Libraries will have six months to migrate to a new version of LexisNexis Academic under a “soft” release of previously announced interface enhancements. Important details, including instructions for EZproxy users, are available in the message below posted to the Academic e-mail list (sign up to join the list at http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/listserv).
From LN Academic List, January 6, 2010:
Subject: [ACADEMIC-LIST] Soft Release of Interface Enhancements for LexisNexis Academic
Dear Colleagues,
After 18 months of development and very successful Beta testing last fall, LexisNexis is pleased to announce the release of the enhanced interface for LexisNexis Academic. The new interface is available to all subscribers today at http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic/.
Please see http://wiki.lexisnexis.com/academic/index.php?title=Academic_Help:_Overview for a guide to the changes in the new interface. If you are attending the ALA Midwinter Conference, please stop by Booth 2224 or join us for breakfast on Sunday (RSVP to Marina Ilishaev at marina.ilishaev@lexisnexis.com) for a demonstration.
What is a “soft” release and why are we doing one? The soft release of the new interface means that the old version of the product will continue to be available at its current http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic URL until this summer when LexisNexis will redirect this URL (and all related URLs for title- and article-level links) to the new interface. This approach will provide a migration period of six months during which subscribing institutions can move to the product at their own pace. Based on what we learned in Beta testing, a migration period is the best way to ensure a smooth transition and uninterrupted service, especially for institutions that use proxy servers to provide authentication for remote users.
A detailed guide to help subscribers move to the new interface will be published on the LexisNexis wiki in the coming days and announced on this listserv.
Subscribers have the following options:
1. Switch to the new interface and update deep links to LexisNexis Academic used in the library catalog, electronic resource systems, and subject guides to complete the switch immediately.
2. Switch to the new interface for research, reference, and instruction but continue to use the old URLs for the deep links to LexisNexis Academic used in the library catalog, electronic resource systems, and subject guides to complete the switch in two phases.
3. Continue to use the old interface primarily, but promote use of the new interface to ensure that everyone is ready to use it at the end of the migration period, and update and test proxy server settings as needed to ensure uninterrupted service.
When the URLs to the old interface are redirected this summer, subscribers who have chosen to follow options 2 or 3 will be seamlessly migrated to the new interface.
– NOTES FOR FEDERATED SEARCH AND ARTICLE LINKER SYSTEMS — Federated search and article linker systems will continue to use deep links to the old interface until the end of the migration period in summer 2010. It is expected that users who come to LexisNexis Academic through deep links will not take much notice of the differences between the old and new interfaces. Article-level links will go to the full-text display which is virtually the same in both versions, and title-level links will go the Power Search form which is also very similar in both versions.
– NOTES FOR EZProxy USERS — OCLC has now published directions for institutions that wish to use EZProxy to provide user authentication to the new LexisNexis Academic interface. Please note that older versions of EZProxy will not work with the new LexisNexis Academic interface. If you have not implemented the no-charge upgrade to EZProxy Version 5.2 you should do this now.
EZProxy Resources from OCLC
1. Configuration Specifications for LexisNexis Academic: http://www.oclc.org/us/en/support/documentation/ezproxy/db/lexisnexis.htm
2. Upgrade to EZproxy version 5.2: http://www.oclc.org/us/en/support/documentation/ezproxy/upgrade.htm
Please continue to monitor this listserv for important updates.
Best regards,
Alistair
Alistair Morrison, MA, MLS
Product Manager
LexisNexis Academic & Library Solutions
7500 Old Georgetown Road, Suite 1300
Bethesda MD 20814
Telephone: 301-951-4529 | Switchboard: 800-638-8380 | Fax: 301-652-1273
Email: alistair.morrison@lexisnexis.com
Website: http://academic.lexisnexis.com
Subscriber Wiki: http://wiki.lexisnexis.com/academic
Web Subscription Support: academicsupport@lexisnexis.com
Join Our ListServ: http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/listserv
0 Comments 
