BCRA Online Publications

BCRA's Periodicals are published on paper and, for the most part, are also available online. This page describes how online access works.

If you only want to obtain or renew an Online ID, please go straight to Obtaining an Online ID and ignore the rest of of this page.

Click/Tap a link or scroll on down.

Our Online Catalogues

For a list of our online content – periodicals, books and other items – please go to our Bookshop Page. Online content is accessible in several different ways...

• Location-based Access –Libraries, universities and similar organisations that subscribe to Cave & Karst Science can benefit from access that is based on an IP address, allowing them to download our online content without logging in. Further details below.
• Access using a User-ID– Members of BCRA can apply for a User-ID and Access code that allows them to download items after logging-in
• Open Access– Most of our of our online content is now free – either via a direct download or after registering for a free user-ID.

How to Access Online Content

Click on one of the links listed on our Bookshop Page, where you see the 'download' icon: .

Downloadable items in our bibliographic lists are indicated by a padlock symbol. An open padlock indicates a free download whilst a closed padlock indicates that you need to use your user-ID or rely on IP-based access to retrieve the content. If there are no padlock symbols on the page you are viewing then there is no downloadable content.

You do not need to log in first. If you click on and downloadable content that requirews a login, you will be asked to log in.

What is IP-based Access?

IP Access is where access to our online content is based on your Internet IP address, meaning that you do not need to log in. IP-based access is available to annual subscribers to Cave & Karst Science and is intended for libraries, universities and similar institutions. It is also available to caving clubs, where you have a static IP address, for example at your club's library.

Members and subscribers should contact us at Publications-Admin@... and supply the static IP address (or list of addresses) that they wish to register. When IP-access has been enabled you will not need to log in to download Cave & Karst Science, nor to retrieve content from any other of our catalogues that have been enabled for IP access.

How do I obtain a User-ID?

Without IP-based Access, you will need a User-ID and Access Code. See Obtaining an Online ID

To use your login credentials, please note that there is no 'stand-alone' login procedure. You will be asked to log in only after you have tried to download an item that requires a login.

OAQs – Occasionally-Asked Questions

My IP access does not work

Apart from bugs in our software, the most likely reason for this is that your IP address has not been registered correctly (possibly due to a typing mistake). To test your access now, please go to a Cave & Karst Science bibliograph page where you should see a report box like the one shown here. Please paste the text from inside the box and make a report to our Publications-Admin@... and we will investigate.

The PDFs are not easy to read on my computer screen

PDF is a convenient format for exchanging documents (it stands for Portable Document Format) but it is a format for exchanging a printable document: PDFs are intended to be printed before reading. Obviously you can read them online, but there will be compromises. Those of you who use an e-book reader may be familiar with this 'problem' with PDFs. We are considering whether, in due course, we should alter the format of our online publications, essentially writing them in HTML instead of providing them as PDFs, but it is too early to say if this idea will take shape.

The PDFs do not display on-screen, and Im forced to save them to my PC. Why?

There are two possible reasons for this. 1) If PDFs never display in your browser, this is probably because you do not have a suitable 'plug-in'. You should either download a suitable plug-in or use a different browser. 2) If PDFs sometimes display, this could be a feature of the way your browser works. With Chrome, for example, if the programmer's intention was to offer you the choice of opening or saving a file (as it is with BCRA's files), Chrome will not give you that choice. Instead it forces you to save the file. The idea is, presumably, that if you want to view the file you will click on the 'download' link that Chrome displays at the bottom of your screen ... possibly.

Technical explanation: When Chrome receives a "Content-Disposition: attachment; " header it interprets it literally and treats the file as an attachment, for saving; whereas Internet Explorer, Firefox, and most other browsers, still offer the user the option of saving or displaying the file. When Chrome receives a "Content-Type: application/pdf" header without a corresponding "Content-Disposition: attachment; header then it opens the PDF in a web page. This may need to be a future mod to BCRA's download program.

How will you notify me that a new item has been published on-line?

You can now sign-up to receive BCRA information by email.

You can sign-up online, or you can send a blank email message to notices-subscribe[at]list.bcra... [etc] or CREG-announce-subscribe[at]list.bcra... [etc]

Can I specify my own password?

No. Unfortunately not; and we do not have plans to introduce this feature.

Why Isn't Online Access Free?

Most of BCRA's online content is now free to everyone. For the remaining content, we have made a decision – which seems fair – that our members and subscribers should contribute towards the cost of BCRA's operations. (If you subscribe only to the CREG journal online, the whole of your fee goes into CREG's funds rather than into general BCRA funds). In 2024, we are rolling out Open Access for C&KS, which allows BCRA to meet its obligations where papers submitted to C&KS have been publicly-funded – see RCUK Policy on Open Access

Do All Members of a Member Club Get Free Access?

Yes. Membership of BCRA entitles all the members of a caving club or society to online access, just as they would be allowed access to the paper copy in the club's library. However, we do request that clubs refrain from publishing the access credentials (e.g. in a club newsletter, forum or blog). We suggest that an appropriate club officer (e.g. the librarian or secretary) asks the club members to request the information if and when they require it.