Frequently Asked Questions

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Topics covered:

Usage Statistics
MARC Records
Full-Text Journals
Library Branding
Complete Contents
My Archive
OpenURL Bookmarking
Controlling Access to Content
Concurrent Usage
Promoting Literature Online Reference Edition
Citation Information
ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature)
External Websites
Resources on Non-English-Language Authors
Printing and Posting Links

Usage Statistics

Are there usage statistics in Literature Online Reference Edition?
How can I access my usage statistics?
In what formats can I see them?

Usage Statistics are available for Literature Online Reference Edition. To access them, go the Administration Area and click on 'Usage Statistics'. If you need to confirm your username and password, please contact us. Two sets of usage statistics are now available:

The main set of statistics are based on ICOLC standards, and offer daily and monthly breakdowns of sessions, searches, hits, full text accesses and other information; these are available in 'User-Friendly', 'For Spreadsheet Import', 'Display Directly in MS Excel' and 'Printer-Friendly' formats.
In addition, we now offer a separate set of statistics which are compliant with Level One of the COUNTER Code of Practice. The COUNTER statistics include reports of article accesses at journal level, turnaways by month and journal, and details of searches and turnaways for the entire database.

MARC Records

How many MARC records are there in Literature Online Reference Edition?
Which materials are they available for?
How much do they cost?
Where can I download them?

There are over 450 MARC records available in Literature Online Reference Edition accessible via the Administration Area of the site. One set of records is available for ABELL (The Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature; 1 record), New Essays on the American Novel (at volume level, 38 volumes), reference works (at volume level, 8 volumes), and KnowledgeNotes Student Guides (230 records) and another set of records covers full-text journals (over 330 records). The MARC records contain OpenURL links that link to table of contents or full-text pages as appropriate. As more content is added, such as new full-text journals, we add corresponding records that can be downloaded at the same place. These MARC record files are updated every six months. We do not charge a fee for these records.

Full-Text Journals

How many journals are available in Literature Online Reference Edition?
In what format do they appear?
How many journals are added each year?
Are the links for journals OpenURL compliant?
Will the links the library downloaded for Literature Online Reference Edition in 2003 still work for our users?

There are currently 376 full text journals in Literature Online Reference Edition. Journal articles are available in pdf or ASCII format; often we offer both formats so that users can choose to view articles in their preferred format. The journal articles are fully searchable and new ones are added for every release (usually monthly). We are constantly seeking to increase our journals in Literature Online Reference Edition; in 2010 we added seventy-nine new journal titles. Announcements for new journal titles just added or coming soon to Literature Online Reference Edition are made on the What's New? page.

Journal links are OpenURL compliant and can be downloaded by clicking on Durable URLs for Journals. This spreadsheet also contains format and coverage information. The links provided for journals in the older version of Literature Online Reference Edition will re-direct users for the foreseeable future. However we recommend that librarians upload the new OpenURL links at their earliest convenience.

To browse a journal, click on the FULL-TEXT JOURNALS link on the left hand toolbar and then click on the journal title that you are interested in. A list of issues should appear and you can select an article to view by clicking on the title.

To search for an article, click on the CRITICISM link on the left hand toolbar. For journal articles only (rather than bibliographic records) select the radio button 'Full-text only' at the top of the page.

Library Branding

How do I activate library branding in Literature Online Reference Edition?

Library branding allows customers to create a link to their own library page, which will appear on every page within Literature Online Reference Edition. From the Administration Area, follow the link to Customization Options and follow the instructions provided. You will need to enter the url of the logo that you would like to appear, plus the destination url of the page to which you wish to link. The default setting of Library Branding is for it to be turned off.

Complete Contents

Can I see the complete contents of Literature Online Reference Edition?

Yes. On the left hand tool bar there is a COMPLETE CONTENTS link. From this page, you can browse through tables of contents of journals and reference works, or through index lists of biographies and bibliographies, and link through to full-text articles.

My Archive

What is 'My Archive'?
Does it have a storage limit?

'My Archive' is designed to save valuable searching time for a user by allowing them instant access to key searches they performed in previous browser sessions. This is a password-protected area of the site, which allows a user to up to 50 records (for journal articles, primary works or reference material) and up to 25 different searches. Users can add notes to the records they have saved, and link directly from the saved record back to the full text. Users can also register for author email alerts in this area. Accounts expire if a user fails to log in for six months (however users receive a message advising them to log in if they want their account to remain active).

To create an account, go to 'My Archive' and select a username and password.

OpenURL Bookmarking

Can I save pages links to pages or articles in Literature Online Reference Edition?

Yes. All full-text pages, Author pages and Tables of Contents pages now have links to 'URL for this page' or 'URL for this text'. These give access to durable links that can be used for linking in to Literature Online from course pages or other web sites.

Controlling Access to Content

Can I stop users from accessing KnowledgeNotes, Poets on Screen or Shakespeare Audio Plays in Literature Online Reference Edition?
Is there other content that librarians can directly control access to?

