18 February 2011

ABI Inform Proquest login problem

**Temporary fix**
The database suppliers are working on a fix for the original URL. In the meantime, please go via this URL http://proquest.umi.com/login and follow these steps:
  • Select "Login through your library or institution
  • Select "United Kingdom (UK federation)
  • Select "Aston University"
  • Login with your network username and password

We're currently having problems with Shibboleth login for Proquest databases. We've contacted the suppliers about this and hope to have a resolution soon. This post will be updated as soon as the problem is fixed.

17 February 2011

Inter-Library Loans: delays at British Library

Due to the discovery of asbestos in some of the British Library's Document Supply Centre buildings, certain parts of their collection are temporarily unavailable. This means that supplying some Inter-Library Loan items may take longer than usual. We will endeavour to find alternative suppliers where possible during this time.

14 February 2011

NEW DATABASE: Perfect Information

PI Navigator is a financial and capital markets database providing access to over 15 million global company filings including annual reports, Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), equity transactional documents (including Initial Public Offerings) and bond prospectuses. PI Navigator surfaces the value of the data buried within financial documents, providing the ability to significantly reduce the time taken when modelling company financials

Pleae note that this service is available until June 2011 on trial. We welcome your feedback on this database. Please email feedback to library@aston.ac.uk

11 February 2011

Web of Knowledge access problem

We've been getting reports of people encountering error messages when they attempt to log in to the Web of Knowledge. As far as we are aware, there is no current issue with access to Web of Knowledge and the problems are happening sporadically. We're in contact with the vendors to try and sort this out, but in the meantime, if you do get an error message, try accessing it via this URL: http://wok.mimas.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wayf?idp=aston.ac.uk. If you have any queries about this, please comment on this post.

9 February 2011

ScienceDirect content on your mobile device


In addition to the default format options of HTML and PDF, ScienceDirect have now added an application that will allow you to download articles of interest in ePub or Mobi formats, perfect for reading on your mobile device.

Look out for the eReader Formats application in the My Applications box on the right hand side of the screen when viewing any subscribed article or book chapter in ScienceDirect. This allows you to convert the article to ePUB or Mobi formats, widely used by electronic readers and mobile devices such as a Sony Reader, Amazon Kindle, iPhone or iPad.

1 February 2011

FAME and ORBIS

The two financial databases FAME and ORBIS are currently unavailable. Bureau Van Dijk who own the databases are aware of the problem and it is a technical issue that is effecting all customers not just Aston University. We are liaising with their helpdesk and will be alerted when the problem has been resolved. We apologise for the inconvenience this may cause.

Nicola Dennis
Business Information Specialist