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Off Campus Sign In FAQ

What is Off Campus Sign In and why do I need to use it?

Off Campus Sign In is the mechanism the Library uses to authenticate remote users (off-campus) to access restricted resources. Most of the links on the Library's web site are freely available to all users, but some are restricted for various reasons. Off Campus Sign In is a service that resides on a computer in the Library.

What links on the Library's web page are restricted and why?

Databases and electronic journals are restricted contractually to currently enrolled students and currently employed faculty and staff by the online companies who provide the content. The reason is to prevent loss of sales to unaffilated customers (individuals and companies) who might otherwise forego their own electronic subscriptions and use a library's access instead. Access to many Virginia Tech electronic theses and dissertationsare restricted by the authors themselves who wish to limit global Internet availability pending possible publication elsewhere in the form of books and articles. These materials are indicated by a VT logo.

The Library has a list of official Virginia Tech Internet addresses that are sent to database vendors and online publishers, who then screen access to their restricted resources by these addresses. Similarly, these addresses are loaded internally for those resources that the Library screens (electronic theses and dissertations). Persons attempting to connect to a restricted site from a recognized Virginia Tech Internet address are admitted while those connecting from a non-recognized address are not admitted. In order for a person whose Internet address is outside the Virginia Tech domain to get connected to a restricted resource, he or she must login through Off Campus Sign In first. Once authenticated (checked against the PID database of user names and passwords), these users will look like they are connecting from a computer - the library's server address - on the Virginia Tech campus and will be granted access.

I can't get connected. Why?

If you connecting to the internet using your work place's network or via a public school network, the most likely answer is that your workplace uses a firewall or another proxy server itself. This is a consequence of your workplace's network configuration. The message 'this page cannot be displayed', 'page not found', 'address not found', or just a blank page is probably an indication of a firewall issue. Please refer your local networking person to the trouble-shooting page at Useful Utilities to see if there is a workaround.

Another option when a firewall blocks access to the Off Campus Sign In page is to set up a Virtual Private Network (VPN) that will route your internet traffic through a server on the Virginia Tech campus, which will use a Virginia Tech internet address and allow you access to restricted library resources. VPN access is free for students, faculty and staff who have a campus wireless network account. These accounts are free for students and are free for faculty and staff when associated with a paid ethernet port. Even if you will never use the Blacksburg campus's wireless network, establish a wireless network account so that you can use the VT VPN.

Cookies need to be enabled in your browser for the Off Campus Sign In server. See your browser's help or contact 4-HELP for assistance.

How long will I stay authenticated?

It's hard to say exactly. In principle, as long as you do not exit from your browser you should stay authenticated, but experience has shown that Off Campus Sign In authentication can be disrupted for a variety of reasons, so you may have to login more than once during your online session.

If you find that you are frequently losing your authenticated connection, install the LibX browser extension. When you reach a restricted resource and realize you have not passed through the Off Campus Sign In server, you can simply right-click on the page and reload the page through Off Campus Sign In.

Most of the Library's databases and electronic journals have time-out periods set, so when the default inactivity threshold has been reached, you will be disconnected - but probably still authenticated. A few sites provide prompts when disconnection is imminent. Clicking somewhere on the site from time-to-time will extend your session. A time-out can occur when reading a lengthy document on-line without any keyboard activity.

I can connect to most restricted resources but not to all of them. Why?

If you can connect to *any* restricted resource, then you *should* be able to connect to all of them. There are two possible explanations:

• There is a problem with the resource itself and no Virginia Tech user, whether on-campus or off-campus, can successfully connect. A call to the reference desk (540-231-9232) can confirm if there is a global access problem. Library staff will have to contact the hosting service to see what has gone wrong and to obtain a 'fix' projection. When extended down time is verified, look for explanatory notes on the Library's home page.
• On-campus users can successfully connect to a resource while off-campus users cannot. A call to the reference desk (540-231-9232) can confirm if there is an off-campus access problem. When this occurs, the problem is likely some change at the hosting site that has affected the library's Off Campus Sign In configuration setup. You may see a hostname error message (... to work, your EZproxy administrator must first authorize this within the ezproxy.cfg file.). Online publishers and database vendors often change domain names or move content without informing their customers.

I can connect to a site and perform some functions but not all of them. Why?

There are a few likely scenarios:

• The host site is using programming not supported by your browser's current configuration. This might be a consequence of using an old browser like Netscape 4.x or having JavaScript turned off.
• The host site requires pop-ups to be enabled and you have them disabled. In this case you will have to temporarily enable po-pups or enable them for this site.
• You have tried to access an area of the site that is not available to Virginia Tech users. The error message may or may not reference this lack of entitlement.

Does Off Campus Sign In work with Scholar?

Yes, but only if the instructor has included links with Off Campus Sign In embedded as part of the address. Scholar links to restricted library resources that work on-campus can be modified to work off-campus by adding an authentication string http://login.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu:8080/login?url= to the beginning of the address. Example: there is a link on a Scholar page to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education about Virginia Tech's using Macs to create a supercomputer. The link http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v50/i11/11a03801.htm works on-campus because the Library has a campus site license for this publication. Off-campus users will not be able to connect because they have not passed through the Library's authentication screening first. Scholar authentication is not the same as Library authentication. Adding the base Off Campus Sign In string produces a URL that works for all users: http://login.ezproxy.lib.vt.edu:8080/login?url=http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v50/i11/11a03801.htm

Who do I contact with questions about EZproxy?

The proxy manager is ultimately responsible for resolving access issues, but you can also call the reference desk (540-231-9232), send email to the library's askus service, or chat on the Ask a Librarian service (all hours Newman Library is open). Or contact Dave Beagle (540-231-9231).