| How to Access Online
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Where is the Online Content?
To find some online content, click on one of the links listed on our
Bookshop Page, where you see the 'download' icon:
 . Downloadable items
in our bibliographic lists are indicated by a padlock symbol. An open padlock
 indicates a free
download whilst a closed padlock
 indicates that you need to
use your user-ID or rely on IP-based access to retrieve the content. If there are no padlock
symbols on the page you are viewing then there is no downloadable content. |
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What is IP-based Access?
This is where access to our online content is based on your Internet IP
address, meaning that you do not need to log in. IP-based access is available to annual
subscribers to Cave & Karst Science and is intended for libraries, universities and similar
institutions. It is also available to caving clubs, where you have a static IP address, for
example at your club's library. Members and subscribers should contact our secretary and supply
the static IP address (or list of addresses) that they wish to register. When IP-access has been
enabled you will not need to log in to download Cave & Karst Science, nor to retrieve content
from any other of our catalogues that have been enabled for IP access. Please note: this
system is still under development and we cannot guarantee that it fully works. If you have any
problems, please refer to the notes further down this
page. |
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How do I obtain a User-ID?
without IP-based Access, you will need a User-ID and Access
Code, which you can obtain as follows...
- If you are not a member of BCRA you can subscribe to the
online content on a monthly or yearly basis. You can
Purchase an online ID or join
BCRA.
- You can obtain a free login, valid for a month, when you
click any applicable download links.
- If you are a BCRA member, your user-ID is printed on your
membership card.
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What do the codes look like?
See Forgot / Do Not Understand
Access Credentials
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How do I use my user-id?
When you click on the download link (see Where is the Online
Content?, above), you will be given four options...
- Log in using your User-ID and access code
- Register for a free monthly ID (applies to Cave & Karst
Science and Speleology only)
- Purchase a monthly or yearly ID
- Join BCRA
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| FAQ ... or SAQ
(Sometimes-Asked Questions) |
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 My IP access does not
work
Apart from bugs in our software, the most likely reason for this is that your IP address
has not been registered correctly (possibly due to a typing mistake). To test your access, please go to the
Cave & Karst Science page now, and you should see a
report box, like the one to your right, in the top right of your screen. Please paste the text
from inside the box and make a report to our secretary and we will
investigate. |
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The PDFs are not easy to read on my
computer screen
PDF is a convenient format for exchanging documents (it stands for Portable Document
Format) but it is a format for exchanging a printable document: PDFs are intended to be
printed before reading. Obviously you can read them online, but there will be compromises.
Those of you who use an e-book reader may be familiar with this 'problem' with PDFs. We are
considering whether, in due course, we should alter the format of our online publications,
essentially writing them in HTML instead of providing them as PDFs, but it is too early to say if
this idea will take shape. |
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The PDFs do not display on-screen, and Im
forced to save them to my PC. Why?
There are two possible reasons for this. 1) If PDFs never display in your
browser, this is probably because you do not have a suitable 'plug-in'. You should either download
a suitable plug-in or use a different browser. 2) If PDFs sometimes display, this
could be a feature of the way your browser works. With Chrome, for example, if the programmer's
intention was to offer you the choice of opening or saving a file (as it is with BCRA's
files), Chrome will not give you that choice. Instead it forces you to save the file. The idea is,
presumably, that if you want to view the file you will click on the 'download' link that Chrome
displays at the bottom of your screen ... possibly.
Technical explanation: When Chrome receives a
"Content-Disposition: attachment; " header it interprets it literally and treats the file as an
attachment, for saving; whereas Internet Explorer, Firefox, and most other browsers, still offer
the user the option of saving or displaying the file. When Chrome receives a "Content-Type:
application/pdf" header without a corresponding "Content-Disposition: attachment; header
then it opens the PDF in a web page. This may need to be a future mod to BCRA's download
program. |
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How will you notify me
that a new item has been published on-line?
You can now sign-up to receive BCRA information by email. You can do this on-line,
here, or you can send a blank email message to
notices-subscribe[at]list.bcra...
[etc] or
CREG-announce-subscribe[at]list.bcra...
[etc] |
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Can I specify my own password?
No. Unfortunately not; and we do not have plans to introduce this feature. |
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Why Isn't Online Access Free?
BCRA needs to raise income in order to fund its operations. We have made a decision -
which seems fair - that all its members and subscribers should contribute towards this cost. (If
you subscribe only to the CREG journal online, the whole of your fee goes into CREG's funds rather
than into general BCRA funds). Having said that, we have now introduced Open Access for
C&KS - you can now obtain a free monthly login for these periodicals. This allows BCRA to meet
its obligations where papers submitted to C&KS have been publicly-funded - see
RCUK Policy on Open Access. |
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Do All Members of a
Member Club Get Free Access?
Yes. Membership of BCRA entitles all the members of a caving club or society to online
access, just as they would be allowed access to the paper copy in the club's library. However, we
do request that clubs refrain from publishing the access credentials (e.g. in a club newsletter,
forum or blog). We suggest that an appropriate club officer (e.g. the librarian or secretary) asks
the club members to request the information if and when they require it. |
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