We have a large number of e-resources and while we endeavour to supply seamless access it is possible that you may occasionally experience difficulties with accessing resources. These problems may be caused by many different factors such as publishers updating their online platforms or specific issues with a user’s computer or device set up. UWTSD libraries liaises with users and resource providers to try and resolve issues and restore access to online resources as quickly as possible.
This guide aims to provide help with common problems you may encounter. If you need help with searching or finding relevant material using any of our resources, please contact your Academic Liaison Librarian.
Check you are using the correct login. To access all resources use your University IT login and password, contact IT support if you need to reset your password.
If you are trying to log into a resource you have found using a search engine and you are off-campus, your login details may not be recognised even if the library subscribes to the resource.
Use the library catalogue to check for resources you wish to access, as it provides the correct links for logging in to e-resources.
If you have accessed the resource via the library catalogue and are still being asked to pay, please fill out the broken link reporter as there may be an issue with our subscription.
When trying to access electronic journals, you may find that you are unable to access certain articles or issues. Check the library catalogue to find out which years the library has access to.
Sometimes there are several links with different date ranges, choose the link with the most relevant dates for your needs.
If the article you are looking for is included in the date range on the library catalogue and you are unable to access it, please fill out the broken link reporter as we will need to check our records.
If the ebook or ejournal is listed on the library catalogue but on clicking the link you receive a message stating that the item is unavailable, please let us know using the broken link reporter.
If the link provided by the library catalogue takes you to the wrong book or journal article or results in an error message such as:
- HTTP 404 Error Message
- EZProxy Hostname error
Please let us know using the broken link reporter.
Trying a different browser can sometimes help as resource providers often favour a particular browser; you should also make sure your browser is the latest version available.
Clearing your cache/cookies and restarting your browser can help as it ensures that your browser is trying to load the most current version of a webpage. Please refer to the help pages of the specific browser:
Off-campus users and users on campus connecting through eduroam with their own devices may sometimes experience problems due to firewall and security software not allowing access to our proxy server.
If you get a message that the connection has been refused or you see a “Page Not Found” error the cause is likely to be the security settings and you may need to adjust these to allow access to our proxy server. For further information please refer to the help pages of the specific operating system:
If you are on a work computer (MoD or NHS networks have strict firewall settings) you may need to contact your company’s IT help desk to see if the firewall can be adjusted to allow you to access the library’s proxy server.
This means that we have a restricted user license for that title and the maximum number of users as stipulated on the license has been reached.
Clicking the “add to queue” or “reserve” button means that you will be emailed when a copy becomes available. When available you will have a limited amount of time to access/ download the ebook before it moves to the next person in the queue.
Ebooks cannot be renewed. If your download period has come to an end you can usually download it again immediately if there is no one else in the queue.
Ebooks cannot be returned. Your access will automatically expire at the end of the download period you have chosen.
We rarely purchase all books that are available on a platform. If a title isn’t listed in the library catalogue it is likely that we don’t have access but to check, please email needmore@uwtsd.ac.uk
If you are still having problems accessing our online resources:
