ACCESSING LIBRARY E-RESOURCES

Go to [HOW TO INSTALL THE PROXY BOOKMARKLET] 

You can be in your dormitory, lab, office, shopping centre or anywhere in the world – if you have access to the Internet you will be able to log on and access the hundreds or databases and thousands of e-journals subscribed by the Library. A simple logon and authentication is all you need. This is made possible by the implementation of our Ezproxy service in 2005. This is a vast improvement in terms of convenience and ease of use. Before this, you have to set up and use VPN in order to access our e-resources from outside the campus.

ACCESSING IS EASY

All NTU users can access our e-resources by pointing and clicking on the appropriate links in our Library’s homepage. No setup is required if you access e-resources from the Library’s webpage. Go to the collection tab in the Library’s website and click on the appropriate database or e-journal you require. Enter your staff/student ID and password when prompted. Read the “Terms of Use” page and click on the “I accept” button. That is all!

FOR THOSE WHO BOOKMARKED LINKS BEFORE

Previously some of you may have set up bookmarks or “favourites” in your browser or create HTML pages to link to the e-resources direct. This worked on campus because our database vendors were asked to recognize all IP addresses on campus. With the implementation of Ezproxy, the vendors now recognize only the Library’s proxy IP address. Therefore if you have created link pages and favourites to databases and e-journal titles in your browser, you need to re-bookmark your links as follows:

go to https://venus.wis.ntu.edu.sg/lib_databases/ (for databases) and http://www.ntu.edu.sg/library/collections/Pages/EJournals.aspx (for e-journals), search the database or e-journal title you want and bookmark the URL to your favourites on the browser.

FOR THOSE WHO USE EMAIL ALERT SERVICES

Some databases provide email alert services. This automatically sends an email to you with the URL links to articles that have just been added to the database. This is a convenient way to keep track of new entries in the database. Before you point and click the URL to launch the e-resource, you need to modify the URL address so that our Ezproxy can recognize that you are a valid user of our system. To make it easier for you, we have created a simple bookmarklet (a small program) which you can install in your browser. YOU ONLY NEED TO DO THIS ONCE. Instructions are given below.

REASONS FOR THE CHANGES

Apart from providing easy remote access, the implementation of Ezproxy also allows us to monitor and keep track of all accesses to the library’s e-resources. This is important to you and the Library for the following reasons:

1. Ezproxy can detect excessive downloading of e-journals and database records from a user and can take immediate step to stop this activity. In the past, when a vendor detects excessive downloading, it will suspend our access completely and immediately, sometimes for more than a week, leading to inconvenience to all users. With Ezproxy, we can stop the action of a recalcitrant user before the whole community of users are affected.
2. Ezproxy also provides important usage statistics which enables the Library to make decisions and justifications to continue the support and funding of expensive e-resources. It will also help us plan and provide better services to you.

If you have any queries on the above, please do not hesitate to contact us at ltd@ntu.edu.sg or 6790 4627. We will be most happy to assist you to maximize the use of our e-resources.

HOW TO INSTALL THE PROXY BOOKMARKLET 

For Firefox: Right click on this link "NTU Libraries Proxy Bookmarklet" and select "Bookmark This Link".  Alternatively, click and drag the link to your "Bookmarks" toolbar.  

HOW IT WORKS FOR ACCESSING DIRECT DATABASE LINKS OR EMAIL ALERTS FROM VENDORS/PROVIDERS

You may have found a database link from a search engine such as Google or received an email from your favourite database provider in your mailbox. Notice the difference in URL. For this case, you are actually accessing either out of the NTU network or not through the NTU Ezproxy Server

For example:

1.   Not through NTU
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/

2.      Through NTU’s Ezproxy / NTU’s network
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com.ezlibproxy1.ntu.edu.sg/

For example No 1, please click the proxy bookmarklet on your browser favourites or Links toolbar after you have found your article.  You will be prompted to login and access the database and the articles as per normal.

USAGE NOTES

• This instruction is compatible with most internet browsers as long as your bookmarks or favourites allow JavaScript. If your links toolbar is not visible, you can enable it, in the View -> Toolbars menu of the web browser. You can also place it under your favourite bookmarks, instead of the link toolbar.

• Once the proxy bookmarklet is in your browser's toolbar, you should be able to gain access to library subscribed e-resources at the click of the proxy bookmarklet button.

• If you are on a page that requires authentication, click on the proxy bookmarklet in your browser's toolbar, and you will be redirected through the proxy server for the page you are currently at. In some cases you may need to use the browser's "Back" button to return to the resource URL before activating the proxy bookmarklet.

Browsers

• This instruction has been tested and is working well on browsers such as Internet Explorer 6 and 7 as well as Firefox 2 that runs on a Microsoft Window Platform.
  

We hope that you will see the benefits brought about by this new implementation and prepare well in advance for it especially if you have bookmarked direct urls to e-resources subscribed by the library. Should you have any queries, please contact us at ltd@ntu.edu.sg.

Updated 23 October 2006.