Just to confirm: as Derrik Hiatt pointed out in a reply to ERIL-L, this feature can be turned off with a request to Elsevier customer support. Thankfully. I’ve also made significant changes to our OpenURL service (SFX) and our discovery layer (WorldCat Local) to reduce any linking to PPV when there is full text available elsewhere. Hopefully this will slow down the rate at which our users are using PPV. I know that some libraries choose to go the mediated route but this isn’t something we are inclined to do.

Steve

On Mar 13, 2017, at 10:08 AM, Steve Oberg <steve.oberg@wheaton.edu> wrote:

Cross-posting to SERIALST and ERIL-L.

We’ve recently noticed the introduction of a new “feature” in ScienceDirect, described by a user below. Has anyone else noticed this and had any success in getting it turned off? Since our ScienceDirect access is mostly unmediated pay-per-view (PPV), with few direct subscriptions, and we are seeing skyrocketing demand, this is particularly problematic for us.

"First, I think when I clicked to download the one article I wanted, it offered me the options of downloading all articles in the issue. Then, when I click on no, just this article, a window popped up and said others who downloaded this article also downloaded, and then gave me the one article I wanted plus two others. Download all? It asked, with the three boxes pre-checked with a yes.”

It seems doubtful that Elsevier would readily turn off this “feature” and I also wonder if it is possible for them to track how frequently users follow through on downloading extra stuff, but clearly, the “feature” is designed to encourage and enable increased amounts of downloads.

Steve

Steve Oberg
Assistant Professor of Library Science
Resource Description and Digital Initiatives
Wheaton College (IL)
+1 (630) 752-5852
 
NASIG Vice-President/President-Elect
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