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Library Services

UniEssex Log In Button Guide: Home

The UniEssex Log In Button makes it easier to access your resources if you're accessing from somewhere other than the library.

Many Library e-resources (Databases, E-Journals, E-Books) require you to identify yourself as an Essex Member before you can access the content that the Library subscribes to.

You will be linked via the login screen if you access e-resources from the Library website or using the WebBridge links (Essex Access links in Google Scholar) that the Library provides within many databases. However, many people also access our e-resources in other ways. Examples of these include linking from a search in Google, linking to an article from an email alert or RSS feed or directly from a publisher's site, etc. In these cases you won't instantly be recognised as an Essex Member.

One of the ways that the Library provides access to e-resources is via a proxy server which identifies you as being from Essex after you have logged in. If you access Library e-resources through any route other than the links provided by the Library you can now use the following method to reload any web page via the proxy server:

If you use a desktop or laptop computer follow the instructions for your browser (below) to install an 'Essex Log In Button' bookmark on your Bookmarks Toolbar / Favourites Bar (you will only need to install this once on each computer you use):

UniEssex Log In Button

A big thank you to Warwick University Library for putting this function together and being generous enough to share with the library community.

Internet Explorer

  • Right click on the 'Essex Log In Button' link above and select 'Add to Favourites'.
  • You might see a security alert that the 'favorite may not be safe' but we can assure you that it is. Click 'yes' to continue.
  • Add the link to your 'Favorites Bar' folder within your 'Favorites'. Select 'Favorites Bar' from the list of folders that display when adding a favorite.
  • If your Favorites Bar doesn't display go to 'View' - 'Toolbars' and make sure that 'Favorites Bar' is checked.

Firefox

  • Click and drag the 'Essex Log In Button' link above to your bookmarks toolbar.
  • If your Bookmarks Toolbar doesn't display go to 'View' - 'Toolbars' and make sure that 'Bookmarks Toolbar is checked.

Google Chrome

  • Click and drag the 'Essex Log In Button' link above to your bookmarks toolbar.
  • If your Bookmarks Toolbar doesn't display click the spanner in the top right of the screen, select 'Bookmarks' then 'Always show bookmarks bar'.

Safari

  • Click and drag the 'Essex Log In Button' link above to your bookmarks toolbar.
  • If your Bookmarks Toolbar doesn’t display go to ‘View’ – ‘Show Bookmarks Bar’.

Accessing subscribed e-resources

  • Once you are on a page that is restricted, click on the 'Essex Log In Button' bookmark in your browser's toolbar and you will be redirected through the proxy server for the page you are currently on.
  • The first time you do this during a session you may need to log in with your Essex username and password.
  • In some cases you may need to use the browser 'Back' button to return to the previous page (not the publisher's login/error page) before clicking on the bookmark.

This tool will only work for e-resources that the Library subscribes to and which are available using the proxy server.

Please note the same content may be available from different suppliers so if you are unable to get access to an article using this tool you should check Library Search or the Classic Catalogue to see if you can obtain the article from a different provider.

The tool should work for most proxied sites, but may fail on a few sites. If you encounter one of these, you'll have to access the e-resource from the Library website. Check Library Search or the Classic Catalogue to see whether we subscribe to the item and if it's a journal article check we subscribe to the particular year that you are trying to access.

We are still developing this tool, so please contact us if you experience any problems. Please give details of the e-resource you are unable to access including the URL before and after reloading the page.