Connect to digital materials & online resources

Helpful tips for connecting to library resources for University of Arizona faculty, staff, and students. If you’re associated with UA Global Campus (UAGC), please contact Kira Heske for assistance. 

Step 1: Sign in to your library account 

Start by signing in to your library account to fully access our materials, especially when connecting from off campus.

When working on campus, you should be able to seamlessly connect to library databases, ejournals, and other online resources. If you are off campus (including Banner Health facilities), you'll be prompted to enter your NetID and password to gain access.  

Most of our resources are accessible for UA students, faculty and staff only. If you aren’t associated with the UA, find what you can access at the library. 

Step 2: Try our troubleshooting tips 

Try our tips for accessing resources and troubleshooting when you can’t connect.  

Links not working? Can’t access the resource? 

Basic troubleshooting steps

  • Don't use a VPN connection. Use your NetID and password instead. 
  • Access the resource through our website instead of from the web or Google. If you don't go through our website, some resources may not recognize you as a UA user and will deny you access.
    • If you are prompted to select your institution from a list and University of Arizona is not listed (even if UAGC is), this is likely the issue. 
  • Clear your cache and cookies AND restart your browser before initiating the search again. 
    • To clear your cache: In most computer-based web browsers, press Ctrl-Shift-Delete (Windows) or Command-Shift-Delete (Mac). If you don't see instructions below for your specific version or browser, search your browser's help menu for "clear cache." 
  • Try a different browser. 
  • Try using an incognito window. 
  • For more detailed browser, cache and cookie information, see tips from Indiana University

Contact library help if you are still unsuccessful. 

Bookmarked links and working URLs 

Bookmarked links may not work due to various situations: the vendor may have changed, platform updates, the title may no longer be available, or an emailed link may not have the proper EZproxy segment needed to access remotely. Get a working URL for an article or ebook for more information. 

A “busy signal” when trying to access resources 

Some resources have a maximum number of users that can access the resource at one time. This is especially true with ebooks. Wait a few minutes and try to access the resource again. See limited license user tips for accessing ebooks with limited access.  

Please contact us for additional assistance. 

Accessing databases, journals, and articles

Best practices  

  • Sign into your UA Library account to begin your searches
  • Do not use UA VPN. Use your NetID and password to access the resource from off campus instead. Contact campus IT if you have NetID questions
  • Access the resource from our database list to be properly authenticated with your NetID rather than going to the database directly

View access information for UA Health Sciences clinical faculty, Banner employees, and designated campus colleagues (DCCs.) 

View tips on accessing scholarly journals from off campus (also helpful for Google Scholar.) 

EndNote

With the exception of PubMed, you will not be able to search most library databases using EndNote software. Go to directly to the database you want to search and then export citations to EndNote. You can also get EndNote help

Can’t find an article?  

You can request articles through our interlibary loan system. Article Galaxy Scholar can be used to access some articles that are not available through the UA Libraries. In order to see the Article Galaxy Scholar link (when available), you must be signed in to your library account.  

Contact us

Need additional support? Contact us.