Frequently Asked Questions
If you cannot find the answer to your question below, please contact us directly with your query. Please ensure you have also checked through our help notes before submitting your question.
General Queries
- What is Cambridge Collections Online?
- How much material am I allowed to print out from Cambridge Collections Online?
- I'm having trouble using the search facility. What can I do?
- How can I find out which new titles are being added to Cambridge Collections Online and when?
- I've noticed an error in the text. How do I report it?
- Which citation style is used by Cambridge Collections Online?
- Why do some images not appear within chapter PDFs in Cambridge Collections Online?
- Does Cambridge Collections Online provide MARC records?
- How do I subscribe to Cambridge Collections Online?
- Do you offer individual subscriptions to Cambridge Collections Online?
- Is it possible to trial Cambridge Collections Online prior to purchase?
- What will trial access enable me to see within Cambridge Collections Online?
- May I purchase a subscription to Cambridge Collections Online through my consortium?
- Does Cambridge offer any other online products that are similar to Cambridge Collections Online?
Technical/Access Questions
- I am a subscriber and I can't access Cambridge Collections Online. What can I do?
- How do I activate my PIN/access code to Cambridge Collections Online?
- I've forgotten my password. How do I retrieve it?
- How do I use Subscriber Services?
- How do I update my institution's subscription record?
- Is it possible to have more than one account administrator?
- I've forgotten my Subscriber Services administrator password. How can I retrieve it?
- How can I see usage statistics for my library/institution?
- How do I configure IP addresses for my institution's account?
- Is it possible for remote users to access the site?
- What is 'referrer URL' access, and how can I use it for my society's access?
- Do you offer library card access/Athens authentication to Cambridge Collections Online?
- Is Cambridge Collections Online Open-URL compliant?
- What are cookies?
- I'm having trouble opening PDFs. What can I do?
- Which browsers will Cambridge Collections display on correctly?
- What are the recommended display settings for Cambridge Collections Online?
General Queries
- What is Cambridge Collections Online?
Cambridge Collections Online brings together subject or theme-based PDF collections of Cambridge titles, making them available together online as subscription packages. At present, we offer three collections based on the Cambridge Companions series: The Complete Cambridge Companions (285 titles), the Cambridge Companions to Literature and Classics Collection (175 titles) and The Cambridge Companions to Philosophy, Religion and Culture (110 titles). We also offer Shakespeare Survey Online as a standalone collection (60 volumes).
- How much material am I allowed to print out from Cambridge Collections Online?
Users may access, search and view individual chapters for personal use only. Print, copy and download permissions may vary from collection to collection depending on the sensitivity and rights available for the content. Unless otherwise stated in the Terms of Use, users may make copies, printed or otherwise, of one chapter or up to 5% of the pages from each CCO title, whichever is the greater.
- I'm having trouble using the search facility. What can I do?
Please check our help notes for full information and tips on how to search, including how to refine your results. It may be that you need to narrow your search if you receive too many results by entering additional words to the search terms, or use less precise terms to search more widely.
- How can I find out which new titles are being added to Cambridge Collections Online, and when?
We will note important new additions to each collection at the top of each collection home page as and when the titles are published and uploaded to the site. A full list of all new titles will also be included on our News and Subscriber Services pages.
- I've noticed an error in the text. How do I report it?
Unfortunately we are unable to alter or correct details within the actual chapter PDFs, but we can make changes to the chapter extracts, titles and author names. If you have found and noted an error in an extract, please contact us at onlinepublications@cambridge.org with full details of the error. We are not able make changes immediately, but will upload the corrected text when we publish the next batch of new material on the site.
- Which citation style is used by Cambridge Collections Online?
Cambridge Collections Online follows the Modern Language Association (MLA) format for citation examples. For more information on the MLA guideslines for documenting online sources, please see http://www.mla.org/publications/style_faq4.
Users are also able to download and e-mail citations through the export citation functionality.
- Why do some images not appear within chapter PDFs in Cambridge Collections Online?
