Wikipedia talk:Cambridge

Query[edit]

"They are offering access to two collections: Cambridge Journals Online and Cambridge Books Online. For more information see their website." - Looking at their website now, I can't see these terms used. Have they had a rebrand/reorganization? It would be good to clarify what the access actually covers. Cheers, Johnbod (talk) 21:05, 25 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Johnbod: They've started putting a lot under the "Cambridge Core" name now, which, I think, coincides with a new technical publishing platform. --Xover (talk) 20:37, 24 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Delay in processing, or user error?[edit]

@Nikkimaria: I got your email on 25 February and I believe I filled out the Google form shortly afterwards, but I haven't gotten anything further about the account from Cambridge. Is processing of this latest batch of accounts delayed, or did I slip up somewhere? --Xover (talk) 20:42, 24 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: It was passed on to Cambridge shortly thereafter - I'll check where things are at. Nikkimaria (talk) 00:12, 25 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Nikkimaria: I just got an email from Cambridge with a link to activate the account, and did manage to complete the registration and log in, but it looks like cambridge.org is having severe technical issues with the Cambridge Core infrastructure right now, so I haven't been able to verify what access I get. Just FYI. --Xover (talk) 12:59, 17 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I am still waiting for my Cambridge access too. --Melly42 (talk) 00:06, 3 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Nikkimaria and Samwalton9 (WMF): Ok, still slow and buggy (getting things like socket timeouts on something north of two thirds of page loads), but I've at least gotten slightly farther. And it looks like my account doesn't have access to Shakespeare Survey or books like Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film. The technical issues will, I'm sure, be resolved eventually, but if the accounts do not include access to Shakespeare Survey and the Cambridge Companions series of books it will rather severely limit its utility. I haven't been able to access any journal content yet, but at least those have decoration suggesting I have access to them (various stuff is colored green and labelled with the word "Access", unlike the other two examples which just have "Get Access" links plastered all over them), so for now I'm assuming that's just due to the technical issues. --Xover (talk) 12:16, 18 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: It's a shame you're having these issues, though you're not alone in having technical problems. I'll enquire about those two books to see why you can't access them. Will let you know when I hear back. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 18:58, 21 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks! And just to be sure there's no confusion: my issue is entirely unrelated to the relatively primitive search functionality. Not that I would mind better search, of course, but it doesn't really bother me all that much just now. Similarly, I'm assuming the technical problems with Cambridge's Core platform are universal, that they're aware of them, and that they will be sorted out eventually. So it's just the access issue that I'm requesting that someone followup on. --Xover (talk) 06:11, 22 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: Cambridge said you should be able to access those collections, and are looking into it :) Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 09:25, 24 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

For reference, I'm still mostly getting errors like "ETIMEDOUT" and "ESOCKETTIMEDOUT" for anything other than the front page (this URL in this particular instance). I don't suppose they're doing authorization with LDAP (or somesuch) against a Wikimedia service that's broken? Because unless there's something like that in the mix it looks like they have catastrophic infrastructure problems with the Cambridge Core platform. Which, of course, might explain why things like accounts processing is slow: they're busy putting out fires. --Xover (talk) 08:25, 28 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: That's odd; from my testing and trying that link multiple times I'm not seeing the same problems. It would be best for you to contact Cambridge tech support directly in this case, they can help you better than via me. And no, nothing dependent on anything Wikimedia side (yet). Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 21:04, 29 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm. Very strange. I'm testing right now, and while slow, I'm not seeing the actual error messages get triggered. However, "right now" is in the middle of the night in America, and before people usually get up in Europe, and in the middle of a long weekend on both continents, so I'm guessing load on the Cambridge Core site is about as low as it can possibly be right now. I'll have to try this again at a more normal day / time-of-day, but for various reasons that won't be until maybe Friday at the earliest. In the mean time, anybody else seeing / not seeing performance issues or error messages with Cambridge Core? --Xover (talk) 04:55, 30 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Aaaand… Just heard back from Cambridge on the performance and timeout issues (they're aware of it and working on it), but in passing they also mentioned that "Regarding the Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film, your organisation doesn’t have access to that book. Please verify with your librarian or admin to what connect the organisation has access to." Not sure whether they checked actual permissions or just assumed that was the case from the description I gave them. In any case… the permissions issue I'll leave up to you (Sam) to follow up on, in all your copious free time. :) --Xover (talk) 20:07, 2 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Accounts[edit]

How long will it last until I will get access to Cambridge? I've got an email in February but I've got no further notification so far. Does that mean that there are no available accounts at the moment? --Melly42 (talk) 20:27, 27 April 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Done

Orlando[edit]

I am curious of whether, we can gain access to the CUP Orlando archives [1]? I tried to use my Cambridge sign in and it doesn't work, but since it is a section devoted to women writers, I am sure that it has resources which would be invaluable to both Women in Red and WikiProject Women Writers. Rosiestep, an admin and organizer for both projects, will be interested in this access as well. SusunW (talk) 15:08, 26 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

