FAQ

Nominating a product will not oblige your organization to acquire that product.
 

The results of the Ranking Survey will largely determine which products eHLbc investigates for consortial licensing. Other criteria considered in choosing the products to investigate further include content, functionality, technical requirements, cost, and management. Of course, the vendor or publisher must be willing to work with consortia.  
 

All suggested products should meet the following criteria to be included in the Ranking Survey: 

• Related to a health discipline;
• Electronic or web-based;
• Not already licensed by a partner consortium;
• Contains minimal content overlap with products currently licensed by eHLbc;
• Are of interest to both post-secondary and health sectors;

Products that were investigated for licensing in the past, and were found to not be affordable or to not offer a fair and equitable pricing model, may not be considered for consortial licensing during the current product selection process.

There is no limit. You may add any number of suggestions to the eBox so long as you do so within the period the eBox is open.
 

All full and affiliate members are invited to participate in the new product selection process. All librarians and library staff may add suggestions to the e-Box, so please pass this information along to all appropriate staff at your organization. Any number of staff from a single member organization may add suggestions to the eBox. Please note, however, that only one representative from each organization can vote in the Ranking Survey for their organization's preferred products.

The Ranking Survey is held every two to three years. Members will be notified by email when the eBox is open. Prior to the launch of the Ranking Survey, you will have approximately two months to add new product suggestions to the eBox. Suggestions submitted after the closing date will not be considered for licensing during this round of product selection.

The following list outlines a number of licensing models in use by vendors and consortia across North America: 

• FTE: A fixed price per FTE. Variations include weighted FTE (some types of organizations receive a “discount” on their FTE) and capped FTE (minimum and maximum prices). FTE in some cases may be based on particular programs such as nursing, medical, and allied health.
• Tier: Organizations are divided into tiers and priced accordingly.
• Flat fee: In the flat fee model, a vendor grants access to a group of libraries in exchange for a fixed price. The libraries are free to divide that cost however they like, without reference to the vendor. 
• Bed count:  Used frequently in the health sector, this model bases pricing on the number of beds (chronic, acute, or both) in a hospital or health region.
• Simultaneous user: In this model a library, regardless of size, buys a certain number of “seats” or simultaneous users to access the product.
• Usage-based: A library or consortium buys a “block” of uses, e.g. 10,000 fulltext downloads. Alternately they may pay a fixed price per download.
• Collections budget: A few products are priced according to the collections budget of the library, with “richer” libraries paying more.
• Existing spend: This model uses a library’s pre-existing spend on a publisher’s products as a baseline for determining the price of a new or expanded product. This model has been common in the transition from print to ejournal subscriptions.
• Hybrid: Some pricing models combine several of the above approaches.

The new eHLbc Forum can be accessed from the top Members > Forum menu item or directly here: https://ehlbc.ca/forum

Login to your eHLbc account using your email address to access the eHLbc Forum and other member-only website features.

Navigating the eHLbc Forum

• The eHLbc Forum includes multiple Discussions (sections within the forum) with Topics (threads within each discussion) and Posts (within a topic/thread). Members can  post within an existing Topic; or create new Topics (threads) if your topic does not exist.
• Forum tabs are available including View Forums (all forums) and New & Updated Topics.
• Discussions containing new posts have a yellow bell  beside them while discussions with no new posts since your last visit have a white bell .

Discussion Forums

• Multiple Discussions are available within the eHLbc Forum including Introduce Yourself, General Discussion, User Training, Troubleshooting and more.
• Click on a Discussion to check-out all the Topics (threads) posted to that discussion forum.
• Aren't sure which Discussion to post your topic or wish to request a new Discussion forum? Contact forums@ehlbc.ca for assistance.

Topic (thread) Notifications

• Within a Discussion, multiple topics or threads are available. For example the "introductions" topic/thread is available within the "Introduce Yourself" discussion. Post in a topic already in progress or create a new thread within a discussion forum!
• Sticky Posts or pinned posts are indicated by this iconand include important information regarding a topic or discussion. Want to request a thread be pinned? Contact forums@ehlbc.ca for assistance.
• New Posts are indicated by the   icon or  icon for new hot topics.
• Hot Topics are indicated by the  icon or  icon for new hot topics.
• Locked Topics are indicated by the icon. Threads may be locked if they should no longer be updated but may still be relevant. Please start a new thread on your topic or contact forums@ehlbc.ca if you have any questions about a locked topic or would like to request a topic locked.
• Closed Topics are indicated by the icon. Threads may be closed if they are off-topic or not suited for the eHLbc forums. Contact forums@ehlbc.ca if you have questions about a closed topic.

