Keeping pace with the rapid advance of library technology and electronic services can be both exciting and daunting, especially for libraries with a small (but mighty!) staff. Out of necessity, small staffs often undertake many disparate tasks to keep electronic resources running smoothly for users. Because of these constraints, it is useful for…

After three years of collecting electronic resources of troubleshooting tickets in Springhare's LibAnswers at University of Houston Libraries, the author conducted an analysis of over 300 tickets. The type of problem was identified for each ticket and then categorized into a functional area using an existing categorization schema developed at…

For electronic resources and reference librarians, fielding eresource access problems is often a daily task. A library user clicks on a link to an electronic journal article, book, or primary source and is unable to access the full text. Sometimes this problem occurs due to a lapsed subscription, a broken link, or a proxy configuration error. The…

An exploratory survey of midsize land-grant institutions in 2016 investigated factors that were potentially correlated with how satisfied library personnel were with the software tools they used in electronic-resource troubleshooting. Although the study was very small in scale, it found that troubleshooting personnel at responding libraries are…

A small group of midsize land-grant institutions in the western United States responded to a survey on what tools they used for troubleshooting, what activities they accomplished using the tools, and who performed their troubleshooting. Most respondents use subscription-manager administration tools, email programs, electronic resource management…

Resolving user access issues is inherent in managing electronic resources in libraries. The University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Library, situated within a predominantly distance learning-centered institution, has developed a series of web-based technical help pages to facilitate resolution of typical issues reported by its…

Electronic resource access troubleshooting is familiar work in most libraries. The added complexity introduced when a library implements a web-scale discovery service, however, creates a strong need for well-organized, rigorous training to enable troubleshooting staff to provide the best service possible. This article outlines strategies, tools,…

A primary role of any e-resources librarian or staff is troubleshooting electronic resources (e-resources). While much progress has been made in many areas of e-resources management (ERM) to understand the ERM lifecycle and to manage workflows, troubleshooting access remains a challenge. This collaborative study is the result of the well-received…

The shift from traditional print materials to electronic resources, in conjunction with the rise in the number of distance education programs, has left many electronic resource librarians scrambling to keep up with the resulting inundation of electronic resource problems. When it comes to diagnosing these problems, words do not always convey all…