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Remote Access to Library Resources

Information on using University Library resources off campus.

Starting Tips

For most people these starting tips are all you need to access library resources remotely. There are a few library resources that work differently. For these, you can visit the Oddities Page and look at the page navigation to see if the resource you are trying to access is one that is an exception.

Start from the University Library website

Before being able to access a database, ebook, journal article, etc. it needs to be confirmed that you are a University of Akron student/staff/faculty member. If you start somewhere that is not a University Library website then the resource might not be able to verify that you are from UA and deny access. If you find it more convenient to start directly from the resource you might find the section below on bookmarking links helpful.

Ask the Library!

If you are having any difficulties or questions about using library resources please Contact Us! We are here to help.

Bookmarking Links

When is it safe to bookmark?

Usually if a link has 'uakron.edu' in the URL it is safe to bookmark it. Some examples include:

  • https://library.uakron.edu/record=b5024639~S24
  • https://libguides.uakron.edu/nursing
  • https://uakron.edu/libraries/ill-index.dot
  • https://login.ezproxy.uakron.edu:2443/login?url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/marc.202200793

When is it NOT safe to bookmark?

If a URL does not have the 'uakron.edu' then it usually won't work off campus because it won't recognize you as a University of Akron user. Some examples include:

  • https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/marc.202200793
  • https://pubs.acs.org/search/advanced

You could also run into issues bookmarking a link if it has a very long string of letters/numbers in it. Some websites when you use them begin a 'session' and get assigned a session ID. If you leave the website or don't use it for a period of time the session expires and the link no longer works. Here are some example URLs with the session ID highlighted:

  • https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/search/advanced?vid=0&sid=c696ac25-adad-4a0f-8ec5-40cdfeb2fd93%40redis
  • https://ovidsp.dc2.ovid.com/ovid-new-a/ovidweb.cgi?QS2=434f4e1a73d37e8ccc0b611cd6b5b34d060354525d9eac91e30473189f586384f7

Note: If you encounter a link that is not safe to bookmark you can follow these instructions for making a link safe to bookmark.