Posting and Replying

• Within a topic, use the Post reply button  to add a new post to the bottom of a thread.
• You can also reply to a specific user's post by using the reply  button found below their message.
• Use the HTML wysiwyg editor to format your post/reply: 
• Members can also edit  or delete  their own posts. Need assistance with a post? Contact the moderators at forums@ehlbc.ca for help.

Viewing Messages by User

• Click on a user's name within the forum to view their contact information and a list of messages they've posted to the discussion forums (must be logged in to view). A member's message list can be used to quickly check for their responses to multiple topics!
   

Need assistance? Contact us for technical assistance at forums@ehlbc.ca.

Log in to the eHLbc website and discussion forum with your email address and eHLbc website password using the Log in/out link located on the top-right of the eHLbc website.

• Forgot your password? Enter your email address into the Request New Password page. If you have an eHLbc account with that email, your username and a temporary password link will be sent to your registered email address.
• If you need to update your email address information or no longer have access to the email account used to set-up your eHLbc website account; please contact us forums@ehlbc.ca for assistance.
• Don't have an eHLbc website/forum account login? Current member organization staff contacts can email office@ehlbc.ca for assistance.

Ovid databases limit the number of citations that can be exported for use in RefWorks or other citation management programs. Contact Ovid Technical Support directly to increase the limit from 200 to up to 10,000 exports. Due to browser and connectivity limitations, Ovid recommends setting a limit of 2,000 citations for export and also recommend using Firefox or Chrome (not Internet Explorer) when exporting citations.

Contact EBSCO Technical Support to enable your institution to export large record files (up to 25,000) from EBSCO databases.

 

This is usually related to authentication issues.

a) Solution: Try a different browser or clear your current browser's cookies & cache and then restart your browser. Open the database again to check whether the organization's information has been updated now that any cached errors are cleared.

b) Solution: Another organization may have entered your IP address(es) into their site profile in error. Contact the vendor or the eHLbc Administrative Centre for assistance with resolving the problem.

c) Solution: Update your database custom URLs or jumpstarts to direct patrons to the resources of the correct organization. Contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre for assistance in creating these links.

Review the solutions below or contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre for additional assistance.

New! eHLbc Referrer Patron Video Guide [90s ; MP4]

a) Solution: This may be a temporary problem as referrer URL authentication is dependent on your browser. Try a different browser or clear your current browser's cookies & cache and restart to resolve the problem. Some browsers, such as Safari, may have connection issues with referrer URL and we recommend you try other browsers including Firefox, Chrome, or Edge.

More information on your browser and connection settings available at: Internet Explorer; Firefox; Chrome; Safari

b) Solution: Make sure you're opening the database URLs from the referrer URL authenticated page accessible to members of your organization only. Copy and pasting URLs into your browser or clicking on links from an email or published elsewhere will not work unless you are already authenticated from your organization's referrer URL page. EBSCO authentication may expire within 30 minutes of inactivity.

c) Solution: If you have recently changed your website, and your referrer URL authentication no longer works, check-out our updated Referrer URL Set-up Guide for further information including a video guide for administrators.

d) Solution: Referrer URLs (or web pages) that have a URL starting with Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) will only pass along the referrer URL information to other HTTPS pages. Make sure both your starting web page AND your database links have the same transfer protocol. For example, if you have recently changed your web pages to HTTPS you will need to contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre for assistance updating your referrer URLs. And you will also need to update your web page database URLS to HTTPS. Or you can also change your web page back to HTTP and your referrer URL authentication should work immediately again. Check-out our updated Referrer URL Set-up Guide for further information including a video guide for administrators.

Contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre for additional assistance.

a) Solution: Check with your Technical Support department to ensure that the IP address(es) you are trying to enter are correct.

b) Solution: Another organization may have entered your IP address into their site profile in error. Contact the vendor or the eHLbc Administrative Centre for assistance with resolving the problem.

The answer depends on the vendor's licensing restrictions for each database.

a) Solution: Check eHLbc licensed resources for additional information about simultaneous user restrictions for each database. Contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre for additional assistance.

This usually is due to connectivity problems related to your internet connection and is often temporary. Occasionally this is related to issues that the vendor is having with their service.

a) Solution: It may be a temporary connectivity issue with your internet connection and the database. Try accessing other resources and internet pages to see if they are also slow. Contact your Technical Department to check for current issues with internet access.

b) Solution: It may be a temporary issue with the vendor. Check other article databases supplied by that vendor. If they are all slow or experiencing problems contact the vendor directly for more information or to open a case ticket with them. Contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre if you would like additional assistance with this.

