ACCESSING E-JOURNALS & E-BOOKS (ATHENS) GUIDE FOR GATEWAY STAFF Situation: Customer says they can’t get the full text/can’t access or get into a resource, journal article, ebook etc. STEP 1: HOW ARE THEY NAVIGATING TO THE RESOURCE? •
“Google”- The ‘Athens cookie’ that will connect a resource back to the Plymouth portal has not been picked up = access denied.
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“Went through the library/portal”- Establish what they really mean:
o “Signed into Primo”- Students often ‘bookmark’ the Primo URL or Google it. Please note that Primo is a public website and does not contain the ‘Athens cookie’. Signing into Primo just shows students their borrowing account – it makes no difference to the full text = access denied.
Correct route:
Portal > Quick Links > Library Services > Search Collections / or LibGuides
STEP 2: COOKIES?
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Check student’s cookie settings.
Athens is a cookie based system. Cookies must not be disabled or set too high (so as to ‘block cookies’). STEP 3: CORRECT LOG IN METHOD CHOSEN?
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Did the student type in their username/password? There are no passwords for Athensaccessed resources = accessed denied.
Correct route: will vary from resource to resource but will usually involve clicking on an Athens hyperlink or selecting PU (or UK Federation) from a list of institutions. Access instructions for individual resources can be found: o In the Primo record for a resource o On the library guides (LibGuides) o In Self Help WHEN TO FORWARD TO THE INFORMATION SPECIALISTS:
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If there is no helpful guide. If you found a guide and took the student through all the instructions but they still have problems.
Please forward queries to informationspecialists@plymouth.ac.uk