Electronic Resources - Problems, Tips, & FAQ

HawkID Information | E-Resources Known Problems | Tips for Searching e-Journals | InfoLink Frequently Asked Questions

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HawkID Information

Important HawkID changes for HealthCare users!
HawkID Guide - change/reset password; online help; test your account

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E-Resources Known Problems

Off-Campus Access Host Not Configured

If you get the following message please contact the University Libraries Enterprise Applications group at: lib-apps@list.uiowa.edu.

Off-Campus Access Host Not Configured
This site has not been configured for proxy use.

This usually means that a site's URL changed and we need add the new URL to our files.

However, if the URL indicated is infolink.uiowa.edu this probably means you are trying to access an EBSCOhost title. There is a known problem with InfoLink and some EBSCOhost articles. Removing the issue and/or page number from the InfoLink menu usually resolves the problem.

ProQuest

If you are prompted to login to a ProQuest database (Dissertations & Theses, ABI/INFORM, ProQuest Newspapers, etc.) click on the ProQuest Cookie Cutter to clear out your browser cookies.

Elsevier ScienceDirect: Saving PDFs

Some users have reported problems saving PDFs (using the "save" icon in Acrobat Reader) from ScienceDirect. As a workaround right-click on the link, select Save Target As... (in Internet Explorer) and save the PDF to your computer.

Safari users - Safari is not fully compatible with ScienceDirect.  Elsevier recommends using Firefox.

RefWorks - Security Certificate Error

When logging in from off-campus via the proxy server, you will receive a security certificate error. This is because the security certificate is being read as www.refworks.com.proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/... when you log in through the proxy server. Accept the exception/click OK (depending on your web browser) to continue to RefWorks.

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InfoLink: Search Tips and Frequently Asked Questions

Tips for Searching e-Journals (InfoLink)

Searching the A-Z List

• One and two letter words are ignored in the Contains search.
• Ampersands (the symbol "&") are alphabetized before "a." If the displayed "title" has an ampersand in it, it will not be alphabetized under the word "and," rather it comes ahead of "a." Example: "Heath & place" comes before "Health affairs."
• Commas (the symbol ",") are alphabetized after "z". Therefore, if the displayed title has a comma in it, it will be alphabetized as if the comma comes after "z" in the alphabet. Example: "Plant, cell & environment" comes after "Plant systematics".
• ”Other titles” (i.e. alternate titles) are not browseable in the A-Z list, but they are searchable.
• Contains searches the “title” and “other title” fields for the word(s) entered as well as any derivatives of them. Example: “new” will retrieve “new” and any words that have “new” in them, such as “newspaper.”
• Exact searches only for the complete exact “title” or the exact “other title” entered. Example: “AI Expert” will retrieve the title, but the word “expert” retrieves no results.
• Browse searches for the title that begins with the first word you enter, and displays the rest of the alphabet starting with the title entered. Example: search “news” and one will jump to the title “News & Notes.”

Category (Subject Browse)

• Choose a category from the lefthand pane. Next highlight a subcategory in the righthand pane. You can ctrl-click to choose more than one subcategory. Click on Browse to view the titles in the selected subcategories.
• Categories can also be browsed in the Locate section of e-Journals Search.
• Click the question mark button next to a title to see all categories and subcategories it is listed under, as well as its alternate titles.

ArticleLocator

Use ArticleLocator to quickly locate a specific journal article.

• Only enter enough information to find the article. (By entering too much information, you may filter out the article you are interested in.) Volume and issue numbers are more effective than dates.
• The Advanced section contains additional fields that can be searched. Numeric fields like the PubMed ID (PMID) and ISSN are more effective than author or title words. If thePMID is known, the journal name is not required.
• One of the following fields must be filled in: Journal Name, PMID, DOI, or ISSN. All other fields are optional.
• Some standardized journal abbreviations work, but complete journal name (or PMID, DOI or ISSN) is the most effective.
  

For further assistance with InfoLink, Ask a Librarian.

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InfoLink Frequently Asked Questions

• What is InfoLink?
• What if I click on a letter of the alphabet in the A-Z list and I get a "page not found" error or the page won't load?
• Can I use the InfoLink service from home?
• Why don't I see any InfoLink buttons?
• Why are there multiple windows when I'm using InfoLink?
• When I click to get full text, sometimes I end up on the journal's home page or table of contents. Can't I go directly to the article?
• Why are there multiple links to full text?
• When I click to get the full text, my article isn't there. Why not?
• If there's no full text service listed in the InfoLink window, does that mean the article isn't available online?
• Sometimes the "University of Iowa's library catalog" search doesn't find anything. What should I do next?
• The only option I see is to request an Interlibrary Loan. How does that work?
• How long will it take to get an answer if I use "Ask a librarian for help" e-mail?
• Why do I have to log out of Web of Science, Ovid, and Factiva when I'm done?
• Where can I get research help? I haven't found any good articles yet.
• What if my question isn't answered here?

