Access to online resources

UNSW students and staff can access most Library resources wherever you have internet access.

When you are on campus and logged in to the UNSW network, many databases and publishers will recognise you are from UNSW and provide access to subscribed resources as well as open access content.

If you are off campus or not on the UNSW network (e.g. using home or public internet/Wi-Fi), databases and publishers will not recognise that you are from UNSW and that you should have access. To access the Library's resources remotely, choose one of the options listed below.

Library website

Access Library resources via Library collection. This is a useful place to begin looking for scholarly resources that are not freely available online. UNSW Library subscribes to many databases and publishers that provide access to full-text articles.

When using your own internet service provider off campus to access electronic resources, you will be prompted to authenticate using your zID and password. UNSW Library supports single sign on and your off-campus UNSW authentication credentials will automatically be applied when you sign in to myLibrary. As long as you keep your browser open, you will remain logged in to Library resources. If you close your browser, you may be presented with the login page again.

Course resources for students

Course related online resources may be available in Moodle. Once you are logged in to Moodle you can access listed items as if you are on the UNSW network, no matter where you are.

Open access resources

For tools and databases to locate freely available resources see Open access resources.

Tools and plugins

When searching for resources but not using the Library collection to search, you may encounter issues with accessing the full text. For more information see Search tools and plugins to help you directly access full-text articles.

UNSW Library Resource VPN

If you are using a UNSW VPN, use the UNSW Library Resource VPN connection to access UNSW Library subscriptions remotely. This is not available via the general or group-based access VPN addresses. The library address routes all your internet traffic through the UNSW network to replicate on-campus access to resources.

For more information including step by step installation and connection guides for your operating system see UNSW Remote access (VPN) service.

Need more information?

For assistance with single sign on authentication or accessing the Library Resource VPN contact IT at UNSW.