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 Histories Online?
- How much material am I allowed to print out from Cambridge Histories 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 Histories Online and when?
- I've noticed an error in the text. How do I report it?
- Which citation style is used by Cambridge Histories Online?
- Why do some images not appear within chapter PDFs in Cambridge Histories Online?
- Does Cambridge Histories Online provide MARC records?
- How do I subscribe to Cambridge Histories Online?
- Do you offer individual subscriptions to Cambridge Histories Online?
- Is it possible to trial Cambridge Histories Online prior to purchase?
- What will trial access enable me to see within Cambridge Histories Online?
- May I purchase a subscription to Cambridge Histories Online through my consortium?
- Does Cambridge offer any other online products that are similar to Cambridge Histories Online?
Technical/Access Questions
- I am a subscriber and I can't access Cambridge Histories Online. What can I do?
- How do I activate my PIN/access code to Cambridge Histories 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 Histories Online?
- Is Cambridge Histories Online OpenURL compliant?
- What are cookies?
- I'm having trouble opening PDFs. What can I do?
- Which browsers will Cambridge Histories display on correctly?
- What are the recommended display settings for Cambridge Histories Online?
General Queries
- What is Cambridge Histories Online?
Cambridge Histories Online brings together over 250 volumes from the renowned Cambridge Histories series. The volumes are grouped into topics, making it quick and easy to search and browse through an array of historical subject areas. The extensive bibliographic referencing and other leading functionality, enhances usability and makes this resource ideal for any type of historical research.
- How much material am I allowed to print out from Cambridge Histories Online?
Users may access, search and view individual chapters for personal use only. Print, copy and download permissions may vary from volume to volume 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 CHO 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 Histories Online, and when?
We will note important new additions at top of the Browse 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 set of volumes on the site.
- Which citation style is used by Cambridge Histories Online?
Cambridge Histories 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 Histories Online?
We have endeavoured where possible to include all images within the online editions of titles in Cambridge Histories 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 Histories Online provide MARC records?
Cambridge Histories Online will provide MARC records free of charge for all available titles shortly.
- How do I purchase/subscribe to Cambridge Histories Online?
Please check our Subscribe page for full information on how to purchase/subscribe to Cambridge Histories Online.
- Do you offer individual accesss to Cambridge Histories Online?
Individual purchase options to Cambridge Histories Online (password access only) are available. Please see our Subscribe page for more information.
- Is it possible to trial Cambridge Histories Online prior to purchase?
Institutions may arrange a free, no-obligation 30-day trial. 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 cho@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 Histories Online?
Trial access to the full content of the Cambridge Histories Online is available as standard (institutions only).
- May I purchase access to Cambridge Histories Online through my consortium?
If you wish to purchase access to Cambridge Histories 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 Histories 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 Histories 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 Histories 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 Histories Online. If you still cannot access the site, please contact us.
- How do I activate my PIN/access code to Cambridge Histories 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 Histories 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 cho@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 Histories Online. Please note that if you are accessing Cambridge Histories 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 Histories Online from an IP address within your organisation's configured IP ranges, they should be able to access content. 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 Histories Online by making use of a 'Referrer URL'. A referrer URL is the URL from which all users from that society will access Cambridge Histories 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 Histories Online if those members are entitled to access. This link will be customised to give users instant access when they try to access Cambridge Histories Online from this particular URL. For further information, please contact your nearest regional office: cho@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 Histories Online?
Unfortunately we don't offer library card access at present. Athens authentication will be enabled shortly.
- Is Cambridge Histories Online OpenURL compliant?
Cambridge Histories Online fully supports OpenURL linking at the present time. Please ensure that your institutions link resolver has been registered within Subscriber Services
- 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 Histories Online display on correctly?
Cambridge Histories Online will display fully in the following recommended platforms and browsers:
- Windows Internet Explorer 7.0, Windows XP/Vista
- Mozilla Firefox 2.0, Windows XP
- Internet Explorer 6, Windows XP
- Safari2.x, Macintosh
- Opera browser 9, Windows XP
- What are the recommended display settings for Cambridge Histories Online?
The minimum recommended screen resolution for Cambridge Histories Online is 800 x 600 pixels, although we recommend 1024 x 768. The recommended colour depth is 256. If the content of Cambridge Histories 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.