We have endeavoured where possible to include all images within the online editions of titles in Cambridge Collections Online. However, an associated image may not be available in a small number of cases because of rights reasons. In this instance, we suggest that you refer to the relevant chapter in the printed edition of the title.
- Does Cambridge Collections Online provide MARC records?
Cambridge Collections Online provides MARC records free of charge for all titles in the collections. You may download a MARC21 format file (.mrc) containing records of all titles contained within each collection from our Subscriber Services page. We will add a new file for each upload of new content as and when it is published, but please note that cataloguing data for new additions may not have been included in Library of Congress records at the point of online publication. In these cases we will endeavour to provide the MARC record(s) in a later update. MARC records are also available for download from Datashop direct.
MARC record reader software such as MarcEdit will be required to add these files to your library system.
- How do I subscribe to Cambridge Collections Online?
Please check our Subscribe page for full information on how to subscribe to collections within Cambridge Collections Online.
- Do you offer individual subscriptions to Cambridge Collections Online?
Individual subscriptions to the Complete Companions Collection and Shakespeare Survey Online (password access only) are available. Please see our Subscribe page for more information.
- Is it possible to trial Cambridge Collections Online prior to purchase?
Institutions may arrange a free, no-obligation 30-day trial to any product available on the site. Please go to the Trial Request page, fill out your details and submit the form. Alternatively, you may contact us directly to arrange a trial by emailing ccol@cambridge.org for North America or academicsales@cambridge.org for UK and Rest of World.
- What will trial access allow us to see within Cambridge Collections Online?
Trial access to either the full Complete Cambridge Companions, Literature and Classics Companions, Philosophy, Religion and Culture Companions or Shakespeare Survey Online is available as standard (institutions only).
- May I purchase a subscription to Cambridge Collections Online through my consortium?
If you wish to purchase a subscription to a collection within Cambridge Collections Online through your library consortium, you can pass their details to us and we will contact them to arrange your deal. Contact aroseman@cambridge.org for North America or hperrett@cambridge.org for UK and Rest of World for further details.
- Does Cambridge offer any other online products that are similar to Cambridge Collections Online?
For full details of our other online offerings, please see http://www.cambridge.org/online.
Technical/Access Questions
- I am a subscriber and I can't access Cambridge Collections Online. What can I do?
If your access details have been set up incorrectly in our subscriber database you will experience problems in trying to access Cambridge Collections Online. Please check with your librarian or account administrator that the details that have been entered into the database are correct. To do this, your administrator must first log in to Subscriber Services and check that you are using the the correct username and passwords or that the correct IP addresses have been entered for your institution. If either has been entered incorrectly, your administrator should update the details. If you are still having trouble accessing the site, please ask your administrator to contact us directly.
If you hold an individual subscription, please check that you are entering the correct email address and password to access Cambridge Collections Online. If you still cannot access the site, please contact us.
- How do I activate my PIN/access code to Cambridge Collections Online?
Please click on the 'Activate an access code' link from the Subscribe page. You should then enter the access code which appears at the top of your invoice or trial confirmation details. On entering the access code, a form will appear which you should fill in and submit to activate your access. Please note that institutional administrators may update any of the details entered via this form by accessing Subscriber Services after registration. Individuals should contact us for updates to your records.
- I've forgotten my password. How do I retrieve it?
Individual users should contact us directly. Unfortunately we are only able to reset your password, so please specify a new password along with your full account details when contacting us.
- How do I use Subscriber Services?
Subscriber Services are only available to administrators of subscribing institutions to Cambridge Collections Online. To access our account management pages, either click on the 'Subscriber Services' link from the home page and follow the instructions, or access directly via http://subs.sams.cup.semcs.net. Once on the main Subscriber Services page, you will be required to enter your administrator email address and password in order to update any account details.
- How do I update my institution's subscription record?
Institutional account administrators may update their records by logging in to Subscriber Services and clicking 'Account Update'. Any changes made to the institutional account (including IP changes) will be automatically updated on submission.
- Is it possible to have more than one account administrator?
