You Can't Get There from Here: Issues in Remote Access to Electronic Journals for a Health Sciences Library

Abstract

As many libraries have embraced electronic journals as a part of their serials collections, the issue of making these journals available to eligible patrons in remote locations can be vexing, particularly for health science libraries. For most publishers and aggregators of electronic journals, the definition of an eligible user is based upon physical point of access rather than the credentials of the individual, regardless of their location. This article will share the experience of Saint Louis University's Health Sciences Center Library, one of three campus libraries within a statewide consortium of higher education libraries, in providing access to electronic journals to a dispersed constituency. Information concerning IP filtering, proxy servers, dissemination of passwords, web certificates and others will be discussed.