FAQ

Do I need to be a Learning on Screen (BUFVC) member to access your resources?

Learning on Screen – the British Universities and Colleges Film and Video Council offers a range of resources, many are free at the point of use and are available on our website with no authentication. We currently offer six databases that require authentication:

• TRILT (Television and Radio Index for Learning and Teaching)
• TVTiP (TVTimes Project: 1955-1985) *
• This Week *
• Radio at BUFVC *
• Chronicle: BBC Northern Ireland News from the Sixties and the Seventies (not currently available)
• BoB

Of these, TRILT is restricted to Learning on Screen members, and BoB to Learning on Screen members who have the correct membership level. Members include staff and students in Learning on Screen member institutions. The other resources are available to staff and students in Further and Higher Education Institutions in the UK (Chronicle requires the signing of a sub-licence, visit the site for more information).

* Managed on behalf of Bournemouth University

How do I become a member?

Full details of the benefits of membership, the types of membership, the membership fees and how to join are included in the membership section of our website.

How can I tell if my organisation is a member of Learning on Screen?

You may email us or call us on 020 7393 1500.

My institution is a member of Learning on Screen but is not on the Where Are You From drop-down list, what should I do?

This may be for several reasons:

Your organisation may be out of membership.

Alternatively, it may be that your organisation uses Learning on Screen accounts to access these resources. If this is the case, then the number of accounts is restricted and you should contact BUFVC to obtain the contact details for your organisation’s Learning on Screen representative.

If you already have a BUFVC account (you can identify it by the three letter prefix ‘buf’), choose British Universities Film & Video Council from the Where Are You From drop-down list and enter your username and password when prompted to do so.

I am a member, but am not affiliated with an institution, what should I do?

If you have a Researcher membership of Learning on Screen you will have received a BUFVC username and password when you joined – this will start with the three letter code buf and may look something like this: bufres-jsmith If you have forgotten your username and password, please contact by email.

What is the authentication process?

The authentication and authorisation process uses a Where Are You From (WAYF) system. By choosing your home institution from a drop down menu, you are sent back there to be authenticated, once this has been done you are sent back to the resource that you are trying to access. There is more information available on the UK Federation site.

How does the authentication work?

Both OpenAthens and Shibboleth use a Where Are You From (WAYF) system to separate out authentication and authorisation. This means that your personal details are kept securely at your home institutions and not shared with Service Providers. Instead, the Service Providers’ WAYF pages direct you back to your home institution to be authenticated. There is more information on the UK Federation website.

Can we use a WAYFless URL to access TRILT?

Yes. WAYFless URLs allow users to gain access to resources without having to use the Where Are You From (WAYF) drop-down list on the BUFVC site. Each institution’s WAYFless URL will be different.

Please note that if you are using a WAYFless URL we will not have the chance to seek user consent to create a session cookie when users reach our website. You must notify those users who will be using the WAYFless URL of this fact on our behalf (for more information read our privacy & cookies policy.

To create a WAYFless URL for Learning on Screen resources, you should use the following template:

https://login.bufvc.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=INSTITUTION_IDP&target=BUFVC_SERVICE

You will need to replace INSTITUTION_IDP with your own idP (ensure that there is a single question mark before the entityID). Once you have incorporated your idP into this template the WAYFless URL can be tested and published on your site.

Here is an example of a WAYFless URL:

https://login.bufvc.ac.uk/wayfless.php?entityID=https%3A%2F%2Fidp.bufvc.ac.uk%2Fshibboleth&target=http%3A%2F%2Fbufvc.ac.uk%2Ftvandradio%2Ftrilt

More information about WAYFless URLs is available here

Trouble Logging in?

Please note that you must have both cookies and JavaScript enabled in your browser to login. Once you have changed your settings, re-launch your browser. If this does not solve your access problem, please contact either Learning on Screen or your institution’s library/IT helpdesk and give the error message that you receive.

Still have questions?

Please contact the Learning on Screen Help Desk.