Vet Med Library Information: Accessing Online Resources
Ways to access online content
A few important notes about accessing online collections:
- Access to Virginia Tech resources are determined either by being on a recognized IP range, using a VPN account that is recognized as a Virginia Tech access point, or authenticating with PID or username and password through the library's off campus sign in service (ezproxy.lib.vt.edu is in the URL).
- To access online resources remotely or when off campus, you must be affiliated with VMCVM / Virginia Tech (PID/username & password, 2-Factor)
- If you are not affiliated with the university, you are able to access online resources using an onsite computer, such as the public terminal located within the Vet Med Library (see the "location" tab for directions) or one located in the main campus library, Newman Library.
If you need help, contact us at 540-231-6610 or VetMedLib-g@vt.edu for assistance.
Ezproxy and Get VText Services
What is Ezproxy?
- Ezproxy is a service the library embeds on all of its webpages to provide seamless access to online resources. You will see "ezproxy.lib.vt.edu" in the URL to many of our resources. One way to make sure you always have access when you are offsite is to start at any University Libraries website page, such as:
- Once you access a resource, you will be asked to confirm you are affiliated with Virginia Tech (sign in with your PID/username, password, and 2-factor authentication) in order to access subscription-based content when off site.
What is Get VText?
- If the database does not provide immediate full text access to a resource you found, look for the "Get VText" icon. Click the icon to automatically search the library's holdings to locate a copy:
Setting up Get VText in Google Scholar
- If you are using Google Scholar, set up your "library links" to include Virginia Tech and the "Get VText" links will appear on the right hand side, which will grant you access to the library's online collections when you're off campus. Here is a 2 minute video on how to set that up.
Setting up a Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- You can use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) account through the university’s PulseSecure service
- Information on how to do this at https://onecampus.vt.edu/task/all/installing-pulse-vpn
- Additional FAQs on how to set up your VPN to work with our vendors is available at:https://ask.lib.vt.edu/faq/272024
Using Libkey (browser extension)
LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that assists with access to library resources. It's our replacement for LibX. The Chrome and Firefox browser extension
- provides one-click access to articles from both journal publishers and aggregators like EBSCO and ProQuest
- uses Unpaywall and other sources to open access articles
- links to ILLiad to request articles not available through our subscriptions via interlibrary loan
- uses the university's standard authentication method so no credentials are cached in your browser like some third-party tools do
Simply install the extension. During the installation process, you'll be asked to identify your library; simply search for Virginia Tech.
How to use LibKey Nomad
Publisher pages
If you use Google or Google Scholar (that has not been configured to show Get VText links) , you can be directed to publisher's pages for articles, but since you did not go through the library's links for theses services, you haven't been authenticated and you'll be asked to pay to access the article. With LibKey Nomad installed, you'll see a popup that will authenticate you to allow access.
PubMed
On PubMed search result pages, you'll see links to articles and PDFs, plus links to view all the articles in a journal issue through BrowZine.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia list of references will display links to articles and PDFs when the citation is to a scholarly source.
