Electronic Document Delivery (EDD) Troubleshooting Guide

If you are still having difficulty with your documents after reviewing this guide, please contact the St. Paul ILL office at 651-690-6655 or the Minneapolis ILL Office at 651-690-7782 as soon as possible. There is an automatic purge function which will remove any document that have been viewed or you've tried to view the maximum number of times (5), or has been online past the maximum number of days (7). Please contact ILL before you reach the maximums!

What are the minimum system requirements?
There are some absolute minimums your computer must be able to achieve in order to experience trouble-free use of the website delivery service. At the very least, your system should have the following:

• A computer of sufficient power to support the capabilities indicated below (suggest a Pentium 100 or above)
• Connectivity to the Internet using one of these methods:
• University, college, or library backbone-typically a direct connection from offices and public workstations
• A digital subscriber line (DSL) service
• A broadband service (such as MediaOne Roadrunner or Comcast Internet Service)
• Dialup modem-the faster the better (56K is desired)
• An Internet browser appropriate for your operating system with the indicated version, or later. A couple of the most popular are:
  Netscape Navigator v4.0+
  Microsoft Internet Explorer v5.0+
  
• Adobe Acrobat Reader v5.0 or later (or equivalent program)
  
• Enough available space on your hard drive to store the downloaded documents (100meg is good)
  
• Optionally, an inkjet or laser printer capable of printing at 300 DPI (dots per inch)

Where can I obtain the necessary software?
The two primary components you'll need are Adobe Acrobat Reader and an Internet browser, such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer. Go to the web pages linked below to retrieve the software you need.

• Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 4.06 or greater)
  While using an older version of Acrobat Reader may still enable you to view your documents, only starting with v4.06 have they included some nice usability features such as on-the-fly page rotation. This helps tremendously when you encounter a page that's been scanned upside-down.


• Netscape Navigator (version 4.0 or greater)


• Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 5.0 or greater)

It says "Invalid Login" - why?
Logging into the document delivery server requires two pieces of information:

Incorrectly supplying either of these will generate the "Invalid Login" error. If you've tried to log in after verifying your password and PIN and still receive this error, please contact the ILL office. Also, be aware that recent versions of Internet browsers have an automatic "fill-in" capability when it comes to supplying information online. They remember (or attempt to!) what you may have entered previously. If you initially supplied an incorrect login ID or password, your browser may attempt to send that erroneous information unless you re-type it in full.

I don't know my PIN!
When your account was established on the document delivery server, a seven-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) was assigned to you. This PIN is always included in the notification that is sent to your St. Kate's email every time we process an article you've requested.

My document status says "No more views"!
In order to ensure that St. Kate's Library adheres to United States Code, Title 17 (copyright law), we have to limit the number of times a document is viewed (downloaded). If you have trouble downloading an article, please contact the St. Paul ILL office, 651-690-6655, or the Minneapolis ILL Office at 651-690-7782 BEFORE you reach the limit. An automatic daily purge routine removes all documents which have been downloaded the maximum number of times. If the article has been purged from the server, you will need to re-request your article from ILL.

Also, if you are using a dial-up modem to connect to the document delivery server, the time it takes to download an article could be considerable depending on the document size. Resist the urge to cancel and restart a download because it appears nothing is happening. Clicking on the download link again will needlessly increase your views counter.

I get an "Unknown File Type" error...
If you receive this error (or one similar to it), it usually means that your workstation does not have the Acrobat Reader plug-in for the Internet browser you're using, and the browser doesn't know how to handle this type of file. Normally the plug-in is installed along with the stand-alone reader program, though it doesn't have to be. If you have the capability, it would be best to re-install Acrobat Reader. This will not affect any PDF files you've previously saved to your hard drive (unless you delete the folder too!) and will usually clear up any problems related to missing plug-ins.

What does "Unknown Application" mean?
This error usually happens when you click on or open a PDF file and Windows can't find the program associated with the PDF file extension. It probably means that you don't have Acrobat Reader installed. Please refer to the "Where can I obtain the necessary software" section of this Guide to acquire a free copy of the reader appropriate to your system.

Why does my browser "lock up" on me?
Even though the EDD website has been developed to be compatible with nearly any browser, there may be times when your browser appears to stop working, or lock up. Before rebooting your computer, check some of the following to make sure it's truly non-functional and not simply taking a long time to process your request:

• Is the progress indicator (usually along the bottom of your browser window) moving at all? Watch it for a few seconds to see if it moves.
• Are you seeing activity in your other Internet-related applications? If you're not running anything else at the time, try firing up your email program or another copy of the browser and see if they're functional.
• Are you using any other Internet-related applications at the same time? On a dial-up connection, all data that you access on the Internet must come through the same finite amount of "bandwidth". The more you do, the slower the applications will work. It's kind of like rush hour in Detroit... the more cars moving through the same area = the slower you travel.
• Did you install any new software on your computer while the browser was running?

• If you have other Internet-related programs running such as email, instant messaging, newsgroup readers or even a game, close out of these programs to free up the bandwidth to your computer.


• Try the refresh/reload command in your browser (bear in mind that this may initiate another download).


• If you've installed or updated any software while you've been online, disconnect and reset your computer. It's generally a good rule of thumb to reset your computer after introducing any new or updated programs whether or not they're related to the Internet.


• If you have access to another browser, switch to it and try your download again.

