Online access troubleshooting
General advice
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Internet Service Providers (ISP) is blocking access
Most Internet Service providers work with our security setup. If it looks like your ISP is blocking access, let us know via the Ask the Library service, so we can rule out other technical or login issues.
Full text is not available
Not all of our databases provide full text for every journal. Unfortunately, in some databases it may not be clear that we don’t subscribe to a full text version of a journal. And sometimes there is only partial access to full text, which can be confusing. If you find that you cannot access full text of an article, you can request a copy using the Document Delivery Services.
Common access issues and how to solve them
Sometimes you'll see an error message about maximum users/licences/seats when accessing an article or a database. This means that the database has a limit on the number of RMIT users, who can use it simultaneously. If that limit is exceeded, you will not be able to access the resource. To find out if there are access restrictions on a database, look for a note underneath the resource link that will tell you how many users can access the database at the same time.
If you come across this issue, just try again later. If after several attempts you still can't get through, please contact Ask the Library.
Some Proquest Ebook Central and EBSCOhost e-books have a limit on the number of RMIT users who can use them simultaneously. To find out how many copies of that e-book title the Library has available, look for the 'Concurrent user levels' information on the item's record.
If you come across this issue, just try again later. If you can't get through after several attempts, please contact Ask the Library.
Example from EBSCOHost
If the book is in use by the maximum number of readers, you will see a 'View eBook Full Text' message that states:
Sorry, this eBook is in use. A valid email address for your My EBSCOhost account is required to place a hold. Please try again later.
Example from ProQuest
Example of option to request when ProQuest Ebook Central limit reached
If all of the copies of an e-book are in use in ProQuest Ebook Central, you will be prompted to 'request this book'. Library staff manages these requests on a case-by-case basis, so please tell us if you need this book for a specific reason, such as an assignment, or for an entire course.
If you get a payment or a login request to access an article or an e-book in a database.
- Don’t pay! Full text resources in LibrarySearch are free to RMIT staff and students.
- You may be able to solve the problem by trying the following:
- Try other LibrarySearch links for that resource, if available.
- Check for messages about known issues. For example, there may be a note in the LibrarySearch record about the access issue.
- Search for the article/e-book directly in the database. To locate the database, use the Database search.
- Search for the article/e-book in Google Scholar (RMIT login may be required).
If none of the above solutions work, please contact Ask the Library or request the resource from our Document Delivery Service.
Here's an example of a note you may see in the LibrarySearch record if there is an access issue:
If this happens, you may be able to solve the problem by trying the following:
- Search for the article/ebook etc directly in the database. You can access the database in the Databases search.
- Try other LibrarySearch links, if available. The Library often has access to e-resources on more than one database or platform, and in this case, all the links will be listed in the LibrarySearch record.
- Try searching for the article/e-book in Google Scholar - RMIT University
If the above solutions don’t solve the problem, please contact Ask the Library or request the resource via the RMIT Document Delivery Service.
If you are unable to access full text articles from recent issues of an e-journal (e.g. most recent 6 months unavailable), there may be an embargo placed on them. Check under the database link for the date range details.
Check if there is another database the most recent issues are available on.
What's an embargo?
In the context of academic e-journals, an embargo is a specified time period (e.g. most recent 6 months) that access to full text journal articles is unavailable. The typical length of embargoes ranges from one week to two years.
Embargoes on e-journals are most common in aggregated databases such as ProQuest and EBSCOhost, as these full text database aggregators have negotiated rights to provide full text online coverage for a particular journal, but the publisher of the journal restricts the aggregator from providing the most recently published issue(s).