fur Rechtspolitik

A full title list for the package can be found on the JSTOR website.

Access the various titles from JSTOR Arts & Science XII Archive Collection via the ejournals@cambridge A-Z. Records for the titles in this archive will be available in LibrarySearch in the new year. Access to the articles will be available in LibrarySearch+ next week.