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Piping Up

SFU Library Feedback

« Previous Entries

Request for DOI Search Support

Saturday, June 8th, 2013

Q. You should add DOI search support! That way when I want to see a particular article, I don’t have to waste time copying a title, then searching through all of the different results with the same or similar titles. If there was a way to take a DOI entered in the search box, find the provider, determine if the university has a subscription, then return the login link to see the article requested, it would save a little time.

A. Thank you for the feedback. A DOI look-up is already built into the main Library Search on the home page. You can simply enter a DOI number and Library Search will attempt to find a match.

See the attached screen shot for an example of where to input your DOI number. If the discovery service we subscribe to, which powers part of Library Search, can find a match, then the article should display under the journal articles results.

If there are no matches under Library Search, you can also try our Citation Finder tool which will do another look up to find a match. Citation Finder can be found by clicking on the blue Find bar (lower right hand corner of the home page), the last link listed: http://www.lib.sfu.ca/my-library/citation-finder

Enter a DOI – and if the journal/publisher is registered with CrossRef, and SFU Library subscribes to it, Citation Finder will try to find a match to our various journal providers. Eg, try the following DOI as an example: 10.1038/4601088a

If Citation Finder still can’t find the article, Citation Finder will try to pre-populate most of the required fields needed to fill in an interlibrary loan form if the data can be found.

See for example the following DOI in Citation Finder. 10.1038/nrcardio.2012.135

SFU does not have this journal – but invoking Citation Finder to search other libraries to make an inter library loan request, will auto-populate almost all the necessary fields. In this one, you would still need to enter the article title.

Indeed, I will ask our programmer whether we can add Citation Finder’s DOI look up to Library Search if no matches are found so that an ILL form can be pre-populated. In lieu of a generic link to the inter-library loan form.

Let me know if you have any further questions. Thank you for the suggestion.

Sandra
—
Sandra Wong, Electronic Resources Librarian and Unit Head, Serials

Posted in Ejournals & Ebooks | No Comments »

Separate web space for new purchase suggestions

Sunday, May 12th, 2013

Q. I think you should have a separate spot for new purchase suggestions, rather than just lumping them in together with other feedback about the libraries.

A. Thank you for your comment regarding new purchase suggestions on the SFU Library’s feedback page at:

http://blogs.sfu.ca/departments/library/ .

The library doesn’t receive enough new purchase suggestions to warrant putting them in a separate web space but I have put in a link labelled “New purchase suggestions” on the feedback page towards the upper right corner so that all of the new purchase suggestions can be retrieved easily.

Regards,
Nina
—
Nina Saklikar, Web Experience Librarian

Posted in Library website | No Comments »

Alumni Access to Library Resources

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

Q. Dear Sir/Madam,
As an alumni, I am interested in the library access. How do I go about gaining an account for on-line searches?

Thank you.

A. Hello,

The following webpage outlines the Services for Alumni and how to get a Library Card, if you still need one.

This page also includes a list of the licensed resources that alumni can access when they are off-campus.

http://www.lib.sfu.ca/my-library/services-for-you/alumni

Off-campus access to most licensed electronic resources is generally restricted to current students, faculty and staff. However, access is granted if you are on campus using a library computer.

Your alumni library privileges will come into effect when Senate awards your degree/diploma.

Thank you for your question. Please feel free to contact us again if you have further questions.
Sandra Wong,
Electronic Resources Librarian.

Posted in Library website | No Comments »

Broken Link in Database Record

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Q. Just a heads up, when I try to access the conference board of Canada via the SFU library I recieve this error message:

403 – Forbidden: Access is denied.
You do not have permission to view this directory or page using the credentials that you supplied.

I don’t even get an opportunity to log in.

A. Thank you for reporting the broken link.

I have updated the access URL for the Conference Board of Canada record: http://cufts2.lib.sfu.ca/CRDB/BVAS/resource/5815

It now goes to a login page where you can create a “free e-library account.” Unfortunately, SFU Library does not have a subscription to this resource so your access may still be limited.

