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Electronic Resources, Print Periodicals & Library Technology Unit

This is a public guide providing information about the e-resources & systems unit at Zahnow Library.

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Common problems

E-resources can present a number of problems, some of which originate within the library and many that do not. Here are some common problems and possible solutions. In all instances, if you can't get something to work, contact the E-resources Librarian or Library Technology Specialist.

Problem Why it occurs What to try
502 Bad gateway error A server is receiving an invalid response from another server. Refresh your browser.
Clear your cache!
Try again later if possible..
400 Bad Request   The server is unable to recognize what you want to do based upon the link. 
Clear your cache, including cookies!
         
 
404 Error This is probably a broken link at the publisher level. 

Notify the E-Resources Librarian. If at night or on a weekend, you may need to hunt down the appropriate link by going to the publisher website. 
Full text is available, but when the link is clicked, the full text cannot be found.            
  • The title did have full text available, but for some reason, the database vendor no longer has access to it. 
  • The title is available to us full text, but for unknown reasons, the publisher is denying access.
  • The title was accidentally enabled as full text when in fact, we do not have full text access. 
  • There is not enough or correct metadata provided to resolve the URL.
  • We have access to some full text, but not all and the coverage needs to be customized. 

Look at the publications page of the database and see if the title is there and what the coverage is, embargo periods, etc.
If it is a publisher website (e.g., Taylor & Francis, Elsevier), it may have some sort of icon or message as to whether we have access or not.
Publication Finder provides the same title, same ISSN twice.    
  • This might be an error by EBSCO. 
  • This title may have changed publishers.

EBSCO can often fix this. If not, it is usually due to their agreement with the publisher(s). In any case, notify the E-Resources Librarian.
An off campus user tries to get a full text article, but a page opens that says "you do not have permission to view this page" or something to that effect (not a log in page).  The article can be accessed on in the library.  Most likely a proxy problem. 

The E-Resources Librarian or LIbrary Technology Specialist can probably fix this. 
Can there be fewer links for a title in Publication Finder? If a title is in four of the Gale databases, do all of them need to display?    This happens during the set up period for holdings. All possible providers are selected to display.   

If this is a real problem, it can be discussed at a special meeting in the future. It's possible to hide entire packages/providers and titles, but we want to be sure we aren't hiding titles that are unique to a package. In addition, this creates quite a bit of extra work for tech services, especially in maintenance.