How do I save my file?
Once you've received your document and are viewing it in Acrobat Reader, use the "save" button within Acrobat Reader. Type in a filename which relates to the actual document and be sure to include the .PDF extension so that Acrobat Reader will recognize the file type should you wish to view the document again.

It is suggested that you save any downloaded file prior to printing it. If you select the print option from within Acrobat Reader, it will actually download the document again and send it to your printer. Saving it first, then re-opening the document saved on your hard drive will prevent this needless additional download.

Please keep in mind that it is against copyright law to make or forward copies of articles to others.

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It says "Done" yet all I have is a blank screen!
There are quite a number of potential causes for this problem. We've addressed a few of the most common below:

• If a document does not appear, try the following "quick fixes."

Adobe 6.0


1. Open Adobe Reader.
2. From toolbar: Choose Edit > Preferences > Internet
3. Uncheck Display in PDF browser
4. Click OK
5. Close Adobe Reader and Internet Explorer (if open)
6. Try viewing document again

Adobe 5.0


1. Open Adobe Reader.
2. From toolbar: Choose Edit > Preferences > Options
3. Uncheck Display in PDF browser
4. Click OK
5. Close Adobe Reader and Internet Explorer (if open)
6. Try viewing document again

Adobe 4.0


1. Open Adobe Reader.
2. From the toolbar: Choose File > Preferences > General
3. Uncheck Web Browser Integration
4. Click OK
5. Close Adobe Reader and Internet Explorer (if open)
6. Try viewing document again

• Incorrectly installed Acrobat Reader plug-in, or none at all.

  If you're not sure that the Acrobat Reader plug-in or program is properly installed, this could cause problems when trying to access your document. To verify this, see if you can locate the Acrobat Reader program on your computer. For PC's this would be looking in the Programs section under in the START menu. Look for Adobe, then Acrobat Reader. If you see it, try to start it manually. If you still have trouble, you may want to re-install Acrobat Reader to make sure it's done properly.

• Your session on the document delivery server was disconnected.

  For whatever reason, the session you'd established on the document delivery server is disconnected. If you're using a dial-up modem, check your modem status and see if you're still connected to the Internet. If you're using a public or office workstation, try logging in again from another computer.

• Not enough system resources available to display the document.

  Even the most powerful or newest computers have a finite amount of resources available to perform all of the tasks required of them. Normally you'll see a message similar to "Low on System Resources" appear if you've got too many applications open, though this is not always the case. Try closing some applications, particularly resource hogs such as image processing, spreadsheet or database products.

• Your download was cancelled for some reason.

  Be sure you haven't accidentally clicked on the <CANCEL> button during your download. Because this is often the last dialog box displayed on the screen, pressing <ENTER> will have the same affect. A cancelled download can also be the result of a lost connection to the Internet, or the document delivery server itself. Running out of drive space may also cause your browser to terminate a download once it finds there's nowhere to store the file!

My printer will not print my document...
You've downloaded the document, saved it to your hard drive and now when you try to print it, your printer doesn't respond? A number of things could cause this:

• You're not printing to either a laser printer, or an inkjet printer.

  While you may be able to print some image-based material with an older dot-matrix printer (some times called an impact printer), it's not recommended. These older technology printers simply are not designed to handle the sheer volume of information that's required to print image-based documents.

• The document is scanned at a higher resolution than your printer can handle.

  Image scanning and transmission guidelines state that the sending institution should scan a document at no more than 300 DPI (dots per inch). While this is usually not a problem, at times we receive documents scanned at higher resolutions. The typical inkjet printer can handle 300 DPI (with the newer ones even higher), so it may not be able to print a document scanned at a higher resolution.

• The printer may not be properly configured to function with the computer.

  If you suspect this may be the cause, you'll need to reconfigure the printer, or contact the appropriate technical support personnel. If you're in a networked environment with multiple printers, try printing to another printer available to your workstation.

It's taking FOREVER to get my document!
Normally, you will experience a lengthy delay in acquiring your document if you're using a dialup connection. Even at the currently "speedy" standard of a 56K modem, a large document could take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours to download. Here's a general guide in determining approximately how long it may take to download a document, given its size:

• Article = 3 pages (1,000K), approximately 5 minutes


• Article = 10 pages (3,000K), approximately 15 minutes


• Article = 50 pages (6,000K), approximately 30 minutes

If you like to surf the Internet while downloading your documents, this will add to the time it takes to get your documents. Anything that shares the modem while you're online (email, Internet games, instant messengers, etc.) can also directly affect download times.

My article no longer shows in the list, what happened?
There are three primary reasons why an article previously listed on the download page will disappear:

• You clicked on the <DELETE> button for that article.

  While we encourage you to remove any documents no longer needed, you need to be very sure of this prior to clicking the <DELETE> button. There is no un-do feature incorporated into the software that'll correct this. Once you click on this button, the document is gone! Your only recourse at this point is to re-order the document.

• The document was viewed the maximum number of times.

  You are allowed one copy of the material you've requested. We've given you multiple views of an article to allow for any technical difficulties you may encounter while viewing/downloading a document. Each time you click on the document link is considered a view.

• The document was online more than the maximum number of days allowed.

  For the same reasons as stated above, we've also placed a limit as to the number of days a requested article can remain on the server. In addition, this also prevents an unnecessary accumulation of documents on the St. Kate's EDD server.

Questions and problems? Contact the St. Kate's ILL departments.
St. Paul campus: 651-690-6655 or email: iloan@skate.edu
Minneapolis campus: 651-690-7782 or email: iloanmpl@stkate.edu

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