I’ve copied our librarian responsible for Public Policy (Andrea Cameron) who can provide more information or provide you with further assistance in obtaining a report or document from the Conference Board of Canada.

Thank you very much for letting us know about the broken link.

Sandra Wong, Electronic Resources Librarian.

Posted in Library website | No Comments »

Proxy Authentication for Mobile Access

Friday, March 25th, 2011

Q. Nice layout. Appreciate the subject database breakdown. Would help if proxy sign-in page was also mobile accessible.

A. Thank you for this welcome suggestion.

We looked into a having a separate mobile version of the proxy authentication sign-in page but, unfortunately, the software we use for authentication allows for one sign-in page only.

As time permits, however, our web developer will look into modifying the current sign-in page so that it will adapt on the fly to both regular computer monitors and mobile devices.

Regards,
Nina Saklikar, Web Librarian

Posted in Library website | No Comments »

Login to “My Library Record” Feature

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Q. Although the “My Library Record” feature in MySFU is really helpful, we still need to login to SFU connect to use that feature, which is an extra step. It would be nice if we can login to the library record with our SFU login and password instead of having to go through SFU connect.

A. Hello,

Thanks for your feedback on the new MySFU Library tab in SFU Connect. Logging into the catalogue using your SFU ID would be very useful, but unfortunately the catalogue system we use doesn’t currently support that feature.

Mark
—
Mark Jordan
Head of Library Systems

Posted in Library website | No Comments »

Linking to Full Text Articles

Monday, November 1st, 2010

Q. Just wondering why PsycInfo is not connecting to the Psychological Reports website properly. In PsycInfo, the link comes up indicating that an article is available (Link to full text), and it brings you to the article, but once you click to access the text, it asks you for membership information. I have had to access the journal through the Library website and look the article up on my own to access these references. This has happened twice over 2 separate days, so it seems like there might be a problem with the linking. Thanks.

A. Hello,

Unfortunately, I am unable to replicate the error you describe above. Is there a specific citation that you can share where this has happened?

Thanks. Sandra.
Electronic Resources Librarian.

Posted in Library website | No Comments »

Spelling Error

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Q. Chuck is called University Librarian instead of University. Just an editorial problem on your webpage.

A. Thank you for bringing this typo to our attention. It is now corrected.

Library Management

Posted in Library website | No Comments »

Library Guides

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

Q. It’s awesome to see SFU library come up with a page on how to cite government documents in APA style. However, is it possible to put that info with PDF citation guide for APA, or at least make the page on citing government documents more printer friendly by taking out the SFU header and unnecessary space? Thanks!

A. Hi,

Thank you for the suggestion that we make a PDF version of the “Citing Canadian Government Documents- APA Style” guide. I agree that this is a good idea and I hope you will see it on our website in the next few days.

Best regards,
Janis McKenzie
Head, Reference Division

Posted in Kudos & kvetches, Library website | No Comments »

Library Website

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

Q: On this page http://godot.lib.sfu.ca:7888/godot/hold_tab.cgi (and some other pages) the heading “Where can I find this?” is a poor choice. It is confusing (Who is meant by “I”? What is meant by “this”?). Also, it is impolite to ask a question and not provide a way of giving an answer. Please think about the philosophy of this page, so that a clear and concise heading line can be given.

A: Hi,
The phrase “Where can I get this?” has been in use for quite some time in our online system. It also reflects a very common question that is posed by many at one of our public service desks when they are trying to find something. The use of a rhetorical device such as a mock-question is a common communication technique in advertisements, online systems, etc.

It certainly isn’t our intent to be rude or to generate confusion. We are always hesitant to change the wording on a key function like this, especially as it seems to work well for many. But I would certainly be interested to hear what suggestions you might have for some alternate wording.

Brian Owen
AUL, Processing and Systems

Posted in Library website | No Comments »

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