Do Research Remotely

Start your research from the Library homepage

When you're off-campus, make sure to start your research at the Library website. This means that you will be recognized as an Amherst user and asked for your Amherst username and password. You should start from Discover, research guides, or our list of databases instead of using Google.

If you go directly to jstor.org, for example, it won't recognize you as an Amherst user.

Who can access library resources from off-campus?
Off-campus access is available to all current Amherst College students, faculty, and staff, plus Five College students currently enrolled in courses at Amherst.

What if I see a paywall, or a page that says I don't have access?

If you don't see it in the URL, try adding the prefix https://amherst.idm.oclc.org/login?url= to the address of any online journal or database to which the library subscribes if you got to it via a bookmark in your browser or without navigating through the library website.

Ask us if you have problems!

When using Discover, remember to log in so you see full access and not just the Guest view. Click on the Welcome, Guest banner at the top to log in.

Limiting to Online Materials

You can limit results using the left menu to Full Text (Digital). Most databases will have an option like this in Advanced Search or as a filter for the result list.

In your results, look for Full Text icons or the Check for Full Text button to find paths to the full text.

For a demonstration, watch this short video on how to limit to online content in our databases.

You'll also want to make sure you have the stable, permanent link for any item to be able to get back to it again. Look for Permalink in the record or in the Tools menu. You can also save your entire search, to be able to get back to your result list in that particular database with your search terms. In Discover and Ebsco databases, that link is in the Share dropdown at the top right.

In ProQuest databases, it's under Save Search/Alert: