Completing the Springer EBA trilogy, we are also pleased to announce that the Springer Biomedical and Life Sciences EBA has been renewed for another year. As with both the Springer Mathematics and Statistics EBA, and Springer Engineering EBA, this rolling subscription model provides access to the last four years of publications (2022-2025). The Biomedical and Lifesciences EBA makes available over 2,900 DRM-free ebooks and conference proceedings, covering subjects such as: agriculture, plant sciences, biotechnology, and food science.
A link filtering for subscribed material can be accessed via the ebooks@cambridge libguide, under ‘Find ebooks’. Records to titles can also be found on iDiscover, with new texts added as they are published. As an Evidence-Based Acquisition (EBA) scheme, the full annual subscription fee will be used by Cambridge STEMM librarians to purchase perpetual access to the most popular titles. Titles from the previous yearly subscription, covering the years 2021-2024, have recently been selected and are now available in perpetuity.
Please see below for a selection of new titles, with links to their iDiscover records beneath the images.
Further to our renewal of the Springer Mathematics and Statistics EBA, we are pleased to announce that the Springer Engineering EBA has also been renewed for another year. This rolling subscription model covers the last four years of publication (2022-2025), presenting the latest research for Engineering students. This subscription provides access to over 6,000 DRM-free ebooks and conference proceedings, with topics covering areas such as mechanical engineering, building construction and design, and computational intelligence.
A link to subscribed material can be found on the ebooks@cambridge libguide, under ‘Find ebooks’. Records will also continue to be added to iDiscover as titles are published. As this is an Evidence-Based Acquisition (EBA) scheme, the full annual subscription fee will be used by Cambridge STEMM librarians to purchase perpetual access to the most popular titles. Titles from the previous yearly subscription, covering the years 2021-2024, have recently been selected and are now available in perpetuity.
Please see below for a selection of new titles, showcasing the breadth of material available, with links to their iDiscover records beneath the images.
We are pleased to announce the Springer Mathematics and Statistics EBA has been renewed for another year. This rolling subscription model covers the last four years of publications (2022-2025), providing the most up to date research in Maths and Statistics for students. Over 2,000 DRM-free ebooks and conference proceedings are available through this subscription and records will continue to be added to iDiscover as titles are made available on the platform. A link to the subscribed material can also be accessed through the ebooks@cambridge libguide, under ‘Find ebooks’.
With this being an Evidence-Based Acquisition (EBA) scheme, Cambridge STEMM Librarians will use the full annual subscription fee to purchase perpetual access to the most popular and useful titles available in this package. Titles from the previous yearly subscription, covering the years 2021-2024, have recently been selected and are now available in perpetuity.
Titles in this subscription cover a range of topics in the disciplines of Mathematics and Statistics and will be of interest to those studying in these areas. Please see below for a selection of new titles, with links to their iDiscover records beneath the images.
Please do get in touch with us at ebooks@cambridge if you have any questions or would like to know more about the Springer Mathematics and Statistics EBA.
This newly available collection comprises over 160 Biomedical and Life Sciences reference titles, including encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries and atlases, which provide a great starting resource for any topic-based research. Each reference entry links to its primary and secondary sources, allowing researchers to trace the information trail and further enrich their understanding and knowledge.
Many titles in the collection are also available as living reference works, which are “online first, real-time snapshots (article collections) of a reference work which is in development or is being updated” and provide “the latest and most up-to-date content well in advance of the final printed work.”
The living reference works are fully discoverable and citable with their own unique DOI, and updates undergo a rigorous editorial process before they are accepted for publication on the Springer Nature platform.
Two separate entries for the the reference work Spider Venoms: the static first edition published in 2016, and the updating living edition.
The Biomedical and Life Sciences reference collection is written and curated by internationally renowned and award-winning experts. It will be of interest to many core STEMM disciplines and areas of research, including:
Neuroscience
Pharmacology
Toxicology/Toxinology
Cancer Research
Microbiology/Bacteriology
Cell Biology
Bioengineering/Biotechnology
Food Engineering/Food Chemistry
Genetics
Laboratory Medicine/Medical Biology
Virology
Ethnobotany
Plant Physiology and Diseases
Plant Sciences
Animal Sciences
Taxonomic References
Parasitology
Climate Change and the Environment
Biodiversity
Veterinary Sciences
Agriculture
Some of the high impact titles available in this collection include:
The Encyclopedia of Molecular Pharmacology (3rd Edition) is a fully updated version of a classic in the field. It combines the knowledge of classic pharmacology with the more recent approach of the precise analysis of the molecular mechanisms by which drugs exert their effects.
The Encyclopedia of Social Insects is a comprehensive treatise on the social insects of the world and is a project of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI).
TheEncyclopedia of Systems Biology is conceived as a comprehensive reference work covering all aspects of systems biology, in particular the investigation of living matter involving a tight coupling of biological experimentation, mathematical modeling and computational analysis and simulation.
Please see below for a sample of some more of the collection’s most popular and frequently cited titles now available to Cambridge University students and researchers. The hyperlinked titles will take you to the relevant reference work on the SpringerLink platform.
Please do get in touch if you have any questions about the Springer Biomedical and Life Sciences reference collection. Email us at ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk.
The ebooks team has recently received queries about ebooks on Springer Link, so we have created a blog post with details about known issues and some advice.
We will update this blog post to reflect any changes or new information. This blog post will also be linked in the Springer entry under Platform Hints and Tips on the ebooks@Cambridge LibGuide.
You can click on the section headings below to jump to a specific section of the blog post:
We know that many of our users browse the Springer Link platform in search of content. Cambridge has access to a large number of ebooks on the platform through ebook collections, as well as a small selection of individually purchased Springer and Palgrave Macmillan titles.
Unfortunately, it is not possible for us to purchase access to all ebook titles hosted on Springer Link. We recommend searching for available ebook titles in iDiscover using the Cambridge Libraries Collections search, as we add records for all of our subscribed and purchased titles. You may also find that a Springer or Palgrave Macmillan title is available on a different ebook platform, such as EBSCOhost, Ebook Central or VLeBooks.
If you require access to any titles not already available in our collections, please do make a recommendation through our Online recommendation form, and the request will go to the relevant acquisitions team for consideration.
If you just need a chapter (and a title is not available in our collections in print or as an ebook), then it may also be possible to request access to the chapter through the Request a Digital Copy service via iDiscover. More information can be found on the Request a Digital Copy LibGuide. Alternatively, Inter-Library Loans might be able to help.
If you are not able to visit the library, Scan and Deliver may also be an option if we hold a print copy in Cambridge University Libraries.
Checking if Cambridge has access to a book on Springer Link
As mentioned, the best way to check if we have access to an ebook is by searching in iDiscover, especially as we might have access to a title through a different ebook provider.
However, you can also check access on Springer Link if you happen to find an interesting book when browsing the website.
A book that is accessible to Cambridge users will display a Download book PDF or a Download book EPUB link at the top of the right sidebar.
You will also see the text “Access provided by University of Cambridge” at the top of the Table of Contents.
A book that is not accessible to Cambridge users will display an “Access via your institution” link at the top of the right sidebar, even if you are already logged in.
Above the Table of Contents, you will also see the following text: “This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.”
Again, this text displays if you are not logged in, or if you are logged in but Cambridge does not have access.
The wording is a bit confusing, as it does seem to suggest that you are not logged in, even though you might be. The next section explains how to check if you are already logged in.
Checking if you are logged in on the Springer Link platform
You can check if you are logged in to the Springer Link platform at the foot of the webpage.
You should see a list of items, starting with “JISC Journal Usage Statistics Portal”. The list will include the text “University of Cambridge (2000188110)”.
If you are not logged in, it will simply show your IP address and say, “Not affiliated”.
Logging in to the Springer Link platform
There are a few different ways that Cambridge users can be authenticated on the platform:
You should automatically be recognised as a Cambridge user if you are on campus and using the Cambridge network (eduroam for Cambridge students and staff).
iDiscover records for ebook titles will automatically direct you via your Raven login if you are off campus.
The Springer Link link on the A-Z Databases or Ebooks LibGuide A-Z is also configured to send users via their Raven login when they are accessing e-resources remotely.
You can log in on the platform with your Raven credentials by clicking “Access via your institution” and searching for “University of Cambridge” under “Find your institution”.
