From the Hunt Library Director
Welcome to Spring 2024 in the Hunt Library. As ever, we look forward to partnering with you on your innovation and success. Our Library team is coordinating a host of new resources and initiatives in support of teaching and research. This newsletter details some of these, along with our standing invitation to reach out to us for research help, library instruction, creative assignment design, new resources, or subject-specific expertise across colleges and disciplines. Consult our website frequently as the portal to everything we provide and watch for updates as we innovate along with you. Remember, Albert Einstein said, “The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” We are looking forward to a great spring at the top of the Student Union!
Library Service Enhancements
Rapido
The Hunt Library Interlibrary Loan department is happy to announce that our new Interlibrary Loan (ILL) requesting system is live! Both the legacy ILL system and the new ILL system will be available in January and February. We will still have a blank ILL workform for both systems, but we encourage everyone to try the new system with these simple steps:
- Use EagleSearch (https://huntlibrary.erau.edu) to conduct a search for your item and be sure to sign into your library account:
- Expand your search:
- Click on Get it for me:
- Then click on Get It:
And that’s it! Detailed steps on how to use the new system can be found here: https://guides.erau.edu/eaglesearch-help/request.
If you have questions about the new system, please don’t hesitate to contact the Interlibrary Loan department. You can email us at ILL@erau.edu.
OpenAthens
Hunt Library provides access to most of our subscription databases and electronic journal websites using a proxy server. A proxy server is used to authenticate users and route traffic through a single address that allows users to be identified as Embry-Riddle affiliates no matter where in the world they might be. In October 2023, Hunt Library (and Hazy Library) migrated from EZproxy to OpenAthens, a cloud-based solution that provides a more finely-tuned authentication method as well as detailed user access reports based on campus, user status, etc.
OpenAthens works in a slightly—but critically—different way than the previous EZproxy service. The main difference you will see is that after authentication, most database websites drop the OpenAthens prefix URL after access—which makes for shorter, simpler URLs. However, there is a drawback: if a user bookmarks an article or ebook page that doesn’t contain the proxy prefix, there will be no way for the destination website to know that the off-campus user should have access from ERAU. The three exceptions to this rule are EBSCOhost, Gale, and ProQuest links which do not use a proxy URL prefix; they use an identifier in the resource URL to route to OpenAthens. For the others, if you have a URL without a proxy prefix (https://go.openathens.net/redirector/erau.edu?url=) you can use one of two tools to make proxied links: our Create Proxy Links page and the vendor’s OpenAthens Link Generator.
If you have links in your course reading lists that contain the EZproxy prefix URL (https://ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login?url=) they should continue to work for the near future, but you should convert them to OpenAthens links by copying the resource URL and using one of the tools above to convert them to “Athenized” links. Most permalinks provided on the article or ebook webpage will work, including all DOI links. Of course, you can always contact Ask a Librarian for help creating new access links.
Data Commons
Data Commons is the university’s new research data repository and data management tool, managed by the Scholarly Communication Team of the Hunt and Hazy Libraries. This funder-compliant repository gives ERAU researchers a place to collect, manage, curate, share, preserve, and publish their research data sets. Visit ERAU Data Commons, or contact commons@erau.edu to learn more.
Spring Planning
Library Instruction
To request library instruction sessions, virtual or in-person, please visit the Instructional Support section at https://huntlibrary.erau.edu/services/faculty-and-staff.
Research Guides
The library has research help guides available on a variety of subjects. These guides highlight recommended resources for subjects and so much more. Look at what we have at https://guides.erau.edu. Don’t see a guide that you think we should have? Request that we create one by using the Research Guide Request link.
New Library Material
Browse new print and ebook titles at https://guides.erau.edu/new-books.
Textbook Affordability Champions
Mark your calendars - nominations for the 2024 Textbook Affordability Champions opens soon! From January 22 to February 9, faculty, staff, and instructional designers who go above and beyond to make education affordable, accessible, and open can be nominated for the recognition. This year's Champions will be announced during Open Education Week, March 4-8. Learn more about the event or make your nominations using the 2024 Textbook Champions Nomination form.
University Archives
In the past year, much effort has been made to improve discovery and access to the resources available in the University Archives. Perhaps you didn't know that newspapers, photographs, and other materials are available to researchers who are curious about the history of our institutions. The online catalog can be found at https://erau.edu/archives. Requests to access materials or research assistance can be sent in via form (https://erau.libwizard.com/f/archives-contact).