In most cases, only current University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, students, faculty, and staff may access databases, electronic books, and electronic journals remotely.
Researchers, alumni, and community members who are not current U of A students, faculty, or staff are welcome to use most databases, electronic books, and electronic journals while in the library, but they may not access these resources remotely. Certain further restrictions apply to some databases.
Questions about remote access policies? Please open a ticket by emailing libweb@uark.edu
Most resources will recognize users whose computer is within the IP range of campus. On-campus users are usually passed directly to a resource; off-campus users must authenticate to show that are a member of campus to access licensed resources.
There are two main ways for remote patrons to authenticate to use library resources:
Online access for almost every resource is based on being on campus or having a uark.edu email account. It does not matter if the patron record is in Alma, or is current in Alma.
The one exception is OneSearch, because when users log into OneSearch they are logging into their Alma account. Even if a patron has a record in Alma, ithey will not be able to login to OneSearch if their account is expired.
OpenAthens provides a way for off-campus users to verify their affiliation with campus.
In most cases, in order for OpenAthens authentication to work patrons must use a link that has been Athenized, that is, that has a prefix that tells OpenAthens which institution's login page to send a user to.
Example of an Ahtenized link:
Original link: https://www.jstor.org/
Athenized link: https://go.openathens.net/redirector/uark.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2F
On chat and at service desks, you can try to help answer the patrons immediate need before referring the question on the libweb@uark.edu.
Helpful ways to answer a patron's immediate need:
Below are some common issues and methods to address them. But you can always refer any question to libweb@uark.edu or transfer a ticket to the Content Services queue if you are unable to help.
Ask the patron what link they are using to access the item.
If they've navigated directly to the item from a web search, send them the Permalink from OneSearch to try.
Some patrons have multiple logins at different institutions. An incognito window will allow them to login "fresh" to their uark. account.
This will often resolve weird errors or page loading issues.
Some resources are blocked from access on guest wi-fi. If the patron has a uark.edu account, have them switch to UARK Wi-Fi.
If the patron is having issues with a specific resource, confirm it's working by connecting yourself.
If the item is working on campus for you but not off campus for the patron, they may be able to use the VPN to connect.
Either way, report the issue to libweb@uark.edu or transferthe ticket to the Content Services queue.
