Last updated: 8/13/03
Electronic Access: “URI only” explanation

= URI only

All of the University Libraries’ Reference Databases and other electronic information services may be searched freely by anyone from within the University Libraries. Most of these online resources may also be searched from any computer on the campus network.

However, remote access (i.e. access from off-campus) to most of the Libraries’ databases is restricted due to license agreements with database vendors and the high cost of databases.

If a database or other electronic information resource is labeled “URI only,” it may be searched remotely by current URI students and staff and members of the faculty only.

[Please note that URI alumni/ae, those with Special Borrowers’ Cards, and members of the public are welcome to search databases from within the University Libraries but do not have remote access privileges.]

When you attempt to access a database or other electronic information resource from off-campus*, you will be prompted for your name as it appears on your University ID and your library barcode, also located on your University ID. You will only need to enter this information once per session. Once you have been “authenticated” as a URI borrower, you may begin your search.

Technically, your level of access to the databases when connecting remotely is determined by your “patron type” as recorded in the HELIN computer system. Your patron type, for example, might identify you as a URI graduate student or a Providence College undergraduate.

If you feel that you have been denied access to a database in error, please contact Circulation to make sure that

a) you have activated your barcode and therefore have a “patron record” in the HELIN system,

b) your patron record has not expired, and

c) your patron record accurately reflects your current status (e.g. URI undergraduate student, URI graduate student, URI graduate student enrolled in a course numbered 599 or higher, URI staff member, URI faculty member, etc.)

If you have further questions about accessing Library databases from off-campus, please contact the Reference Desk for assistance. Thank you.

* Unless you are connected to the Internet using URI’s dial-up access, in which case you will be able to search databases and other electronic information resources simply by clicking on them, as if you were on campus.