EZProxy Frequently Asked Questions
How do I access databases off-campus?
- Currently enrolled Northwest Missouri State University students, faculty,
and staff can access B. D. Owens Library's electronic resources using a
valid Northwest Network ID (your NWMSU email ID without "@nwmissouri.edu") and
myNorthwest password to authenticate it.
- If it says that your password is not correct, see if you can login myNorthwest first. If you cannot login myNorthwest, please email Help Desk or call at (660) 562-1634.
- If you're accessing Owens Library web pages on campus, you don't need EZproxy and will not be asked to enter an ID and password. However, when you come to B.D. Owens Library web pages from off campus and click a link to a restricted resource, you will be redirected to a login page asking for your ID and password. Follow the instructions on the page. If you cannot pass this login page, please contact the Client Computing Information Systems Helpdesk at (660) 562-1634 to troubleshoot problems with your ID and password.
What is EZproxy?
- EZproxy provides off-campus users easy access to the B.D. Owens Library electronic resources.
- It works independently
from operating systems and browsers (except in the case of AOL).
Therefore, off-campus users with Apple computers or Firefox can
now access library electronic resources without switching computers
or browsers.
I got the "The user name or password was not correct" error
- This often means that your password was expired or you typed an incorrect password. The first step of troubleshooting this is to try myNorthwest to see if you can login successfully.
- When you cannot log into myNorthwest either, please call Help Desk at (660) 562-1634 to reset your password.
- If your password has been expired, you need to change the password following the instructions. Read this page for detailed information.
- If you can successfully login and do not see any message from the myNorthwest, but you still cannot log into EZproxy to search library databases or read linked articles, please check if you have any credential- or password- management software on your machine. Northwest provided laptops have this software. The credential software will not automatically update the password for EZproxy even if you have updated one for the campus login. You need to type in a new password at the EZproxy login page in order to apply the changes on your machine.
I logged in to EZproxy but nothing seems to happen.
- Please check these four settings in your browser:
- Popup blocker:
Disable pop-up blockers while you are accessing the restricted databases through EZproxy.
- Firewall:
If you see "this page cannot be displayed," it
usually means a firewall issue on your side. If you have installed personal
firewall software such as Norton Antivirus. You either need to allow access to ezproxy.nwmissouri.edu (or 198.209.246.37) per port or add ezproxy.nwmissouri.edu as a safe site.
- Cookies: Check Cookies
EZproxy and some databases send "cookies" when you connect to them to verify that you are an authorized user. If your browser reports an error receiving a "cookie," you have to enable them in your browser settings.
The default setting for most browsers will accept EZproxy cookies
without a problem. However, if you changed it, you will
see a blank page. Change browser options to accept all cookies.
- JavaScript: Check JavaScript
Again, the default setting for most browsers will work well with EZproxy's JavaScript. However, if you changed it, you will need to enable it again in order to access the library databases.
I use my laptop on campus and see the "this page cannot be displayed" message everytime I try to access library databases
- It is because the public wireless network (NWMSU_Guest) on campus does not allow unauthorized ports. In order to resolve this, please follow one of these recommendations:
- Use the NWMSU_Secure wireless network instead of the NWMSU_Guest wireless network. All University provided laptops are capable of this setting. If a laptop is personally owned by current students, faculty, and staff, one can request to register the laptop at Client Computing Information Systems Helpdesk at (660) 562-1634 to access the NWMSU_Secure wireless network.
- Quick remedy to this is to remove the EZproxy string in front of the URL manually. In the address bar, delete the "http://ezproxy.nwmissouri.edu:2048/login?url=" portion from the URL.
- Use a network cable and plug it in a network jack nearby. You can check out a cable from the Library Services Desk on the 1st floor of the library.
I can use it at home, but not at work.
- Many corporate, government, and educational institutions use firewalls
for security purposes and block every port other than standard
web browser ports. You need to discuss EZproxy with your network
administrator, asking her/him to enable it.
I got a hostname error.
- This means you tried to access a database or web site that has not been
configured through EZproxy. The database
company may have changed their web address or it may not be a web
site that requires EZproxy. Please send Help Desk
an email that includes the error message.
"Page not found," "Cannot find server or DNS," or browser waits and waits.
- This usually means there is an issue in the Northwest Missouri State University
Campus Network. Please send Help Desk an email that includes the error message
Persistent Article URL (Bookmark and Favorites) does not work with EZproxy.
- If you want to access to the article directly from off campus, please add this string http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/ipchecking.asp? (including the question mark) in front of the URL for the article. For example, if the URL is http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1217862.1217864 and you want to access the article from off campus, your URL should be http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/ipchecking.asp?http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1217862.1217864
- Or, you can use our Article Link Generator to generate URLs for you.
Article Link Generator
- The Article Link Generator will generate URLs for off-campus access to articles in Owens Library Subscription Database.
What is Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and how can locate a full-text article using it?
- Read this page to know more about Digital Object Identifier (DOI). You can access full-text articles from off-campus using DOI if you use our Article Link Generator.