Literature Online Reference Edition gives control to librarians so that you can customize the service to meet the needs of your library and its users. We recognize that librarians may wish to remove access to certain types of content that are not considered suitable academically; we have therefore implemented a new feature allowing you to remove KnowledgeNotes student guides, Poets on Screen or Shakespeare Audio Plays from your user profile. The options for controlling access to these resources are accessible from the customization page, in the Administration Area (you will need a password to access this area). From this page, you can also activate links to articles in JSTOR (Arts and Science I and II and Language and Literature collections) if your library also subscribes to these collections.

Concurrent Usage

How do you control the number of concurrent users?
Can concurrent use be increased temporarily, say for a training workshop or demo?

When a user goes into a database and sends off a request (search, open a browse, follow a link etc.) a user slot opens which lasts for between 5 and 15 minutes. Within that time period the user can continue to use that particular database and each time a request is sent the slot is renewed. If the user does not send any more requests during that slot, it expires - leaving access available to another user. Once a user has finished accessing Literature Online Reference Edition, he/she can now click on the link 'End Session' at the bottom of the page to immediately allow another user to log in. If users are seeing the 'too many users' message, it may be that more people are using our service than anticipated.

We are happy to increase the number of concurrent users temporarily for a training day or demonstration of the service. Please contact us with details.

Promoting Literature Online Reference Edition

Do you provide promotional and training material for librarians?

We are delighted to be able to provide brochures, posters and other marketing and training materials for your use. Please contact our Webmaster service for further information.

Citation Information

How do users cite works and/or journal articles in Literature Online Reference Edition?
Is Literature Online Reference Edition compatible with citation software?

Literature Online Reference Edition includes full information on how to cite articles from the service, in MLA, APA, Chicago and MHRA formats. We now offer downloading of citations in formats compatible with the reference management software packages BibTex, Endnote, Procite, Reference Manager and RefWorks.

ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature)

Is there a difference between ABELL as an Individual Literature Collection and ABELL within Literature Online Reference Edition?
Does Literature Online Reference Edition contain more up-to-date records?
How often is the ABELL individual collection updated?

Exactly the same ABELL records are added to the ABELL Individual Literature Collection and Literature Online Reference Edition on a monthly basis. The difference in bibliographic records occurs because Literature Online Reference Edition also contains corresponding bibliographic records for all of the full text articles that it contains. ABELL records appearing in Literature Online Reference Edition can be distinguished by their logo: ABELL

External Websites

How do you select the web sites you index?
How often are the links to external sites checked?

We provide searchable access to a database of sites relevant to literary studies which contain material other than simply e-texts. A broad range of sites is indexed to reflect the interdisciplinary and multifaceted approach to study experienced by undergraduates and postgraduates: the coverage includes British and American authors, world literatures in English, and Classical literature.

The sites are selected by a dedicated team of researchers working to editorial guidelines that ensure quality, relevance and scholarly value. The sites have to offer more than simply a selection of e-texts; some may not contain texts at all. They are chosen to provide additional resources, complementing those offered elsewhere in the service while remaining coherent within the overall content of Literature Online Reference Edition. Many will include background information, biographical details or discussion groups. These resources are continually reviewed, and the number of sites included in the service grows with every monthly release. Where possible, we have obtained permission from the editors of all web sites to which we link. There is no additional charge to subscribers for access to third-party web sites - all these sites can be accessed by all users of the internet directly. Though every care has been taken to select materials of the highest quality, the publishers of Literature Online Reference Edition cannot be held responsible for the editorial policies and content of such sites.

The links are checked regularly by a program called a 'robot'. This application automatically validates every link to third-party sites and generates a report of any broken links. These invalid links are then manually checked and either permanently or temporarily removed from the appropriate database. Literature Online Reference Edition is updated on a monthly basis, so there may be some delay before broken links disappear from the service.

Resources on Non-English-Language Authors

Does Literature Online Reference Edition contain resources for non-English-language authors?

Yes. Many of the resources in Literature Online Reference Edition are focused on British, American and post-colonial literatures in English: for example, ABELL is a specialist resource that is primarily devoted to English-language authors. However, the service also includes significant resources for authors writing in languages other than English: we include biographies for authors who are frequently studied in translation, such as Kafka, Ibsen and Dostoevsky; non-English-language authors are extensively covered in the Reference section in works such as the Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern European Literature and the Encyclopedia of the Novel; our full-text journals also include extensive material about non-English-language authors. We have created Author Records for all authors for whom we have full-text secondary resources, regardless of the language in which they write, and our author database now contains records for authors of over 100 different nationalities.

Printing and Posting Links

Am I allowed to create printouts from material from Literature Online Reference Edition?
Am I allowed to post durable links on a department VLE?

Subscribers may create printouts of material retrieved through Literature Online Reference Edition, as long as distribution of such printouts is limited to your own internal or personal use. You may also use OpenURL links or other durable URLs in order to facilitate access for authorised users, and these links may be posted on web pages or Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs). Please see our Terms and Conditions for further information.