Although a number of journals and journal articles are available to everyone online, many essential resources are not. The Library subscribes to over 500,000 e-books and 26,000 e-journals in support of research and teaching at the University. When you use a computer connected to the campus network the book and journal providers will recognise you as a University of Bath user and allow you to access the resource. This works through an identifier on each networked computer, known as an IP address. All of the Library's electronic books, journals and databases may be accessed from anywhere, anytime, but the resource provider needs to know that you are a University of Bath user so that it will prompt you for your University of Bath username and password.
If you access our online books, journals and databases by visiting the Library Catalogue or Library webpages you will be recognised as a member of the University of Bath and asked to log in using your University username and password. Correctly entering these details will give you access to the resource.
Here are some common problems:
1. You have not been recognised as a member of the University of Bath
Have you connected via the library catalogue or webpages or via UniDesk/UniApps?
2. The library does not subscribe to the resource
Please check the library catalogue.
3. The library subscribes to the journal but access to certain volumes and issues is not available
Please check the library catalogue holdings information
4. Limited licenses
Sometimes only one person, or a few people, are permitted to access a resource at any one time. Read any error message: if this is the case it should be made clear and you can try again later.
If you encounter any problems with off-campus access to Library resources, please notify us using this form.
Please give as many details as you can, including the author/title of the resource, the web address and any error messages.
Further information on remote access is provided by DD&T:
For access to chemistry software see:
There are two options for accessing EndNote desktop:
Alternatively you may wish to use Endnote Online. The library provides guidance on using EndNote desktop and EndNote Online:
EndNote Click (formerly known as Kopernio) is a browser plug-in that can be used with Chrome, Firefox or Opera browsers. Whenever EndNote Click detects that you are viewing the details of a journal article, it will attempt to locate and deliver the PDF. You don't need to be on the campus network to use it. It stores your University of Bath username and password in your browser. You can download the browser plug-in then simply select the name of your university and enter your login details. EndNote Click works in Google Scholar, Web of Science, Scopus and PubMed as well as many academic publishers' websites.
You will need to register separately for EndNote Click (note: this is not the same as your Web of Science account). For guidance about how to sync EndNote Click with your EndNote Online or EndNote Desktop accounts please refer to:
To access the fulltext of journal articles when using Google Scholar off-campus you need to set preferences on your computer.
From the main Google Scholar search screen, simply select Settings at the top of the page, then Library links (on the left). Type “university of bath” into the search box and click the tick box for University of Bath – Full text available and then Save.
When searching use the Full text available link to connect to the article from the University of Bath library collection. You will be prompted to log in with your BUCS username and password.