Aurora University Library Digital Library Portal
Sign in
Access & authentication

Off-campus access to licensed resources

How to reach subscription databases, journals and eBooks when you are away from the campus network — and what to do when access breaks.

Your current access
Off campus Not signed in

You are off campus and not signed in

Your network address is outside the university's registered campus ranges, and you have no active portal session. Licensed resources will ask you to authenticate before they open.

Your access chain right now
  1. This device Off campus
  2. Library proxy Reachable
  3. Portal sign-in Required
  4. Licensed resource Waiting

Two links already hold: the proxy answered and it knows this resource. One sign-in closes the third and the resource opens.

Asked to pay for something?

We match the address against everything Aurora licenses, then rebuild it as a library link. Nothing is sent to the publisher.

Aurora already pays for this article — you should not. Elsevier · ScienceDirect, licensed for current students and staff until 31 Dec 2026. The paywall appeared only because the publisher could not tell you are from Aurora. Your library link https://ezproxy.aurora.edu/login?url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652626004321
Sign in and open this link Test my access

Detection compares your network address against the ranges registered by the library. It can be wrong on some hotel and mobile networks — signing in always gives a definitive answer.

The route that works from this portal

Aurora University Library has enabled all four routes. If you start from this portal, Muse Proxy is applied for you automatically and you never need the others.

Muse Proxy

Recommended Enabled

Best when you start from this portal — search results, the A–Z directory and resource pages already carry proxied links.

Route Portal Library proxy Publisher
  1. Sign in to the portal Use your university account on the portal sign-in screen.
  2. Open any licensed resource From search, subject pages or the A–Z directory — every link is already routed through the proxy.
  3. You land signed in The proxy authenticates you to the publisher automatically — no second login.
Open the A–Z directory
The other three routes — for a link that did not start at the portal

EZProxy

Enabled

Best when you have an old bookmarked proxy link, or a reading list built before the portal migration.

Route Saved link Proxy sign-in Publisher
  1. Prefix the resource address Put the proxy prefix in front of the publisher URL: https://ezproxy.aurora.edu/login?url=
  2. Sign in when prompted Use your university username and password.
  3. Mind the session limit Sessions expire after 2 hours of inactivity, then you must sign in again.

OpenAthens

Enabled

Best when you are already on a publisher's site — for example ScienceDirect — and want to sign in there directly.

Route Publisher site OpenAthens University sign-in
  1. Choose institutional sign-in On the publisher page pick "Sign in via your institution" or "OpenAthens".
  2. Find Aurora University Search the federation list and select the university — check the name carefully.
  3. Complete university sign-in You are redirected to the university login, then back to the publisher with full access.

Shibboleth

Enabled

Best when the publisher offers institutional (SAML) login through a federation the university has joined.

Route Publisher site SAML federation University sign-in
  1. Choose "Institutional login" The option is usually beside the publisher's own username field.
  2. Pick the federation, then the university Select the regional federation and Aurora University from its member list.
  3. Complete single sign-on Access is granted for the rest of the browser session.

Wireframe note: portal sign-in (SSO with the university identity provider) and resource proxying are separate mechanisms. Muse can take part in remote-access SSO flows, but it is not the portal's login method — this page must never present the proxy as a way to sign in to the portal itself.

Test my access

Runs three checks against a licensed resource of your choice and shows exactly where the chain breaks.

The chain breaks at check 2 of 3 The proxy answered normally. Sign in to the portal and the remaining check runs on its own.
  1. Proxy reachable The library proxy answered in 180 ms.
    Passed
  2. Authentication No portal session found. Sign in first, then run the test again.
    Action needed
  3. Publisher handshake Skipped — requires a successful authentication step.
    Skipped

If the publisher handshake fails after you sign in, the full result is attached automatically to a support report with a reference number, so the library can follow up with the vendor.

Last run: 27 Jul 2026, 14:32 Send result to the library

When it still doesn't work

The four failures behind most off-campus support tickets — check these before contacting the library.

  • Licence coverage The resource opens, but the publisher says I have no subscription

    The title may not be covered by the library's proxy rules, or it sits on a platform the library licenses only partially. Check the resource's entry in the A–Z directory — it states exactly which years and collections are licensed. If the directory says you should have access, report the link.

    Check what Aurora licenses
  • Proxy sessions expire after 2 hours of inactivity. Sign in again from the portal rather than refreshing the publisher tab — the old tab may carry a stale session token. If it recurs within minutes, clear cookies for the university's domains and retry.
  • Some publishers rate-limit or block proxy addresses after heavy bulk downloading by any user. This is a vendor-side block the library must clear — report it with the resource name and time; the support team tracks the vendor case until the address is unblocked.
  • Federation pickers remember your last choice. If you previously selected another university, clear the remembered institution on the publisher's sign-in page (usually a "change institution" link), then search for Aurora University again and re-authenticate.