Troubleshooting Off-Campus Connection Problems

If you are trying to use our databases or electronic journals from off-campus--a process sometimes referred to as Remote Authentication--and are having trouble making the connection, use this page as a checklist before you call the Library for help:

IP Address Check

It may help us diagnose your connection problems if you can determine what IP address your computer is using to connect to the Internet. To determine that, click on this link to our IP test page. Write down or print out the information from this test page.

Patron status issues

Browser issues

Firewall issues

If you are coming from a business or work location or have installed a personal firewall at home, please be aware that unless certain ports are opened on the firewall, it will block you from accessing most electronic resources. Some of our resources are authenticated through OhioLINK, and some of them are authenticated through Ohio University, so both of the following procedures should be implemented to gain access to all resources:

Personal Account issues

When you login for off-campus access be sure to...

Specific problem

What to do next...
If you go through all of these steps and still can't get connected, call Alden Library's Reference Desk at (740) 593-2699. We will ask for your name, PID number, and the browser (including its version number) you are using, and then check into the situation for you.