Application Error when logging in on Springer Link
You might see an Application Error message when logging in on the platform through “Access via your institution“:
This error can occur if your web browser has remembered a previous login in the form of a cookie stored on your browser. The cookie may skip parts of the login process, which can make logging in quicker, but for security reasons Springer block these kinds of logins after a period of time, resulting in this Application Error.
Please ignore the instructions in the error message advising you to simply try again without clearing your cache, as you may end up going round in circles.
Please do get in touch if you have any ebook questions. Write to us at ebooks@lib.cam.ac.uk.
This blog post will look at subscriptions and title-by-title ebook purchases for Physical Sciences in 2020-21.
Subscriptions
In May, we took out a 12-month subscription to ScienceDirect All Access & Freedom Collectionebooks hosted on the ScienceDirect platform. This vast and constantly updating collection comprises around 40,000 textbooks, monographs and major reference works across a wide range of STEMM and social science subjects:
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Engineering; Physics and Astronomy; Economics, Econometrics and Finance; Mathematics; Medicine and Dentistry; Materials Science; Earth and Planetary Sciences; Chemistry; Neuroscience; Psychology, Business, Management and Accounting; and Social Sciences.
At the end of the subscription, we will be able to select a number of the most popular ebook titles to keep in perpetuity following consultation with faculty, departmental and college librarians.
All ebooks in the ScienceDirect All Access & Freedom Collection are available with unlimited, DRM-free access. All titles can be found in iDiscover or by searching on the ScienceDirect platform.
At the end of July, we subscribed for one year to the Institute of Physics (IOP) Concise and Expanding Physics series (releases 4-6) and their 2020 ebook collection.
Our subscription gives us access to an additional 335 IOP titles, building on our existing (perpetual) access to the Concise and Expanding Physics series (releases 1-3) and AAS-IOP Astronomy (releases 1-2).
“[The IOP] ebook collections offer high-quality research across the physical sciences. They have been created to meet the needs of students, early-career researchers and established leaders in the respective fields.”
The Concise Physics series is produced in collaboration with Morgan & Claypool and consists of short texts that are described as the “first book” on a given topic – either as a first introduction to a subject, or as the first work published at the forefront of a fast-moving area.
The Expanding Physics series includes authoritative works by leading researchers in physics and related subject areas.
IOP ebooks are available with unlimited, DRM-free access. All available titles can be found in iDiscover.
In July, we also renewed our subscription to the Springer Mathematics & Statistics eBooks Collections (2018-2021) for another year. The 2018-21 collections include textbooks and monographs and cover a range of key topics (algebra, analysis, geometry, probability and statistics), as well as newer areas of research (mathematical biology, computational science and engineering, and quantative finance).
Key mathematical topics in the 2021 collection include:
Computational topology
Geometry of information
Mathematics of machine learning
Partial differential equations
Functional analysis
Key statistics topics in the 2021 collection include:
Analytics and big data
Statistical applications to epidemiology and public health
Environmental science
Spatial data analysis
All titles in the Springer Mathematics & Statistics eBooks Collections are available with unlimited, DRM-free access. All titles can be found in iDiscover.
Title-by-title purchases
Please see below for a small sample of individual ebook titles purchased by Physical Sciences in 2020-21. All of these titles can be found in iDiscover. Alternatively, follow the title links below the cover images for access.
As some of you may have seen on the eresources etc blog, Springer have launched a new platform (http://link.springer.com) and are in the process of migrating users to it. UK users are scheduled to be migrated to the new platform during the course of today or tomorrow.
While migration for libraries is expected to be seamless, individual account holders’ accounts are not being migrated so if you have an individual account you should go to link.springer.com and set up a new profile/account.
New features of the platform include the ‘Look inside’ option which allows users to preview two pages of a book chapter that we do not have full access to. When searching there is the option to narrow search results to include only content with full access, or to broaden results to include content that we do not have access to. The ‘Recent Activity’ section allows users to see what is being read by University of Cambridge users. Chapters may be read online or downloaded as pdf files to a variety of devices, and the new site is mobile optimized.
Librarians might be interested in the free training webinars or the first few slides of the SpringerLink powerpoint, which are both available here.
If you have any comments or notice anything that it is not right, please let us know.
ebooks@cambridge 