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Loyola University Chicago Libraries

Library Services: How do I access materials online?

Overview

Loyola students, faculty, and staff have access to online resources through Loyola Libraries, such as ebooks, journal articles, and streaming media. This guide is intended to walk you through the process of searching for and accessing these resources, and to give you some basic troubleshooting advice when problems arise.

There are two different systems you will encounter when accessing materials. Most of the time, you will be directed to a proxy login system called OpenAthens. However, you may occasionally be directed to login through a system, called Flagship proxy server or EZProxy. Both systems work using your Loyola username and password — the same as you would when logging into your Outlook email or Sakai.

Here are a couple of basics to keep in mind when logging in to library resources from off campus: 

  • Before searching the catalog, log in to your library account. This will ensure you are searching more available library resources, and will automatically log you in to OpenAthens for most resources. 
  • You can browse our databases and electronic journals from links on the Libraries homepage. Once you click on a database or electronic journal, if you are already logged in to a Loyola service such as Outlook you should automatically be forwarded to the resource. Otherwise, you will be prompted to log in to one of the two above mentioned proxy servers with your Loyola username and password, and then you will be able to access the selected resource.

Need more help? The videos below will walk you through the various processes of accessing particular library resources. 

Please noteDue to the nature of our contractual agreements with publishers, Loyola alumni, guests and others not affiliated with Loyola University Chicago do not have access to electronic resources from off campus. Library users from the Health Sciences Campus must log in at the Health Sciences Library website for off-campus access. 

Accessing Materials from Off Campus

The following are the most common online resource types and the login methods associated with each when logging in from off-campus.

As mentioned above, it is recommended that you login to My Library Account before you begin searching.

This next set of videos assumes you have not already logged into My Library Account.

This video demonstrates how to log into a database such as JSTOR, but the process should be the same for most EBSCO and ProQuest databases.  If you encounter any issues, please see the Troubleshooting section to the right.

This video demonstrates how to log in after searching for a journal in the library catalog.

This video demonstrates how to log in after searching for an article by title in the library catalog.

This video demonstrates how to access an ebook found in the library catalog.

Troubleshooting - Report an Issue

Use the link below to report problems with logging in, links, connecting to databases and journals and other technical issues.

Creating Your Own Off-Campus Links

If you need to create a link that will work for others (such as students or departmental colleagues) off campus you can use the link generator tool, or use the ideas for resource types listed below.

  • If you need to link to a database, use the link from the A-Z list. This is a friendly URL that will keep working for you even if something changes on our end.
  • If you need to link to an article, you have a few choices. One easy option is to use the permalink (under Save and Cite) in the library catalog. That will keep working even if something changes on our end.
  • Another option is to find the stable URL, permalink, or other link that the article page states will be stable. Use that link with the link generator tool. Email your department's subject specialist or Ask a Librarian if that service doesn't work.

Privacy

In addition to the policy linked above, OpenAthens collects minimal information about your session, which is used for troubleshooting purposes.