Q. I'm trying to read an on-line book from a link on TigerCat. When I try to login using my ETBU login and password (I'm off-campus) it doesn't work.

This is a common problem for people accessing information from off-campus when they go through TigerCat.  All of our electronic resources are driven by the ETBU IP addresses, which means that as long as the computer is on the ETBU network you can access any resource to which we subscribe - it recognizes that IP address.  When you are off-campus your IP address will be that of your Internet Service provider, so it won't be recognized as valid by the database.  This is where the proxy server comes in - the ETBU proxy server fools the databases into thinking you are on an ETBU computer.  All the links to the ETBU electronic resources that are on the web pages have the proxy server link embedded, which means if you are off-campus it automatically sends you to the correct login page.  If you are on-campus it doesn't need the proxy server so it bypasses it.

Unfortunately, not all of the links on TigerCat have the proxy server address embedded in them - mainly because many of the catalog records come to us without the embed and unfortunately the sheer number of records makes it difficult to make changes unless we could do so globally, which at this point in time we are unable to do through our system.

So, what to do?  If you find an e-book on TigerCat which would be useful take a look at the item record - it should have a "location" after the call number and item type.  Most of the e-books have a location of ebrary, NetLibrary, Credo Reference, etc.  So, if the book you are looking for is on ebrary, simply go the library home page, click on the "Electronic Resources A-Z" link, then choose ebrary from the list under the "E" tab.  Once you click on ebrary it will either send you directly to the database or, if you are off-campus, it will first send you to the proxy server login where you simply input the same login/password combination which you use for your ETBU email and network access.  When you have successfully done that it will immediately take you to the database you requested, where you will see a basic search box (you may choose an advanced search box if you wish).  Simply type in the title of the book you found on TigerCat and you should be good to go.

If you find a journal title on TigerCat it would actually be better for you to go to the "Journals A-Z" link, also found on the home page.  This is a listing of all the print, microform, and electronic journals that is accessible through Jarrett Library.  If found online a link will lead you directly to that journal title, which you may then either browse or search.