SusunW, thank you looping me in. Amanda and I met at Wikimania earlier this month to talk about the work I'm doing on pre-20th-century women writers and their works (as I'm the Wikipedia Visiting Scholar at the Northeastern University, Women Writers Project), and she spoke briefly about the Orlando archives. So, yes, I, too, would be very appreciate to have access! Thank you. --Rosiestep (talk) 15:52, 26 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

@SusunW and Rosiestep: I can certainly ask! Will update here when I hear back. Best, Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 09:51, 31 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Rosie and Susun already know, but just noting here that we now have access to Orlando. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 08:57, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Access changes on Cambridge Core, or account half expired?[edit]

@Samwalton9 (WMF): The last month or so I've been hitting a lot of books on Cambridge Core to which I do not get access (which didn't used to be the case, in general). This includes The Shakespeare Circle that I specifically used to have access to previously, The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642 (CUP, 2009/2015 (print/online)), and The Cambridge Shakespeare, Vol. 9 (CUP, 2009/2010, first published 1866). That is, books published by Cambridge University Press, and published both the last few years and mid-last century, which seems unlikely to be subject to particular limitations (unlike, say, books from non-CUP publishers). Timing wise this is roughly a year after I got access, and I initially thought this might just be the account expiring, but I do still have access to The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's First Folio (CUP, 2016/2016) and The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film (CUP, 2007/2007), so not all access is gone (which I would have expected if the account had expired). Help? --Xover (talk) 13:19, 10 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: That's odd - I've sent an email to see if we can figure out why this might be. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 09:55, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: Yep, apparently it was an issue with the subscriptions lapsing. They're going to renew them, so you should have access again soon. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 12:12, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Samwalton9 (WMF): Thanks! PS. The lack of any explicit information to the effect that your subscription has lapsed is getting to be a pretty big annoyance. CUP displayed no information to this effect, except suddenly being unable to access some (but not all) works; in fact, all visible information indicated everything was ok. Oxford University Press, with their three gazillion websites that expire accounts independently and with variable lag, just suddenly started saying the account didn't exist on login. JSTOR is, I suspect, also in the process of ageing out the account, which shows up as some, but not all, articles showing up with "You have X/6 free downloads remaining" banner (not sure if that is account expiring or some transient thing yet). If anything more important than Wikipedia had depended on these services it would drive me absolutely batty. In other words: the full Library Card Platform system really can't come soon enough! --Xover (talk) 15:41, 14 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: I totally agree. Apparently the accounts should be renewed now, could you confirm that's the case? Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 11:55, 15 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Samwalton9 (WMF): Confirmed. I can access all the above linked works now. --Xover (talk) 16:33, 15 May 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Samwalton9 (WMF): I spoke too soon. For the last week (-ish) I've been unable to access The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film and Shakespeare Survey (link is to volume 62 from 2009, but tested with volume 8 from 1955 and volume 70 from 2017), all published by CUP. Neither can I access The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's First Folio (CUP, 2016/2016) and The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Film (CUP, 2007/2007), which I did have access to in the beginning of May (cf. above). The other works listed in my message above, and some others, I do have access to. That is, even for works published by CUP itself my access is inconsistent and I see no obvious rhyme or reason for what I can access and what I can't. --Xover (talk) 09:23, 18 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: That's frustrating. This sounds like a more technical issue rather than something like access needing renewing - have you tried contacting CUP technical support? Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 09:36, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Samwalton9 (WMF): Will do. --Xover (talk) 09:38, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Samwalton9 (WMF): According to CUP's tech support, the issue is that some access on my account expired on 5 June. Given the initial troubles above, I'm guessing the various collections at CUP expire slightly out of phase, and the 15 May renewal renewed only those collections that had already expired at that point; meaning the remaining collections kept their existing expiry dates of 5 June. Or something like that, anyway. Tech support has forwarded it to CUP's sales department since they don't have any specific information about the TWL deal. In other words, the smartest approach is probably for you to get in touch with our CUP contact and refer them to ticket nr. P-I-482675. Apologies for adding to your workload! --Xover (talk) 15:12, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: Ah, that's confusing. I've sent them an email. And no problem - issues like this are part of my workload! :) Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 16:46, 19 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Xover: Should be fixed! Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 10:05, 20 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

@Samwalton9 (WMF): Confirmed, with all the above links. Thanks! --Xover (talk) 16:13, 20 June 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Huge delay[edit]

@Samwalton9 (WMF):--My application is pending for 346 days and this seem to be an outlier per your general metrics. Also, whilst the median response time for CUP is 50 days, I would be more interested in the MAD value. FWIW, there are still 2 available accounts.∯WBG^converse 05:40, 22 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Unfortunately we haven't been able to secure additional accounts during that time frame. 2 accounts being available isn't accurate as far as I'm aware, I'll take a look at fixing that. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 14:55, 23 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Hmm. Why don't we maintain a publicly view-able wait-list and a list of all those, who have been granted access? (Don't point to user-boxes) ∯WBG^converse 08:38, 24 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]