Distant Students
Students in the distance education have, as much as possible, the same access to library services and resources that students in Iowa City have. Distance does present some extra challenges, though. Here are some tips to help you take the best advantage of all the library has to offer. Links open in new window.
- Article DeliveryEven when articles are not available online, we can scan and deliver them electronically.
- Book DeliveryUse the Interlibrary Loan/Document Delivery office to get library books sent to you. We pay shipping to you, you pay shipping back to us.
- Distance Education LibrarianGet help with research, access to library services or troubleshooting problems from Dan the Librarian.
Off-Campus Access to Library Resources
The Problem:
You are asked to pay for, give a password for or are otherwise unable to get access to something you think you should have through the UI Libraries.
The Context:
Access to journal subscriptions, research databases, e-books and anything else the UI Libraries licenses or pays for is provided through IP (Internet Protocol) Authentication. Our vendors know that any request coming from UI's range of Internet address can use our subscriptions. On the UI Libraries website and in our catalog, all links to resources we pay for include a trigger that will ask for your HawkID and password if you are off-campus and route your request through the UI Internet range.
One advantage to this system is that you do not need to remember user credentials or passwords to the thousands of resources available through the Libraries. One disadvantage is that you might somehow bypass our links.
Some Solutions:
Many Off-Campus access problems can be solved by using links on the UI Libraries website rather than going directly to an online resource. The links below give solutions for more specific problems.
- Troubleshooting Off-Campus AccessAnswer for some of the most frequently experienced problems.
- Clearing your browserYour browser stores copies of webpages so they will load faster when you return to a website. Sometimes, error pages are saved and reloaded even after the error has been corrected. Learn to clear your browser to get fresh webpages.
- Making links work from off-campusInformation and a tool to "proxify" your links to use UI IP authentication.
- Finding a specific, known article onlineThe UI Libraries' Citation Linker will check all our online sources. If your article is available online, Citation Linker will find it.
- Document DeliveryThe UI Libraries' Document Delivery Service will send scanned copies of articles and book chapters at your request.
Online Journal Articles
We have access to online journal articles from many sources using a variety of technologies and there are lots of ways things can go wrong. You're always welcome to contact me or other librarians for help troubleshooting access problems. Links open in new window.
- How do I get this article?Some publishers make their articles available online in some databases and not others. Some are not available at all. Here's how you can get your article whether it's online or not.
- Which database should I use?Strategies for selecting the best tool to find the right articles for you.
- Should I pay for articles?If you search for articles using a search engine such as Google or Google Scholar, publishers won't know that you should have access to their material through the library. Search Google Scholar through the Libraries for access to all our online content.
