Overview/Introduction
Students, faculty, and staff are able to access all library resources both on-campus and remotely. When you are on-campus, you typically won't be asked to sign-in to access library resources because the vendor(s) will recognize your IP address as belonging to Ursinus College. When you are working remotely, however, you will be asked to login to the library's remote authentication system (EZproxy), since the vendor will not otherwise know you are a member of the Ursinus community.
Details
Most electronic resources provided by Myrin Library are authenticated by IP address, which means that the vendor/publisher knows which IP ranges belong to Ursinus College and will grant the user access to those resources if they see you are coming from an Ursinus IP address (i.e., you are on campus). This applies to all types of library resources, including e-books, journals, databases, and streaming videos.
If you are off-campus, however, you must be authenticated through some other means since the vendor will see that you are using a non-Ursinus IP address. Typically this authentication is handled through our EZproxy system. When you try to access a library resource off-campus, you may be asked to sign in to EZproxy via the college's Okta single sign-on system:
When you land on this screen, you simply enter your Ursinus username and password and will be passed onward to the database, journal, e-book, etc. that you are trying to access. The same credentials are used to access this system as any other college system, such as Microsoft Office 365, Canvas, and email. Note: if you are already signed into one of these systems when you try to access a library resource, Okta will pass your credentials to EZproxy and you shouldn't have to sign-in again.
One caveat that applies to EZproxy is that you typically must begin your journey to the resource from the library website (https://www.ursinus.edu/offices/library-and-information-technology/library/). This usually means that the user either conducts a search in the Library catalog (OneSearch) (https://ursinuscollege.on.worldcat.org/discovery), or they access a database through our Databases A-Z page (https://libguides.ursinus.edu/az.php).
For example, suppose that a user is interested in accessing a journal article on Elsevier's ScienceDirect platform. Rather than going directly to the platform at https://www.sciencedirect.com, the user should search for the article in the library catalog or access ScienceDirect using the link posted on Databases A-Z. If you access the article via one of these methods, you will be asked to sign-in to EZproxy at some point and will then be authenticated as a valid Ursinus user. If, however, you go directly to www.sciencedirect.com, the platform will not know who you are or what subscriptions you should have access to, and thus you will not be able to access the article you want.
FAQs
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If I am on campus, must I access electronic resources from the library website, or can I go directly to that resource?
- Technically, you can go directly to the resource if you wish. If you know the URL of the site you wish to visit, e.g. www.sciencedirect.com, you can go directly to that site without starting your journey at the library website. Since you are on-campus, the site will grant you access via IP authentication without asking you to sign-in.
- However, this is not best practice, for several reasons. One reason is that it may be difficult for you to ascertain which parts of the website we have access to. In most cases, our subscriptions only cover a portion of the content available on platforms like ScienceDirect, Wiley Online Library, or JoVE. If you go directly to those sites instead of starting your search in the library catalog, you may end up running into paywalls for content we do not have access to. Also, by going directly to specific sites while on-campus, you will develop habits that will make it more difficult for you to access library content when you are off-campus.
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If I am signed into the college VPN, must I also use EZproxy while off campus?
- The answer is Yes. Our VPN system is not setup to confer an on-campus IP address to your computer for accessing library resources. It is only designed for accessing specific network locations like the S-Drive. Thus, off-campus students and employees will still need to use EZproxy to access library resources even if they are signed into the VPN.
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Are there other ways to access library resources off-campus, aside from EZproxy?
- In some cases, Yes, but it depends on the resource in question. Some of our electronic resources allow individuals to create their own personal accounts to access content and to customize the research experience. Once you have a personal account setup on a particular platform, such as ScienceDirect, you are usually able to access that platform from off campus using your personal account without having to login via EZproxy first. Of course, you can usually be authenticated via both EZproxy and a personal account at the same time without any issues.
- The library does not typically advocate that users create personal accounts on our various subscribed platforms because it causes a multiplicity of extra accounts for people to keep track of, and the personal accounts are optional (for most resources) and not necessary for accessing the platforms. In some cases, personal accounts are helpful in allowing patrons to save searches, keep lists of favorites and otherwise customize the research experience. For questions about the benefits/process of creating personal accounts for specific platforms, please submit a service request to the library.
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Are all library resources IP authenticated?
- No. The vast majority of our resources are authenticated via IP address, but there are some exceptions. Notably, direct digital access to the New York Times at nytimes.com requires users to create personal accounts associated with their Ursinus email address. For more information, see the New York Times entry on Databases A-Z.
See Also