There may be multiple reasons why full-text journals and articles are not available, including due to licensing or access issues.

a) Solution: Only some resources provide access to full-text articles. Check eHLbc licensed resources, vendor database title lists, or Library Publications in your Full Text Finder for more information about journal embargos and other restrictions to accessing full-text articles.

b) Solution: Publishers sometimes remove full-text content that was previously available. Contact the vendor or the eHLbc Administrative Centre for additional information on content that may no longer be available.

c) Solution: If it appears that access to full-text articles should be available, check for other recent full-text articles in that journal title. There is often a few months lag from the publisher with certain titles. Contact the vendor or the eHLbc Administrative Centre for additional assistance.

d) Solution: If you believe that an article or journal title should be available but do not see it displayed in the database or in your Full Text Finder, check with the vendor or the eHLbc Administrative Centre, as there may be an error in the content display. Please contact us with the citation and database information when requesting additional assistance.

e) Solution: If the journal title is a new resource, check that you have auto-updates for new titles activated in your Full Text Finder. You will need to contact EBSCO directly to add any missing journals, as titles unfortunately are not retro-actively added after auto-updates is turned on.  Please contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre if you would like assistance.

f) Solution: If the full-text article is just not available, we recommend that you contact your library for additional assistance or to request the item via interlibrary loan from another organization.

There are many reasons you may have issues connecting to a database including connectivity, access, authentication & licensing.

Connectivity Solution: It may be a temporary connectivity issue with your Internet connection and the database.

• Try accessing other resources and Internet pages to check if it's just particular resources that are having connectivity issues or your entire internet.
• If you encounter database error messages, try clearing your browser cookies & cache and restart your browser to try again.
• Try a different browser (e.g., Chrome & Firefox) as some browsers, such as Safari and Internet Explorer, may have connection issues with a variety of databases. More information on your browser and connection settings available at: Internet Explorer; Firefox; Chrome; Safari.
• Contact your Technical Services department to check for current connectivity issues with Internet access.

Access Solution: There may be a misconfigured URL access issue. Check that the URL of the resource is correct or contact the vendor or the eHLbc Administrative Centre for additional assistance updating your URLs.

On-site Authentication Solution: If you're using the resources on-site, there may be an authentication issue. Check that your IP addresses are up-to-date with EBSCOAdmin and OVID.  Contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre for assistance updating your list of IP addresses.

Off-site Authentication Solution: If you're using the resources off-site, there may be an authentication issue.

• If you use Referrer URL authentication, contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre for more assistance.
• If you're using username and password logins, update them in EBSCOAdmin and OVID.
• If you're using Ezproxy, check with your library technical support and the OCLC Ezproxy Support guide for assistance.

Licensing Solution: There may be a licensing issue if access to the database is no longer available. Check the License & Terms Details and Participating Institutions sections of each database at eHLbc licensed resources for additional information or contact the eHLbc Administrative Centre for assistance.

Our existing licenses for e-resources are only for post-secondary and health sector institutions in BC and Yukon. eHLbc may investigate expanding these agreements. Contact us for more information.

The membership model for eHLbc requires that health professionals belong to a parent organization (post-secondary institution, health authority or professional association) that pays its share of the licensing fees and provides library infrastructure support for its own users. eHLbc cannot create memberships for individuals. If you are unsure as to whether your organization has access to eHLbc resources, please contact us for assistance and more information.

Try the links on the Resources page. If you don't get access, contact your local library for instructions.

eHLbc resources have been licensed for all health professionals in the province of BC and for all students/staff/faculty in BC publicly-funded post-secondary institutions. At present only the listed member organizations have paid for access; all those affiliated with these members are able to use these resources.

Currently, at least 40 different organizations in BC purchase licenses to access health related resources. These organizations include BC ELN partners, teaching hospitals, acute facilities within the health authorities and health professional organizations. Disparities exist across each sector with each group licensing a different combination of resources, while at the same time some groups have no access to health resources. eHLbc was formed to provide province-wide access to selected resources equally across the health care sector as well as the academic institutions in the most cost effective manner.

eHLbc is a consortium consisting of post-secondary institutions, health authorities, government ministries, and health professional organizations. The eHLbc initiative has been developed and championed by a province-wide committee of library professionals from the post-secondary education and health care sectors.

eHLbc is a partnership of health, post-secondary, and government libraries around BC and Yukon. At this time, only organizations can seek membership with eHLbc; there is no provision for individual membership.

If you are a health practitioner, student, educator, or researcher, you may have access to eHLbc resources through your employer, health authority, school or professional association. Go to our Members page for a full listing of organizations providing access to eHLbc resources.