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[jacaranda_]

I've been trying to access pdf files of articles through JSTOR, and in every instance, I can access the full article on the webpage, but when I try to download a pdf file, the pdf amputates the first 10 pages. 

I currently have access to  databases through two different campus libraries, and it's doing the same thing on both.

Anybody else?  Anybody know why JSTOR would not allow full access to these files?  I'm tearing my hair out at the moment.

[justfornow]

I'm having similar problems with Wilson Omnifile.  In fact, none of the websites I tried to use yesterday and today worked very well--lots of timeouts and hangups.  My theory, which could be completely wrong, of course, is that the system is strained to capacity with students trying to register, buy books, acquire parking stickers, and so forth.

[collegekidsmom]

I actually dealt with some of these types of questions while working on the reference desk today. Please contact one or more librarians immediately when you have these problems. The libraries are paying good money for the subscriptions, and every library has one or more people responsible for making sure that all subscriptions are working satisfactorily. Contact the subject librarian, or any reference desk and ask for follow-up. This should not be happening, and unless someone is notified, the library may not be aware of it. I make sure these things are fixed immediately when I am notified about them. Often, they do not fix themselves without intervention.

[bibliothecula]

The work-around I found for JSTOR pdfs was to click "save link as" and save the pdf to the desktop or other file. For me, at least, I get the whole thing that way.

Good luck.

[jacaranda_]

Thanks for all your replies, everybody.   I contacted JSTOR directly, and they sent me back a very helpful explanation and a series of suggestions for remedying the problem.  The short explanation is that they just updated their platform over the summer, so they're still working out the kinks.  There are apparently more problems of compatibility with Macs, which often use "Preview" instead of "Adobe" as the default program for opening pdf files.

If any of the rest of you Mac users have run into a similar problem and would like me to post their full reply (it's pretty long), I'll be happy to add it here (it would be too much for a PM).  I haven't tried out the recommendations yet, but hopefully their advice will work.

[daurousseau]

The work-around I found for JSTOR pdfs was to click "save link as" and save the pdf to the desktop or other file. For me, at least, I get the whole thing that way.

Good luck.

This is good advice for any problematic PDF.

[bookishone]

I'm on a Mac and have had problems with Safari just not loading the PDFs from JSTOR at all (loading within the browser, not saving to the desktop, which I could try). I'd welcome their advice here.

[aristotelian]

jacaranda, yes please post their answer.  I'm having the same problem (I'm using a Mac with Preview as the default).

[jacaranda_]

I haven't had time just yet to test out these steps, so if you have success or hit a roadblock with any of it, let us know:

=================================

On the new JSTOR platform, we have moved to a single new PDF format that replaces the High and Low Quality PDFs from the old platform. We are aware that some Mac OS combinations and Mac PDF viewers like Preview and Skim are behaving oddly in the new platform. For some users, this means that only the cover page is displaying. Other users have reported that the article is missing the first portion of the article, and begins somewhere in the middle of the article. Both of these issues stem from the way in which Preview is handling the newest generation of JSTOR PDFs.
 
The quickest work around for these issues is to download the latest free copy of Adobe, available on their web site through the link below. That said, we will be working to improve compatibility with as many OS & reader combinations as possible.
 
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
 
You will also want to make sure that your Popup blocker is turned off for the JSTOR site. The new PDFs open in a different window and Popup blockers may affect how they open up.
 
Also, please check to make sure that your default PDF viewer is set to Adobe Reader rather than the original PDF viewer installed on your Mac.
 
 
Note:The default viewer for PDF documents in Mac OS X is Preview
 
To change the file association for PDF files:
 
1. Select any PDF file and choose File > Get Info.
 
2. Choose the application that you want to open PDF files from the Open With menu.
 
3. Click Change All, and then click Continue.
 
If you have any further questions, please feel free to email us.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
Katie Harlow
User Support Assistant
JSTOR
support@jstor.org