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Troubleshooting Remote Access to Library Resources from Off-Campus

If you have an accurate UW-L email username and password, you should be able to access library databases.

The library does not control UW-L email accounts or passwords, but does use the system to provide access to databases. For assistance with your UW-L email login or password, please contact the ITS Support Desk at 785-8774.

Username or password is incorrect:

  • Check that Caps Lock key is not on.

  • Do not use your email address as your username.

  • Exclude the @uwlax.edu or @students.uwlax.edu at the end of your username
    (Student e.g.smith.john@uwlax.edu) or (Faculty e.g.jsmith@uwlax.edu)

General:

  • Try accessing the databases with another computer

  • Try accessing a different database

  • If you have successfully accessed databases previously, try to think of what might have changed on your computer, or your ISP provider since it last worked.

Firewalls:

  • Windows XP has a built-in Firewall.  Try disabling it.
    (Start > Settings > Control Panel > Network Connections.  Right click on Local Connection and select Properties.  Click on the Advanced tab and uncheck the box for Internet Connection Firewall.)

  • Do you have 3-party security software installed?
    Try disabling it (rebooting with the Firewall being disabled might also help.

  • If you are using free Firewall software like Zone Alert you may have to uninstall it. 
    (Rebooting your computer afterwards may also help.)

Pop-ups:

  • If you have a popup blocker installed, try disabling it.
    Some resources require browser pop-ups and cookies to be enabled. IE has a built-in popup blocker (Tools > Internet Options > Privacy > Popup Blocker). 

Cookies:

Another possibility is that you need to enable cookies on your browser. Lexis/Nexis, for example, only works with browsers that accept cookies. The procedure is as follows:

  • Internet Explorer 7.x: Go to the Tools menu and choose Delete Browsing History. Click the Delete All button. Click the Yes button. Close and reopen IE before trying again.

  • Internet Explorer 6.x: Go to the Tools menu and choose Internet Options. Click on the Privacy tab. Click Advanced. Scroll down to the Cookies section and select Always Allow Session Cookies. Click OK. Close and reopen IE before trying again.

  • Firefox 2.x: Go to the Tools menu and choose Clear Private Data. Close and reopen Firefox before trying again.

  • Netscape Navigator/Communicator 7.x: Go to the Edit menu and choose Preferences. Double-click on Privacy & Security. Click on Cookies. Click in the Enable all cookies radio button. Click OK.

  • Netscape Navigator/Communicator 6.x: Go to the Edit menu and choose Preferences. Double click on Privacy & Security. Select Cookies from the drop-down menu. Click in the Enable All Cookies radio button. Click OK.

Enabling JavaScript:

Another possibility is that JavaScript has been turned off on your browser. To enable Javascript in your browser:

  • Internet Explorer 6.x: Go to the Tools menu and choose Internet Option. Click on the Security tab. Click on Internet. Click on the Custom Level button. Scroll down to the Scripting section. Click in the Enable radio button under Active Scripting if this is not selected. Click OK.

  • Firefox 2.x: Go to Tools > Options > Content and then uncheck Enable
    JavaScript.

  • Netscape Navigator/Communicator 7.x: Go to the Edit menu and choose Preferences. Click on Advanced. Click on Scripts & Plug-ins. Under Enable JavaScript, click the checkbox next to Navigator. Click OK.

  • Netscape Navigator/Communicator 6.x: Go to the Edit menu and choose Preferences. Select Advanced. Click in the check box next to Enable JavaScript for Navigator. Click OK.

Internet Service Providers (ISPs)/Browsers:

  • ISPs that use their own versions of Internet Explorer (such as MSN or AOL) sometimes present a problem. An easy workaround is to connect to the Internet using the browser provided by your ISP, minimize the browser session and then launch Internet Explorer. Use Internet Explorer to search our electronic resources.

  • If you have an accelerator installed, you will probably have to disable it when accessing licensed databases.

Cached Pages:

  • Your browser might be caching a failed access attempt. If so, you need to delete the offline content stored by your browser. The steps are as follows:

    • Internet Explorer 7.x: Go to the Tools menu and choose Delete Browsing History. Click the Delete All button. Click the Yes button. Close and reopen IE before trying again.

    • Internet Explorer 5.x/6.x: Go to the Tools menu and choose Internet Options. Click on the Delete Files button. Click OK. Click on Settings. Click in the Every visit to page radio button. Click OK.

    • Firefox 2.x: Go to the Tools menu and choose Clear Private Data. Close and reopen Firefox before trying again.

      Netscape Navigator/Communicator 7.x: Go to the Edit menu and choose Preferences. Click Advanced. Click Cache. Click on the Clear Memory Cache button. Click OK. Click on Clear Disk Cache button. Click OK. Click in the Every Time I view the page radio button below the words Compare the page in the cache to the page on the network. Click OK.

    • Netscape Navigator/Communicator 6.x: Go to the Edit menu and choose Preferences. Click Advanced. Click Cache. Click on the Clear Memory Cache button. Click OK. Click on Clear Disk Cache button. Click OK. Click in the Every time I view the page radio button below the words Compare the page in the cache to the page on the network. Click OK.

Note:

  • If your have an accurate UW-L email username and password, have run through the troubleshooting tips above, but are still having trouble accessing library databases, please complete this form.