Accessing e-Resources Guide

Who Can Access Electronic Resources?

The majority of e-resources are purchased from publishers and vendors, and access is subject to the terms and conditions of the license agreements, or contracts, that the University has signed with these suppliers. Part of our obligation is to ensure that access is restricted to ‘authorized users’, and for the most part these are defined as staff and registered students of the University. A small number of e-resources have different specific licence conditions. Please speak with a member of staff at The UWI St. Augustine Campus Libraries, submit a question via Ask a Librarian or contact a Librarian.

Users Allowed On-Campus and Off-Campus Access

The following categories of users who have been given a secure UWI login, may use The UWI-subscribed e-resources both on-campus and off-campus for non-commercial purposes:

• All currently enrolled students of The UWI who are financially cleared;
• UWI staff;
• Retired staff members of The UWI (once registered with Human Resources);
• Visiting scholars.

Users Allowed On-Campus, On-Site (In Library) Access

Alumni: Any member of The UWI Alumni may be able to access and use the e-resources for non-commercial purposes only on-site in the Library. Alumni will not be able to access licenced e-resources from off-campus.

Walk-in User: Any individual who is registered as a user of the Library but does not meet the criteria for being an “authorized user” as described above is known as a “Walk-in User” for licencing purposes. Walk-in users may be able to access and use the e-resources for non-commercial purposes if they have been given permission to so do by the Libraries’ Administration. Such use will be confined to on-site, in Library access. Walk-in users will not be able to access licenced e-resources from off-campus.

 What are electronic resources?

Electronic resources are library materials that are accessible electronically, and include eBooks, databases and journal articles. They are also referred to as 'e-resources'.

 Who can use e-resources?

The majority of e-resources are purchased from publishers and vendors, and access is subject to the terms and conditions of the license agreements, or contracts, that the University has signed with these suppliers. Part of our obligation is to ensure that access is restricted to ‘authorized users’, and for the most part these are defined as staff and registered students (who are financially cleared) of the University.

'Walk in user' access

Walk in users (visitors to the Libraries) may be able to access the e-resources if they have been given permission to so do by the Libraries' administration. Such use will be confined to within the libraries' physical space. 'Walk in users' will not be able to access the resources from off campus.

 How do I access the Campus’ electronic resources?

There are a number of ways that you can access electronic resources at the St. Augustine Campus Libraries. If you know the name of the resource you wish to access, go to the "Databases A-Z", E-journals, or eBooks link under the Research tab on the Library's website or to “Find databases” in UWIlinC and find the relevant database. If you want to find out which resources are recommended for your subject area, go to the Research Guides section of the Research tab of the library's website.

Most of our resources can be accessed both on and off-campus, and most will require you to use your UWI ID and password for authentication off campus.

 How do I access the electronic resources on Campus?

Students, staff and faculty of The UWI, St. Augustine Campus can access the electronic resources from any computer workstation connected to the University's local area or wireless network i.e. in the Library, Computer Labs, Faculty offices or in a classroom on the campus etc., as most subscriptions to these resources are supported by IP authentication. Login is therefore not a requirement.

 Can I access the electronic resources Off-campus?

Off-campus/Remote access to most Library subscribed electronic resources - e-journals, eBooks, databases - is available via the Proxy service. Students and staff must login to be authenticated to access the resources from off campus. Once you login and remain within the same browser window you should not need to login again within the same session. Note that when you try to access a subscribed resource from off campus, you will be prompted to login to the system.

Students can login using their my.uwi.edu portal login credentials. From the my.uwi.edu portal students can click on the UWIlinC button to be taken to the library's search engine for locating the electronic resources.

Staff members need to enable their account and reset their password. Staff members can request a copy of the instructions to do so. Please note that the password reset must take place when you are logged on to a computer located within the SAUWI campus network domain. Activation will not work from off-campus.

 How can I tell which resources I can access as a staff or student of the University of West Indies?

Some of our databases include material to which the University of the West Indies does not have access. Databases to which we subscribe are usually indicated by an icon with the words 'UWI Subscribed' next to the resource.

Within the databases there might be a green tick/box, or perhaps an open padlock next to the journal title or individual articles. When searching in a database, consider restricting your searching to "Full text items only" or "Subscribed journals" which will mean that your results will exclude items that cannot be accessed. In some cases, you can only tell whether or not we have access when you are trying to access an individual article.

 I cannot access the Libraries' electronic resources at my place of work or home. What can I do?

Problems accessing electronic resources at work are usually due to network settings at your place of work or home. You will need to contact the IT staff at your place of work to resolve any problems or contact your Internet Service provider to have your firewall removed.

 The resource I want to access says it uses an individual username and password. How do I get hold of these?

To obtain separate usernames and passwords – used for a small number of resources – get in touch with the respective Faculty Liaison Librarian.

 Whenever I try to access one of the electronic resource I get a "Security Certificate" or "This Connection is Untrusted" or "Your Connection is not Private" depending on the browser I am using. Should I continue?

When logging into some e-resources via the Library's Website you may come across the following security error messages from Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome:

Internet Explorer
Please click 'Continue to this website'

Firefox
Please click 'I understand the risks'

Google Chrome
Please click 'Advanced'

You will only need to do it once in a session. After that you should be able to access the website/link without any problems from that computer.

 Why do some journal titles have more than one option for access?

The St. Augustine Campus Libraries may have access via more than one route. For instance, some journals are available both from the publisher's own site e.g. Taylor and Francis and also from a database such as Proquest ABI/INFORM or EBSCOhost Academic Search Complete.

