The Health Sciences Library (HSL) manages online access to over 17,000 eBooks, over 6,700 eJournals and over 100 databases. Library staff work hard to make access to these online resources as seamless as possible. However, we would like you to be aware of the most common problems and how to report them so they can be resolved as quickly as possible.   

Most library subscriptions renew on the calendar year, so there are often problems at the beginning of each year as publishers update their systems. HSL subscriptions are set up using IP addresses, so you should automatically be recognized as part of Ohio State when your computer or mobile device is connected to eduroam or OSUWMC on-campus networks. You will also be recognized when signed in to the HSL’s off-campus access system. Unless you have set up an optional personal account available for some subscriptions, you should not need to login directly through a publisher website for access to library-provided resources.   

If you are prompted to log in or have trouble accessing these resources in other ways, you can contact library staff for help by calling the Public Services Desk at 614-292-4861, emailing ejournals@osumc.edu, or submitting an eResources Problem Form.  

Once the report is received by Resource Management staff, they will troubleshoot the problem by trying to reproduce the error, from both on and off campus, and try to determine the cause of the problem. They will follow up with any questions to troubleshoot further and contact the publisher or vendor if necessary and update the Library Catalog or other access links to reinstate seamless access to the resource. While reporting problems, please provide as much detail as possible to help streamline the troubleshooting process.  This includes citation information that produced the error, if you are you on or off campus, which browser is being used, how you got to the resource, and a screenshot of the error.

Some of the most frequent issues are not being logged in correctly for Off Campus Access, or going directly to a journal website rather than finding the link to the library subscription using the Library Catalog. This can lead to prompts for individual purchases or user logins that won’t work for HSL provided resources.   

When accessing PubMed, it is important to use the Ohio State PubMed link that is also on our homepage. This link will provide a “Find It! @ OSU” button on every article abstract page, which conveniently checks Ohio State subscription access and provides direct links from within PubMed.  

HSL staff are often unaware of problems with access to these resources until they are reported, so please report any issues you come across to help us provide more seamless access for everyone at Ohio State.