Off-Campus Access
WFU Proxy Server
Current students, faculty, and staff at WFU are eligible to use the WFU proxy server for off-campus access to databases. You will be prompted automatically for your WFU username and password.
Using the WFU Proxy Server
The proxy server works by detecting a special prefix to the URL. At WFU, this prefix is http://wake.idm.oclc.org/login?url=. The full URL for JSTOR, for example, can be seen in your browser’s status bar when the link is hovered. This prefix works for both database entry pages (the JSTOR example) and for article-specific links (such as this article from Project MUSE).
If you create content for off-campus students, please include the proxy prefix on any links to library databases or e-journals. If you receive ‘Table of Contents’ alerts via e-mail or RSS (e.g. from ScienceDirect), you must add the prefix to each link before it will work off campus.
WFU VPN
VPN (Virtual Private Network) is an alternative to the proxy server. In addition to security benefits, VPN gives you an on-campus address which will authenticate you to our databases. Information Systems supports and provides VPN for WFU.
Access Through Your Institution
A growing number of publishers and database vendors now support an option called “Access Through Your Institution” which lets you login directly using your WFU username and password, without needing to go through any ZSR pages or our proxy links.
When you are off campus, some sites will show you this icon:
Follow that link and you will see a drop down list of participating schools. Scroll down, or just type “Wake,” and you’ll get a link to our campus login. Please note that your login name and password are only sent to WFU’s servers. The publisher does not receive any personal information about you, just confirmation that you have successfully logged in.
Google Scholar and CASA (Campus Activated Subscriber Access)
One more path to accessing library resources from off campus is to search Google Scholar when you are on campus or using VPN; when you then use the same device to search Google Scholar from off campus, Scholar will remember your WFU affiliation and pass that along to participating publishers. At those sites, you will be able to access full text with no further login. Again, no personal information gets sent to the publisher.
Troubleshooting
Are you a WFU alum?
While our database vendors do not allow us to offer remote access to alumni, both alumni and the public are welcome to use our databases when they are in the library (from a library computer or while on the “WFUGuest” WiFi).
Are you studying abroad in a WFU house?
Students in WFU houses in Venice, Vienna, and London must use VPN instead of the proxy server. You must explicitly launch VPN from your Start menu.
Are you trying to connect from your place of work?
Please note that our databases are for educational, non-commercial use only.
If you are connecting to WFU databases from a corporation, hospital campus, or government office, there may be a firewall in place which prevents you from using the proxy server. Corporate sites often employ firewalls and may be highly restrictive in what their employees can access. If a corporate firewall prevents access, users will not be able to access the proxy server. Most Internet Service Providers do not limit the areas their users can access on the Internet, so home users do not tend to encounter problems with firewalls.
If the proxy server is malfunctioning?
If you’re having trouble signing in or if you can’t get access through the proxy server, please report the problem. Most problems are fixed within one business day.
Reynolda campus undergraduates and students in the Divinity School or the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences should call 336-758-4931.
MBA students should call 336-758-4126. Law students should call 336-758-4300.
Medical campus users should contact Brandy Hardy at 336-716-0078 or see these medical campus instructions for more information.
Why are the proxy server and VPN needed?
Many expensive subscription web-based services (such as databases and electronic journals) are restricted to current Wake Forest students, faculty, and staff. The proxy server and VPN are two ways to notify a subscription database that you are a legitimate Wake Forest user when you are off campus.