Additionally, the title may have changed publisher. It may be that the new publisher provides access to the current content while the previous publisher continues to provide access to the older content.

Different coverage may be available from different sources. Older issues may be available through services like JSTOR, while current content is hosted on the publisher's own site.

The journal content will be the same at every location. The difference between the sites will instead be related to the period covered.

 How do I login to UWIlinC?

Go directly to Alma Jordan Library's website, and select UWIlinC from the 'Research' tab. Click on 'Sign in' on the top right hand corner of the homepage and login with your University ID and password.

 Why can't I access the full-text article after I have logged into UWIlinC?

In a few cases we may not subscribe to all journals on a particular publisher's platform or in a database or the Library's subscription may not include the issue you are trying to access.

 Why am I being asked to register with a particular resource?

Some resources require personal registration before you can use them, both on and off campus. These resources include SciFinder Scholar, HeinOnline, and Westlaw. Other resources, such as ProQuest and EBSCO databases and Emerald Journals, allow you to save search results, receive alerts and personalise your account if you register.

 What are eBooks?

An eBook is an electronic version of a book that is found and read online. Most of the Libraries' eBooks are listed in the catalogue.

 How do I find and access eBooks?

You can find eBooks by searching in UWIlinC, just as you would for a print book. In your search results, eBooks will have a book icon/image with a 'View Online link' and a green dot with the following words: 'Online access. The Library may also have physical copies'

To access the eBook click either ‘View online’ or the title of the books which might be hyperlinked.

If you are off-campus you will be prompted to login via UWIlinC before being taken to the eBook.

Some of our eBooks can only be read by a certain number of people at any one time, so if you find that you are unable to open an eBook, it might be that it is in use by someone else, so please try again later.

 What software do I need to download eBooks?

For most library eBooks you will need Digital Rights Management software such as Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). Most of the interfaces will offer you a link to install ADE if you do not already have this. You can also find it on the Adobe website.

Others may just require ADOBE or no additional software.

 Can I print and copy from e-books?

You can print and copy from most eBooks within certain limits set down by copyright law and our license agreements.

Some eBook providers use Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology, which limits the amount you can print and copy. You will usually be told what the limits are when you try to print or copy from those eBooks. For example: EBSCOHost eBooks allow you to download up to 60 pages by using the print function. Click "print", then "print pdf" and save the resulting file. You will be told the exact number of pages you can print from each book.

 The eBook I want is an Amazon kindle edition, but isn't available in the Library Catalogue - why is this?

Generally, the way publishers sell eBooks to institutions such as universities is different to the way they are sold to individuals. Some eBooks may be sold only to individuals, via sites such as Amazon, and not to university libraries and similar institutions.

 When I try to access an eBook it tells me it is already in use. What should I do?

Most of our eBooks allow concurrent use (many users can access the same title at one time). However, we do have a few which are single-user titles (one user at a time).

If you access an eBook via the library's or the eBooks link and can view the title but are unable to access it, it is probably because this eBook is in use by another user.

If this is the case, try that title again later as you should be able to access it once the other user has exited.

 Other than read, what else can I do with the Libraries’ electronic resources?

Use of the Libraries' licensed resources is protected by local and international copyright laws.

Authorized users may browse, search, retrieve, display, download, print and store 'reasonable amounts' (a single article or chapter) for scholarly research, educational and personal use as long as such use is consistent with 'fair use' principles of international and local copyright laws.

Copying and storing single copies of a reasonable amount of individual articles or chapters is permitted. Users are not allowed to copy and store an entire issue of a journal.

 Are there limits to how much I can download from these resources?

There are restrictions on the level of downloading from e-resources platforms, depending on limits set by individual suppliers. Where this is the case there will usually be alerts on the vendor's website.

All license agreements prohibit the systematic downloading of material, and this is carefully monitored by suppliers, who will notify us of any problems they detect. When this arises the publisher may block access from specific IP addresses, or may suspend access to the whole service, until the problem has been resolved.

 Can I share articles/chapters from these resources with my colleagues?

Generally authorized users are permitted to share limited amounts of licensed material for the purposes of collaborative research and scholarly use.

Users may send single articles to colleagues for the purpose of non-commercial scholarly communication.

Copyright and Use of E-resources

The use of The UWI’s licensed e-resources is protected by local and international copyright laws.

Authorized Use

Authorized users may browse, search, retrieve, display, download, print and store ‘reasonable amounts’ (a single article or chapter) for scholarly research, educational and personal use as long as such use is consistent with ‘fair use’ principles of international and local copyright laws. Copying and storing single copies of a reasonable amount of individual articles or chapters is permitted. Authorized users are not allowed to copy and store an entire issue of a journal or another e-resource.

Sharing Information

Generally authorized users are permitted to share limited amounts of licensed material for the purposes of collaborative research and scholarly use. Authorized users may send single articles to colleagues for the purpose of non-commercial scholarly communication.

Downloading of Materials

There are restrictions on the level of downloading that can be done from e-resources platforms, depending on limits set by individual suppliers. Where this is the case, there will usually be alerts on the vendor’s website. All license agreements prohibit the systematic downloading of material, and this is carefully monitored by suppliers, who will notify us of any problems they detect. When this arises the publisher may block access to e-resources from specific IP addresses, or may suspend access to the whole service, until the problem has been resolved.

Non-Commercial Use

Note that all license agreements cover non-commercial use only, which means that the e-resources should only be used for private study and research, and should not be used for any commercial gain.

Request Help

Please send requests, including any screenshots, to ajlerhelpdesk@sta.uwi.edu for assistance.