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Usage Statistics

  • Are usage statistics available for Literature Online?
  • How can I access my usage statistics?
  • In what formats can I see them?

Usage Statistics are available for Literature Online. These are accessed from the Administration Resources area of the site. 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?
  • Are they available for each work or volume of work?
  • What name form is used in the records?
  • How much do they cost?
  • Where can I download them?

There are more than 15,000 MARC records available for poetry, prose and drama texts in Literature Online, plus over 450 records for criticism and reference resources, including full-text journals, and 794 records for Poets on Screen video clips. These are accessible via the Administration Resources area of the site. They link directly to volume or journal title leve, rather than to work or article level. The Library of Congress name form is used as a name authority field within Literature Online, and is also used in the MARC record author fields. As more content is added, such as new primary works or full-text journals, we add corresponding records that can be downloaded at the same place. These updates to the MARC record files take place every six months.

Full-Text Journals

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

There are currently 228 full text journals in Literature Online. 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; in 2005 we added twenty-eight new journal titles. Announcements for new journal titles just added or coming soon to Literature Online 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 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, from the home page 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, from the home page click on the CRITICISM & REFERENCE link on the left hand toolbar and choose to search 'Criticism'. For journal articles only (rather than bibliographic records) select the radio button 'Full-text only' at the top of the page.

ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature)

  • Is there a difference between ABELL as an Individual Literature Collection and ABELL within Literature Online?
  • Does Literature Online 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 on a monthly basis. The difference in bibliographic records occurs because Literature Online also contains corresponding bibliographic records for all of the full text articles that it contains. ABELL records appearing in Literature Online can be distinguished by their logo: ABELL

The MLA International Bibliography

  • Does Literature Online include the MLA International Bibliography?
  • How often is the MLA International Bibliography updated?

The MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) is available as a premium module within Literature Online. This premium subscription gives you access both to a standalone MLAIB interface (as a Chadwyck-Healey Literature Collection) and to the MLAIB within Literature Online, where it is cross-searched with ABELL and the full-text journals.

The MLAIB is updated ten times a year; the data is updated simultaneously in the standalone and in Literature Online.

Library Branding

  • How do I activate library branding in Literature Online?

Library branding allows customers to create a link to their own library page, which will appear on every page within Literature Online. From the Administration Resources page, follow the link to Customisation 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?

Yes. On the left hand tool bar there is a COMPLETE CONTENTS link. For clarity, this page is divided into 'Works Contents' (poetry, prose and drama) and 'Criticism and Reference Contents' (journals, bibliographic records, reference works and websites).

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 subscribe to the Literature Online newsletter and 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 links to pages or texts in Literature Online?

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

Controlling Access to Content

  • Can I stop users from accessing KnowledgeNotes in Literature Online?
  • Is there other content that librarians can directly control access to?

Literature Online gives control to librarians so that you can customise the service to meet the needs of your library and its users. We recognise that librarians may wish to remove access to certain types of content, either because they are not considered suitable academically, or for technical reasons; we have therefore implemented a new feature allowing you to remove KnowledgeNotes student guides and Poets on Screen film clips from your user profile. The options for controlling access to these resources are accessible from the customisation page, in the Administration Resources 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) and to works within Early English Books Online (EEBO) if your library also subscribes to these collections.

The Bible

  • Is the Bible available in Literature Online?

Yes. The King James Bible can now be accessed via the new Reference Shelf, which appears on the left-hand toolbar of every Search or Browse page. The Reference Shelf also contains the Concise Oxford Dictionary, A Shakespeare Glossary, Webster's Dictionary and a Combined Search of all these works.

The text preserves the spelling and punctuation of the 1611 King James Bible (the 'He' version) exactly and in full, with all introductory matter, annotation, calendars, genealogies and tables included. The Bible can also be cross-searched as part of the collections of poetry, drama and prose in Literature Online via the Texts search (results will appear under the Prose tab).

Concurrent Usage

  • How do you control the number of concurrent users?
  • How many concurrent users are allowed at my institution?
  • 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, 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.

has a concurrency level of users.

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

  • Do you provide promotional and training material for librarians?

We are delighted to be able to provide training materials for librarians to use. You can download and request brochures, posters and other marketing and training materials. If you need any other materials to be mailed to you, please contact our Webmaster service.

Citation Information

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

Please see our information page on How to Cite Texts from Literature Online. We now offer downloading of citations in formats compatible with the following reference management software packages: EndNote, ProCite, Reference Manager and RefWorks.

Premium Content Modules

  • How do I find out more about the Premium Module content that can be added to Literature Online?

If you are a subscriber to Literature Online Complete, you can upgrade your subscription to include new Premium Module content; this will be fully integrated with the rest of the content of Literature Online. Currently, there are four premium modules available: the Twentieth-Century Drama collection, the MLA International Bibliography, the African Writers Series and the Twentieth-Century American Poetry, Second Edition collection. The Literature Online Subscription page has more information on these collections.

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. 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 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. The Criticism and Reference resources in Literature Online are updated on a monthly basis, so there may be some delay before broken links disappear from the service.

Download Size Warnings

  • What is the 'Full Text download size warning'?

The 'Full Text download size warning' is designed to offer our users choice about the amount of text they download at a given moment. Users with fast internet connections can safely download an entire novel or poetry collection in a single operation by clicking 'Confirm' on the warning screen; those with slower connections can access smaller sections of the work by clicking on the Table of Contents link which appears on the same screen. If you are confronted with the 'Full Text download size warning' screen while attempting to download the text of Barnaby Rudge, and are uncertain about the speed and reliability of your connection, you should click the Table of Contents link. In the satellite window that appears, click the + icons to the left of the hyperlinked titles of the complete work and its constituent parts. You can then choose to download a smaller section, such as a volume or chapter, by clicking the relevant title link. The data size in kilobytes (KB) of each subdivision appears as part of the hyperlink. All texts in Literature Online are subdivided into smaller, more manageable portions where the structure of the original literary work allows this.

If you need to keyword search the whole of a lengthy text you can do this using the Texts screen by entering the title in the title keyword field and your keyword(s) in the keyword field. There is no need to download the entire text.

Resources on Non-English-Language Authors

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

Yes. The main focus of Literature Online is on English-language authors: our full-text database of primary works give unparalleled coverage of the English-language literature of the British Isles and the United States, and also extends to other colonial and post-colonial literatures in English. ABELL (the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature) is also a specialist resource focusing on English-language authors. As Literature Online has evolved, however, with the addition of more and more secondary resources in the Criticism and Reference section, we have added 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 Works 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?
  • Am I allowed to post durable links on a department VLE?

Subscribers may create printouts of material retrieved through Literature Online, 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.

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