Remote Access Bookmarklet

The best way to access licensed electronic resources is through the links to those resources on the library website and in the catalog. If you want to use your own bookmarked URLs, it is important to use this bookmarklet, which will allow for authorized access to licensed resources for you.

You may have found a database link from a search engine such as Google or received an email from your favorite database provider in your mailbox. If the url does not contain ezproxy.library.wisc.edu it will probably not work for you.

A url that will not work:
https://www.blah.com/something…

A url that will work:
https://www.blah.com.ezproxy.library.wisc.edu/something…

By using the remote access bookmarklet you can identify yourself to the database provider as a valid UW-Madison user and gain access to licensed content. (Find out more about bookmarklets)

How to Install the Bookmarklet

• Internet Explorer
  • Right click on this link UW-Madison Libraries Proxy Bookmarklet
  • Select Add to Favorites… You may be prompted with a security alert. It is safe to click Yes to continue

• Safari and Chrome
  • Click on and drag this link to your Bookmarks bar: UW-Madison Libraries Proxy Bookmarklet
  • NOTE: Chrome on OSX currently prevents users from dragging a bookmarklet. Please use Safari until Chrome is updated. You may also copy the URL from the bookmarklet above (right-click > Copy Link Address) and edit an existing bookmark URL. See these steps from Google on how to edit a URL.

• Firefox
  • Right click on this link: UW-Madison Libraries Proxy Bookmarklet
  • Select Bookmark This Link. Alternatively, click and drag the link to your Bookmarks toolbar
  • NOTE: Firefox on OSX currently prevents users from dragging a bookmarklet. Please use Safari until Chrome is updated. You may also copy the URL from the bookmarklet above (right-click > Copy Link Address) and edit an existing bookmark URL. See these steps from Google on how to edit a URL.

How to Use the Bookmarklet

If you have a database URL in your browser that doesn’t contain ezproxy.library.wisc.edu, you can identify yourself as a valid UW-Madison user by clicking on the remote access bookmarklet in your list of bookmarks.  This will redirect you to a page where you can login with your NetID and gain access to licensed content.

Common Bookmarklet Errors

The bookmarklet will attempt to proxy any website, whether we license that content or not.  If you receive a “Remote Access Error” when you use the bookmarklet on a URL, the most common reasons  are:

1) The content is freely available and hence not proxied for off-campus use.  Don’t use the bookmarklet for this content.  If you are unsure, check the catalog or fill out the Remote Access Error form noting the title of the resource you need and we’ll let you know if we license it.

2) The content is not licensed by UW Madison.  It could be that we have the journal in question, but from a different vendor. For example UW Madison does not license anything at the site apa.org. All our American Psychological Association content is provided by EBSCO.  In this case see the UW Madison library catalog at https://search.library.wisc.edu for what we have access to.

3) (Least common) The content is licensed to UW Madison but has recently moved or otherwise is not proxied correctly.  Report this using the form on the Remote Access Error page noting what resource you are trying to access.