Help
The Electronic Library is available to all staff and students, both on and off campus. Visitors can also access the Electronic Library from within the Library building.
If you have problems accessing the service or article then please read through the help below or contact us.
Cross-search multiple resources at once
Check out our quick webcast tutorials to get the most out of our online resources and useful features:
How do I access it?
From the Library's homepage choose Electronic Library, you may be prompted to enter your University of Sussex network username and password when accessing content, especially off-campus. This will always be on a Sussex branded webpage.
Why do I need to log-in?
The Library subscribes to most of the information resources in the Electronic Library. The subscriptions cover University staff and students only. This means that access needs to be controlled. Many resources require you to have logged-in even if you are on-campus.
Can I use it off-campus?
Yes. The Electronic Library can be accessed off-campus in exactly the same way as from a machine on-campus. A few information resources are not available off-campus because the information provider or publisher does not permit it.
Do I need an 'Athens' username and password?
No. You will only ever need your Sussex username and password. Find out more about authentication
How do I know what to use?
You can browse all the information resources available by subject and also link to Library guides on many different subjects. These guides include advice on what electronic information resources to use.
You can also ask Library staff for guidance at Enquiries on the ground floor of the Library.
Are there any restrictions on what I can use Electronic Library resources for?
Yes. You must respect the law of copyright and licenses which the University has signed with the relevant publisher or information provider.
You must not:
- download a substantial part of a database or the entire contents of a publication (this includes an entire journal issue)
- make multiple copies of items that have been printed out or downloaded
- distribute copies to others
- remove any proprietary marking or copyright statement from any copy made
- use electronic resources for commercial purposes
For further guidance on copyright law and licenses, please visit the University's Copyright information pages.
Further Assistance
If you encounter problems accessing the Electronic Library, please check if any of the following points apply in your case. If you still experience difficulties, please:
- Contact us online or via Instant Messaging
- ask for help at the Information Hub on the ground floor of the Library
- telephone (01273) 678159 Monday to Friday, between 9.00 and 17.00
What browser are you using?
We have reports of problems logging into the Electronic Library with some versions of Opera and Safari. For all browsers, sometimes the local settings can cause issues, if you are having difficulties, it is worth trying a different browser to see if the problem persists.
Have you logged into the Electronic Library or Sussex Direct?
In most cases, if you try to access an information resource directly, without having logged into the Electronic Library or Sussex Direct, you will not be allowed access.
Do you have cookies disabled in your browser?
Sussex Direct and the Electronic Library use cookies to manage user access. Cookies are small text files of information stored on your computer. If you have configured your browser to block acceptance of cookies, you will not be able to access Sussex Direct or the Electronic Library.
What internet service provider are you using?
If you are accessing the Electronic Library from a machine off-campus, you are likely to be using an ISP such as Virgin Media or BT. Your ISP may have security features in place which are not compatible with the Electronic Library's access control systems. In particular, the Electronic Library uses a so-called 'proxy' to manage access to some resources. If you receive messages that indicate that use of a 'proxy' is being denied, this may be due to your ISP's security arrangements. Please check with your ISP.
Do you have a Student, Staff or Associate University ID card?
If you are an Associate of the University, we regret that in most cases you will not be able to access the Electronic Library.
This is because our agreements with publishers require that access to electronic resources is limited to employees and fully registered students of the University. If you are not sure whether you are an Associate, please check your University ID card. This will state whether you are Staff, Student or Associate.
On-campus access is, however available to some groups of Associates who are actively engaged in the University's teaching or research. The table below summarises Electronic Library access entitlements.
| University id card | On-campus access | Off-campus access |
|---|---|---|
| Student | Yes | Yes |
| Staff | Yes | Yes |
| Associate (Visiting Research Fellow)* | Yes | No |
| Associate (Honorary Academic Staff)* | Yes | No |
| Associate (Emeritus Professor)* | Yes | No |
| Associate (all other) | No | No |
* University ID cards do not include the information in brackets. This information is held in the University's staff database.
Can you log into Sussex Direct?
Try logging into Sussex Direct using your network username and password. If you cannot get in, and you have a Staff or Student University ID card, this suggests that there is a more general problem with your account. Please contact the Sussex Direct helpdesk, giving your network username (but not your password).
Did you receive an 'EZproxy' error message?
If you receive an error message like that reproduced below when trying to follow a link from within the Electronic Library:
To allow login?url=http://LinkYouAreTryingToAccess to work, your EZproxy administrator must first authorize this within the ezproxy.cfg file
Please:
- Copy the error message
- E-mail it to us with a short explanatory note