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Troubleshooting Articles and Databases: Accessing through the Library

Some basic tips to troubleshooting electronic resources.

Use the Library Website

To ensure you are able to access materials provided by the Merrill-Cazier Library we suggest accessing content through the library website. If you start your research through the library, the publishers we subscribe too will see that you are associated with the university after you sign in. If you go directly to those same publishers through Google, Bing, or any other method, the publishers wont be able to tell you are associated with the university and they will likely request payment for articles and ebooks. 

To find content through the library you can search through our Quick Search, our print catalog, or through our linked databases list. 

Use the Prepend

Sometimes you may want to share a link to library accessible materials. To ensure the person who clicks the link is directed to sign in, and avoid paying for the materials, you may need to add the library prepend to the link. The library prepend is:

https://login.dist.lib.usu.edu/login?url=

You should place this string before the URL to the resource you want to share. For example, to link to content in the IBIS World Database you will want to put the above link before the IBIS World Database URL as shown below: 

https://login.dist.lib.usu.edu/login?url=http://www.ibisworld.com

For more information please see our Creating Links to Library Resources LibGuide

Use Lean Library

Lean Library is a browser add on that will prompt you to sign in to access content the library provides access to. With Lean Library you can skip the library website and look for content in Google, Bing, or any other search interface. For more information on Lean Library, please see the dedicated Lean Library LibGuide.

Librarian