SpringerLink are publishing two versions of some of their reference works. However, if we subscribe, we will only be subscribing to one version. Article searches may find an article in the version to which we do not subscribe, which causes confusion (just like this paragraph).

This is an extract from SpringerLink’s publicity:

(Springer Nature reference program content) These reference works are available … on the content platform SpringerLink. Online, they are published both as eReferences and ‘Living References.’ Living References are up-to-date snapshots of a major reference work at a given moment in time. They allow content updates throughout the lifetime of each MRW article, ensure the latest academic content, maintain historical versions of articles, provide early online publication of articles without the need to wait for the whole reference work to be finished …

Typically we subscribe to the eReference version. Examples include Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering and Encyclopedia of Cancer. If our researchers search for articles and find them in the ‘living reference’ version, they will not have permission to download the full text. The same article in the ‘eReference’ version will be available to download.

So this is just an alert about something I haven’t seen before.