DATABASE INFO

Check News to see if a database subscription has ended, changes are coming, or scheduled maintenance will affect access. 

The Troubleshooting section will give you Quick Fixes for several problems, and some general advice.

The Technical Requirements page will list the minimum requirements for databases to function.

Last Update: 22 July 2008

Database News

Service issues

New Features and Opportunities

Note subscriptions ending -- Over the summer, several database contracts will be dropped due to changes in collective buying groups.  We will not have advance warning on all titles.  If we have warning on a specific database, it will be listed below.  The short of it -- if a link doesn't work and it's not listed below, call to see if it is a contractual or a technical problem.   We no longer have access to the America: History and Life and Historical Abstracts databases.  Try using World History Collection for world history.  Try using our primary resources databases for U.S. History. Our subscription to ACLS, Humanities E-book collection, ends at the beginning of fall.  Try using NetLibrary. Our subscription to Communications & Mass Media Complete ends at the end of July 2008.  Try using Academic Search Premier. Our subscription to Music Index has ended.  You can use IIMP or JSTOR's music journals. Our subscription to Standard & Poors will end during the late summer. Our American Chemical Society Website link has been removed from the library website. We no longer have full text access. The Biography Resource Center subscription has been dropped.  Please use Biography Reference Bank instead. Biography Reference Bank has been updated with a new, easier-to-use interface. Campus Research by Westlaw has been removed from the library website, please use the Law section of LexisNexis.

Credo Reference will update its interface on August 4th.  Expect a more streamlined look.  Below is a list of content recently added or updated in Credo Reference: Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, Routledge Concise Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature, Routledge Concise Encyclopedia of Plant Pathology, Routledge Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs, Elsevier Encyclopedia of Ethics, Routledge Encyclopedia of Insects, Elsevier Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English, Routledge Encyclopedia of the Solar System, Elsevier Encyclopedia of Volcanoes, Elsevier An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Women in Early American Films: 1895-1930, Routledge Handbook of Research on the Education of Young Children, Routledge International Encyclopedia of Hospitality Management, Elsevier Science in the Ancient World: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO Science in the Early Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO Science in the Enlightenment: An Encyclopedia, ABC-CLIO

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Troubleshooting

If you're having database problems, try these 4 quick fixes:

1) Turn off all pop-up blockers. 

If you have added a Google or Yahoo toolbars, you'll need to turn off pop-up blockers in the toolbar AND in the web browser.  Many databases use navigation and viewer screens that are essentially pop-up windows. 

2) Install the most recent Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer.  Many databases provide files in PDF format. 

Go to http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

3) Install the most recent free Flash player.

Go to http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/.

4) Make sure cookies are enabled on your computer. 

Slow Database Access

The cause of low speed can be difficult to pinpoint.  If possible, use broadband or DSL when off campus.  Many students run into problems using dial-up connections.  If you must use a dial-up, look for databases that provide a text only search option, such as ProQuest ABI/INFORM and ProQuest Computing. Check the bottom of the database page.

Printing

Whenever a database gives you a "Print" link or button, use it!  This allows the database to format the article for printing.  Don't use your browser menu to print whatever happens to be on the screen.  You're likely to get problems with text being cut off by strange margin settings.

If your printer is timing out or stuck "spooling", try saving what you want to print onto your C Drive.  Print from the saved file instead of the screen.  Sometimes this method can make a difference -- especially with PDF text.

General Computing Advice

If you use different versions of Office going between a dorm PC and lab PCs, make back up copies of your files in formats all versions can read.  This is also a good way for Mac and PC users to share information, or for you to send files to instructors. 

Save Word and other word processing files in Rich Text Format, or .RTF

(paper.doc and paper_backup.rtf )

Save Excel and other spreadsheet documents in Comma Separated Value or .CSV

(spreadsheet.xls and spreadsheet_copy.csv)

When working on fliers and handouts in Publisher or other specialized applications that not everyone has, make a PDF or Flash paper version if your software has that capability.  If not, keep a back up folder containing all the image elements and all the text content.  Use RTF for the text content.  This is especially helpful if you pulled content from several different sources.  You don't want to have to compile your elements again.

Make sure that those back ups are kept separately from your active files! Keep more than one USB/Flash drive, if you can.

NEVER remove your USB/Flash drive until you save and close your files.  On Windows machines, try to stop the device using the Windows hardware manager in the Task Bar, even if your device has its own menu and software.

If Windows says that the device is being used by an application, close all the open applications and then try to stop your device again.

Click here for the complete list of Tech Requirements for all databases.  Tech requirements are the minimums needed for a database to function.