Re: hathitrust research center workset browser

From: Eric Lease Morgan <emorgan_at_nyob>
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2015 09:57:37 -0400
To: CODE4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
On Jun 1, 2015, at 4:33 AM, davesgonechina <davesgonechina_at_GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> If your *institutional* email address is not on their whitelist (not sure
> if it is limited to subscribing ones, they don't say) you cannot register
> using the signup form, instead you can only request an account by briefly
> explaining why you want one. Weird, because they'd have potentially learned
> more about me if they just let me put my gmail address in the signup form.
> 
> I don't get it - can all users download public domain content? If they give
> me an account, will I be indistinguishable from a subscribing institution?
> If not, why the extra hoops?


Dave, you are the second person to bring this “white listing” issue to my attention. Bummer! Yes, apparently, unless your email address is a part of wider something or another, then you need to be authorized to use the Research Center. Weird! In my opinion, while the Research Center’s tools work, I believe the site suffers from usability issues.

In any event, I have enhanced the auto-generated reports created by my “Browser”, and while they are very textual, I also believe they are insightful. For example, the complete works of:

  * William Ellery Channing - http://bit.ly/browser-channing-about
  * Jane Austen - http://bit.ly/browser-austen-about
  * Ralph Waldo Emerson - http://bit.ly/browser-emerson-about
  * Henry David Thoreau - http://bit.ly/browser-thoreau-about

—
Eric “Beginning To Suffer From ‘Creeping Featuritis’” Morgan
Received on Mon Jun 01 2015 - 09:59:08 EDT