The "Searches Cannot Be Longer Than 40 words" Error.

 Hey Folks,

There is an error with the catalogue that has been showing up frequently at time of writing. This error prevents people from seeing search results when they use the catalogue search on the UNCG library homepage, and so far has manifested in two ways.

Figure 1: An image of UNCG's catalogue mistakenly displaying an error stating searches cannot be longer than 40 words even though the user has only searched for "french horns."

Figure 2: An image of UNCG's catalogue displaying an authentication request.

 

The Cause 

In all of the cases we've seen so far, the cause has been an issue with the Zotero browser extension. This post assumes basic familiarity with Zotero, however for more information please see our Zotero libguide and Zotero ULTRA tutorial.

The Fix

1. Locate the Zotero extension icon in the browser. This may be pinned to the left of your browser's address bar, or may need you to find it under the extensions icon typically represented by a puzzle piece.

Figure 3: An image of a browser with the correct buttons circled in red.

 

2. Navigate to the options page for the extension. In Firefox (pictured above) this will be labeled "preferences," in Chrome it will be "options," and in Edge it will be "extension options." In all cases, you should find the page labeled Zotero Connector Preferences.

3. Navigate to the tab labeled "proxies."

Figure 4: An image of the Zotero connector preferences page with the "proxies" tab circled in red. 

4. Locate and select the correct NC Live proxy under the "Configured Proxies" heading. The one you want is: https://login.proxy180.nclive.org/login?qurl=%u.

 

Figure 5: An image of the Zotero Connector Preferences page with the correct configured proxy circled in red.

5. Navigate to the box labeled "hostnames." From there you will find and delete "uncg.on.worldcat.org." If there are other configured proxies besides 180.nclive then you may want to see if that hostname appears under any of them and delete those entries as well.

Figure 6: An image of the Zotero connector preferences page with the correct hostname circled and labeled for deletion. 

6. Try a search in the library catalogue to make sure the error is resolved.

 A Simpler Fix

The above fix assumes that you, or the patron you are helping, wishes to continue using Zotero's proxy redirection feature. If that is not the case you can direct them to un-tick the "enable proxy redirection" box under proxy settings.

Why This Error Occurs

My best guess is that because we no longer have our own proxy server, and instead use NC Live's server, our catalogue gets confused and believes that a non-UNCG affiliated patron is attempting to access our catalogue through NC Live. This explains one of the permutations of the error. I have no idea why this causes our catalogue to believe the patron has entered a 40+ word search.

The Teaching Resource Center

 Hey folks,

At some point in your time here at the Jackson Library a patron is going to ask about a specific book and you are going to run into this:

This post is going to give you a rundown on the Teaching Resource Center and hopefully save you a headache.

What is the Teaching Resource Center (TRC), where is it, and why isn't there a hyperlink to easily reserve titles?

The TRC is essentially a model K-12 school library that exists primarily to support students in the School of Education with resources for the various class projects they need to complete. It is located in room 310 of the School of Education Building, and it contains the vast majority of our YA and children's books.

Though we can find books through the online catalogue, the TRC operates its own system to reserve books. The form for this can be found here. Books can be checked out by students, staff, faculty, and K-12 educators in the Piedmont Triad. Community borrowers cannot request materials from the TRC.

K-12 educators must use a valid ID to sign up for a library account at the Jackson Library before they can checkout materials in the TRC.

Other TRC Services:

These services are available to all UNCG students, staff, and faculty. Payments may be made via Spartan Cash.

Lamination

Letter Size (9X12) – $.50 per sheet

Legal Size (9X14.5) – $.75 per sheet

Menu Size (12X18) – $1.00 per sheet

Roll Laminator (for oversized items such as posters up to 24 inches wide) – $1.00 per foot

Poster Printing 

Full color posters 24 in X 36 in. – $10.00-$15.00 each

Foam board mounting – additional $15.00

Original Poster (save as a  pdf) can be submitted for printing via the request form link below. Please allow 48 hours for printing. The TRC cannot guarantee the quality of any poster printed using low resolution images, alternate file formats, or non-standard poster sizes. The TRC cannot print copyrighted materials. See TRC staff for assistance.