You may have more than one administrator for an institutional account, but please contact your nearest regional office for further advice. Contact ccol@cambridge.org for North America or onlinepublications@cambridge.org for UK and Rest of World. Please note that administrator login details to Subscriber Services should be kept in a secure place and only allocated to librarians or site administrators.
- I've forgotten my Subscriber Services administrator password. How can I retrieve it?
Please contact us specifying your full details, together with a new password. We will update our database and confirm your new details by email as soon as possible.
- How can I see usage statistics for my library/institution?
Usage statistics are available to all institutional account administrators who will need to log in to Subscriber Services with their administrator username and password in order to access these pages. Once logged in, please select the 'Usage Statistics' tab from the main menu.
- How do I configure IP ranges for my institution?
Your institutional administrator should first log into Subscriber Services with their administrator username and password. Click 'Account' Update in the top menu bar, then enter the new IP ranges into the data entry box provided and click 'Update Record'. Please allow the system a few moments to update before attempting to access content. Existing CJO customers should note that all account changes should be made in CJO. Any updates you make will transfer across to Cambridge Collections Online. Please note that if you are accessing Cambridge Collections Online through a proxy server then you will need to provide the IP address of the proxy server in order for you to access the site.
- Is it possible for remote users to access the site?
Please ask your users to authenticate to your network for access in the normal way. Provided users access Cambridge Collections Online from an IP address within your organisation's configured IP ranges, they should be able to access your institution's subscribed collections. Alternatively, your administrator may set up designated users to have remote access with a username and password. To do this, your administrator should log into Subscriber Services, then click the 'Account Update' tab at the top. On this page, click 'View/Edit the userpass credentials'. Please type in the email address of the user as the username, together with a password. We recommend that you use email addresses to keep everything consistent across our systems. Finally, please click 'Add'. This will enable remote access for this user to any subscriptions listed against your account.
- What is 'referrer URL' access, and how can I use it for my society's access?
Academic societies may obtain access to Cambridge Collections Online by making use of a 'Referrer URL'. A referrer URL is the URL from which all users from that society will access Cambridge Collections Online. With referrer URL, the society's own site will allow users to log into it, and that site will present its members with a special link to Cambridge Collections Online if those members are entitled to access. This link will be customised to give users instant access when they try to access Cambridge Collections Online from this particular URL. For further information, please contact your nearest regional office: ccol@cambridge.org for North America or onlinepublications@cambridge.org for UK and Rest of World.
- Do you offer library card access/Athens authentication to Cambridge Collections Online?
Unfortunately we don't offer library card access or Athens authentication at the present time, but there are plans to implement both types of access in the future.
- Is Cambridge Collections Online Open-URL compliant?
Unfortunately Cambridge Collections Online does not support Open-URL linking at the present time. However, we do plan to introduce this feature in a future release.
- What are cookies?
Cookies are text-only strings of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on your computer's hard disk so that the website can remember who you are. Institutional subscribers accessing via IP should note that usage statistics related to user sessions will not be available if cookies are disabled. For more information about cookies, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
- I'm having trouble opening PDFS. What can I do?
Please see our 'Help with PDFs' page for PDF troubleshooting, including common viewing problems.
- Which browsers will Cambridge Collections Online display on correctly?
Cambridge Collections Online will display fully in the following recommended platforms and browsers:
- Windows Internet Explorer 6.0
- Mozilla 1.6 (any supported platform)
- Mozilla Firefox 1.0.5 (any supported platform)
- Opera browser 8 (any supported platform)
- Macintosh Safari
- Netscape 8 (any supported platform)
- What are the recommended display settings for Cambridge Collections Online?
The minimum recommended screen resolution for Cambridge Collections Online is 800 x 600 pixels, although we recommend 1024 x 768. The recommended colour depth is 256. If the content of Cambridge Collections Online is too small to read comfortably, please increase the text size setting in your browser application.
If you cannot find the answer to your question above, please contact us directly with your query. Please ensure you have also checked through our help notes before submitting your question.