Cambridge University Library

To view eresources in your subject area:

• Go to the eresources@cambridge home page
• Choose a subject area from the drop-down menu headed: 'Find by subject'
• A new page will appear. A full list of databases covering your area appears at the bottom

Many of the eresources available to Cambridge users are licensed resources; paid for, managed and maintained by library staff. The terms of the subscription often state that they are generally only available to active students, faculty and staff of the University.

As such, access is limited to computers within the Cambridge domain, or to those with a current Raven username and password.

Off campus access to most resources is now mainly controlled via Raven username and password. The computer service is also offering a VPDN ( Virtual Private Dial-up Network) service which will also allow off campus access. See our Raven FAQ for more information.

Some publishers have not yet configured their systems to allow users to log in directly via Raven (Shibboleth). To overcome this problem Cambridge users are routed through a local server (Ezproxy) which allows them to log in with Raven passwords and appear as though they are on campus. For access to these resources users must use the links in ejournals@cambridge or eresources@cambridge or the Newton catalogues, as appropriate. It is not possible to Google the title and connect directly.

Some PC's on Cambridge are using private IP addresses. This means that they do not have a Cambridge domain IP, but instead need to be on a section of the network that is configured to appear externally as part of the Cambridge domain.

Use the IP address checker to determine your PC's IP address and see if it is private. If needs be, contact your local computer officer for assistance

The ejournals@cambridge citation search is the best means to locate full text when you already have a specific citation or DOI:

• Go to the eresources@cambridge home page
• Click on the ejournals tab
• Click on the advanced ejournal search link
• Fill in as many details as you can - the form does not need to be complete. If in doubt about the authors name, leave it out
• Fill in as much date information as you have. Volume and year are more important than page numbers
• Use an ISSN where possible
• Enter a DOI (digital object identifier) into the box at the bottom
• Click on the large purple go button

Crossearch is a good means to start literature searches:

• Go to any eresources@Cambridge subject page
• Enter a search term
• Select a search type (Keyword, Title, Author)
• Click on the search button
• If you are off campus, you will prompted for a Raven username and password
• Your results will be displayed. The page may take some time to fetch results from multiple electronic resources
• As you identify eresources that cover the subject areas you are interested in, you should try to make use of their native interfaces where possible. They provide more options and flexibility than either CrossSearch or google Scholar
• View the CrossSearch help for more details on literature searching
• Staff in subject libraries can also provide assistance with literature searching in resources for a specific area

• Where training guides are available, they will be linked to beside each resource as it is listed on the subject page
• The University Library also runs a Research skills programme, with course information available online