Are you a current student? (yes/no)
- Yes: Continue with questions
- No: Only Current students have access to the databases off campus.
- Do you know your current username and password?
- Confirm patron is using their username (not their full email) and their current password
- Have you had any problems logging into Canvas or My SFCC?
Are you able to logon?
- Yes: Ask additional questions
- No: Try using a different browser.
- If this works and they want to continue using the browser they were originally using, they will need to clear the cache on their browser. Even though they are entering your password, some browsers keep your password stored and will not allow new passwords to be entered. They will need to clear their cache to clear the old password. After clearing the cache CLOSE AND REOPEN the browser.
Do you use a password manager, or an electronic password management system?
- Yes: Password management systems need to be updated directly with the new passwords. You will need to go into the password management system and look for the specific login page for the library and change the password in the management system.
- No: Ask additional questions
Where are you trying to access the library resources? Are you at a public school, federal agency, or at your place of employment
- Yes: We know that some places (specifically the public schools and some federal agencies) have strong firewalls that do not allow access to these resources when you are on their networks.
- No: Continue with questions
What database/resource are you trying to access?
- Follow the path they are using to access the database and make sure you can access the resource on campus.
- If you can’t access the database on campus we need to fix EZP or contact the vendor.
- We know there are occasionally problems when a patron is initially logging on to one database.
- Try: In the A-Z list: try clicking on a different database and try to enter your username and password again. If the username and password is accepted try going back to access the database they are attempting to use.
What is happening when you enter your username and password?
- Try to determine where the login seems to be failing.
- Are they going through the library’s website?
- Are they able to logon but not search? (if this is the case it sounds like there is something wrong with our vendor)
What are you doing to access the library?
- Are you going through the library’s website or going directly to the database?
- Students need to access databases through the library’s website – direct access is possible with some databases but not most. For example, people often try to access Jstor by going directly to Jstor’s website.
- Are you using the A-Z list to access a specific database, or are you using the library’s main search box?
- A-Z List
- What database are you clicking on?
- Possible Solution: Try clicking on a different database and try to enter your username and password again.
- [staff action following call] we need to verify that the database they were trying to access has the correct configuration in Libguides and on the EZP server
Are you trying to access a specific article using a URL that you copied while you were doing research?
- Users need to make sure they are copying persistent links when they want to return to a resource.
- If they haven't used a persistent URL it will be necessary to relocate the article by doing a search and showing students how to locate a persistent URL.
Where are you trying to access the library resources? Are you at a public school, federal agency, or at your place of employment?
- Yes: We know that some places (specifically the public schools and some federal agencies) have strong firewalls that do not allow access to these resources when you are on their networks.
- No: Continue with the questions
If nothing works…. we need to collect some information from you so we can try to solve this on our end. The information you provide will be really helpful to us and to other students who are experiencing the same issues.
[staff action] Fill out form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2V6HZDB