Book Binding

Listed as $1 each, but no other specifics are given.

Please note that the TRC offers additional services that are exclusively for the students, staff, and faculty of the School of Education. You can find out more about those services on their webpage here.

 

New Acquisitions and Recent Purchases

 Hello all!

Recently we've had patrons asking if there is a way that they can view recent acquisitions by the library. If this comes up again, please let the patron know that we do not. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the acquisitions process there is no feasible way for the University Libraries to create such a feature at this time, and there are no plans on changing this in the foreseeable future. 

Popular and Trade Publications, and Our Databases

 Hello all,

I'm writing this to hopefully save people some headaches when attempting to locate articles from popular and trade publications (e.g. the New York Times, Washington Post, Education Week, Wired, New Yorker etc.).

While we do have access to ProQuest and EBSCO archives of these publications we do not have access to every article that appears within them or on their websites. For instance, while we have access to the main articles from Education Week, ProQuest does not have the op-eds or letters to the editor that appear within each issue. Similarly, the New Yorker seems to retain certain articles as exclusive to their website. For publications that put out daily releases like the NYT or WaPo there may be as much as a month's delay between an article being published and getting access to it through the databases.

At time of writing I have found no expedient way of precisely predicting which articles will be included or excluded in the databases. I expect that articles printed within the physical issues of these publications will be included, but as most people access them through their websites there is not a way of reliably determining which articles are web exclusive for all publications. Some publication websites will state this information somewhere on the article's web page, and some will not. You will have to do your best to investigate articles on a case to case basis.

If you are searching the databases for a particular article within a publication, my advice would be to first attempt to locate the publication within the Journal A-Z List, then assuming we have access to the publication try searching for the article by the author's name first and narrowing down the date range as needed. The titles on website articles often change for search engine optimization or to better attract reader's attention, however the title in the databases will remain the same as when the article was first published. If the author search yields no results you can then try searching by title, attempting to find the exact issue within the publication, or searching a phrase from the article itself.

 In the event that you cannot locate an article for a patron within the databases you still might be able to get the article for them. Publications will often grant a number of free articles to the public as a way to entice people to subscribe. If the computer you are using allows you to see the article in question you can use the "print to PDF" function to make a copy of the article which you can then email to the patron or attach as file in LibraryH3lp. If this isn't possible you can also direct them to try Inter-Library loan as they have been able get access to articles in these publications in the past.

Otherwise, express your sympathies to the patron and, if needed, gently remind them that we have no control over what gets placed into the databases. That is determined by an agreement between the databases' companies and the publication in question. 

 

  

Restricted Databases

This is a follow up to the previous post by Lea.

The vast majority of databases we pay for are open to community patrons (i.e. patrons who are not students, staff, or faculty), however there are a handful of them that have restrictions on who can access them or how many people can access them at one time.

As Lea said, Amy Kendrick helpfully put together a list of these databases, which I'll link here again in case someone used the search function to find this post.

The spreadsheet is largely self explanatory but there are a few oddities that are worth highlighting.

De Wolfe Music Production Music Library-

Only media studies students have access to this resource. If a patron has a question about this resource then it is best to direct them to the Jeremy, Vini or Andrea at the Harold Schiffman Music Library. Contact emails for them are listed on this page.

News and Observer Index, 1926-1992 (Raleigh)-

This resource requires a Government & Heritage library card number from the State Library of North Carolina. This is entirely free but it might take a few days to process their application. You can find the online application form here.

Wharton Research Data Services- 

 This resource has a very specific license that allows only Bryan School of Business and Economics staff, faculty, and PhD students, as well as certain library staff and faculty to access it. On the off chance you get a question about this resource, or a student from the Bryan School is looking to gain access, please direct them to email our business liaison librarian Steve Cramer.