1. What is InfoLink?

InfoLink, based on Ex Libris' SFX software, allows you to link from article citations in selected databases to related content that is available from the University of Iowa Libraries. When you find a record in a database or periodical index, click on the InfoLink button to:

• See if the full text of the article is available online for immediate access
• Check the University of Iowa's library catalog to see if the journal or book is in the library
• Get more information about the article or the journal it appears in
• Get e-mail assistance from a librarian
• Request the item by interlibrary loan if it is not otherwise available

2. What if I click on a letter of the alphabet in the A-Z list and I get a "page not found" error or the page won't load?

Your browser is remembering the content of an old web page. You should clear your browser's cache and/or cookies (these are temporary internet files).

Internet Explorer: go to Tools/Internet Options and click Delete Files and Delete Cookies.
Netscape: go to Tools/Cookie Manager/Manage Stored Cookies and click Remove All Cookies.
Firefox: go to Tools/Options and click the Privacy tab. Press Clear button under Cache and Cookies.
Macintosh IE: go to Explorer/Preferences and choose Cookies under Receiving Files. Click Delete.
Macintosh Safari: go to Safari/Empty Cache and click Empty.

If this doesn't fix the problem, then ask a librarian for help.

3. Can I use the InfoLink service from home?

Yes, any University of Iowa student, faculty or staff member can use the InfoLink service from off-campus, via the proxy server.  When you click on an InfoLink button from off-campus, you will be automatically prompted to enter your HawkID. Problems with your HawkID? See the HawkID site.

4. Why don't I see any InfoLink buttons?

Sometimes you need to click on the full database record in order to see the InfoLink button.

5. Why are there multiple windows when I'm using InfoLink?

When you click on the InfoLink button, it opens a new browser window that displays the menu of services.  Selecting a service from the menu then opens a third window.  Generally, you will not have more than three or four windows open at a time.  Remember that you can resize the windows to suit your viewing preferences. Sometimes windows are hidden behind other windows.

6. When I click to get full text, sometimes I end up on the journal's home page or table of contents. Can't I go directly to the article?

The journal publisher controls whether we are able to link directly to the article. We are asking publishers to provide direct access to their articles. In the meantime, you may have to navigate through the publisher's web site to get to the article you're looking for. Because the database record is still visible in its own window, it is easy to see what volume and issue is needed.

7. Why are there multiple links to full text?

Sometimes an article is available in more than one database, such as Academic Search Elite (EBSCOhost) or ABI/INFORM, so we link to both. You can choose which version you want to access. If one is temporarily not working, it helps to have a backup choice.

8. When I click to get the full text, my article isn't there. Why not?

Possible reasons why the article is missing:

• Sometimes the article citation appears in a database before the publisher has made the full text available. Use Ask a librarian for help on the InfoLink menu to have us confirm this.
• The publisher or author withheld the full text of this article. Please let us know about any missing articles by using the Ask a librarian for help service. Then, search University of Iowa's library catalog from the InfoLink menu to see if the library has the paper version.
• InfoLink uses the citation information (volume, issue, and page number) to attempt to link directly to the article. If there is a typographical error in the citation, InfoLink cannot find the article. In many cases, you can use the publisher's site to search for article title or author(s) to locate the correct citation.

9. If there's no full text service listed in the InfoLink window, does that mean the article isn't available online?

Not always. There is a chance that InfoLink is not aware that the full text is available online. Search University of Iowa's library catalog from the InfoLink menu to see if there is a link to full text in InfoHawk. Please let us know if you discover there is full text access but it does not show up in InfoLink.

10. Sometimes the "University of Iowa's library catalog" search doesn't find anything. What should I do next?

A second search in the catalog for the title of the journal or book might find it. For example, this would work if we have a different edition of a book. If searching by title doesn't find it, try Ask a librarian for help.

11. The only option I see is to request an Interlibrary Loan. How does that work?

When you click on the link for Interlibrary Loan, you are prompted to enter your HawkID and password. This generates an Interlibrary Loan form that contains citation information for the item you need. You can edit this form and then submit it to Interlibrary Loan, which will attempt to locate the item for you.

12. How long will it take to get an answer if I use "Ask a librarian for help" e-mail?

The Ask a librarian for help e-mail goes to the Reference and Library Instruction department. We try to respond to your e-mail within 24 hours for questions sent Monday through Friday.

13. Why do I have to log out of Web of Science, Ovid, and Factiva when I'm done?

Our subscriptions to these and other databases allow only a limited number of simultaneous users. If you forget to log out, one spot is tied up until the system eventually resets it, even though no one is actively searching the database. Logging out of a database makes it available immediately to other users.

14. Where can I get research help? I haven't found any good articles yet.

Use Ask a librarian for help on the InfoLink menu to ask for help with choosing a database or doing effective searching. If you are in the library, ask for assistance at the Information Desk.

15. What if my question isn't answered here?

Use Ask a librarian for help, and we'll try to answer you directly within a day.

 

 

last updated: October 12, 2009