To help improve this site we place small files, known as cookies, onto your computer. Some are essential for the site to work properly, others are to improve the experience you have.
You can stop this site using non-essential cookies by updating your settings above1.
You can also decide to stop this or any site from using any cookies. To learn more about cookies and how to manage them visit AboutCookies.org.
We use cookies for several purposes on this website – we’ve listed each of them below with more details about why we use them and how long they’ll last.
You can tell us to stop using these at any time by updating your settings above.
Measuring website usage (Google Analytics)
We use Google Analytics to collect information about how people use our site, and rough demographics as to what groups of people are using our site. We do this to make sure it’s meeting your needs and to understand how we could improve it. As well as controlling this above - you can opt out of Google Analytics tracking directly.
Google Analytics stores information about:
The following cookies are set by Google Analytics:
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | This helps us count how many people visit the site by tracking if you've visited before | 2 years |
| _utma | Like _ga, this lets us know if you’ve visited before, so we can count how many of our visitors are new to the site or to a certain page | 2 years |
| _utmb | This works with _utmc to calculate the average length of time you spend on the site | 30 minutes |
| _utmc | This works with _utmb to calculate when you close your browser | when you close your browser |
| _utmz | This tells us how you reached the site (like from another website or a search engine) | 6 months |
| _gat_UA-376728-1 | This is used by Google Analytics to ensure its work doesn't have a big impact on the site's performance | 1 day |
Website operation
The system that runs our website sets cookies to allow it to run smoothly.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| PHPSESSID | when you close your browser | |
| has_js | This tells the site whether you're using JavaScript or not | when you close your browser |
| visitedPreviously | randomly generated number | 60 days |
| ssess | Allow the page to provide you with content | |
| adaptiveLibraryDefaultState | Used to remember your display preferences | |
| jisc_eprivacy | Used to remember your privacy preferences | 90 days |
Logged in access
Our system uses cookies to allow you to log into the site, and access restricted content and services.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| PHPSESSID | To store a the logged in user's username and a 128bit encrypted key. This information is required to allow a user to stay logged in to a web site without needing to submit their username and password for each page visited. Without this cookie, a user is unable to proceed to areas of the web site that require authenticated access. | when you close your browser |
| loginCheck | when you close your browser | |
| PHPSESSID
|
To store a user’s shopping basket | when you close your browser |
| _saml_idp | Allow our identity provider to recognise you | six months after last visiting the site |
| _shibsession_<number> | Allow the page to provide you with restricted content | when you close your browser |
| sso_linked | Used for linking a licence subscriptions manager local user account to an institution login. Will be set to 1 if, after authenticating, the ID returned from the IdP above was matched with a local account. If 1, shows "Login with previous IdP" button instead of asking for name / password. | 3 weeks |
| authcache drupal_user drupal_uid
|
Used to improve the performance of the site for logged-in users | when you close your browser |
NB: Cookie guidance wording adapted from gov.uk, shared under the Open Government License.
Footnotes