1. 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.
“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?
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?
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:
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