Off-Campus Access Troubleshooting

Off-Campus Access Troubleshooting Instructions

The library offers a wide range of resources that are available off campus for Ramapo-affiliated users. This access is granted through a proxy system that works with your Ramapo email username and Ramapo email password. If you are having trouble accessing our resources from off campus, the information on this page should help.

Off Campus Access Problems

Do any of these scenerios apply to you?

  1. Do you have a firewall, antivirus software, or browser security settings that might be blocking your access?  If you’re not sure, you can contact the Help Desk.
  2. Are you logged into a VPN client?  If you are, log out of it and try accessing our databases again.
  3. Are you at work or using a work-issued computer?  Some employers have network restrictions that prevent some internet activity.  Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do, but your company IT department might be able to assist you.
  4. Have you cleared your browser history, cache, and/or cookies?  Sometimes, clearing these items from your browser is useful in resolving connection problems.  If you need assistance, our clear browser history page could help. You can also consult the help screen from your browser or contact the Help Desk.
  5. Have you tried using another browser? Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and other browsers behave differently sometimes.  If you have more than one browser installed on your computer, switching to another browser might provide a temporary solution to access issues.
  6. Do you have access to another computer? If you have easy access to another computer or a mobile device, this could help you determine if the issue is localized to a specific machine.
  7. Have you tried moving to a different internet connection?  If you think that the internet access at your current location (a cafe, hotel, etc.) is the problem, you could try going to another location or switching to another wireless access point.
  8. Are you using the correct link?  You should always access our databases through our website.  If you are off campus, any link that doesn’t have our proxy prefix in front of it won’t properly authenticate.

Account Access Problems

When you attempt to log into our databases from off campus, you might see an error message on the login screen saying that your username or password are incorrect.

This could be caused by one of several issues:

– Be sure that you spelled your username and password correctly, and that your caps lock is off

– Your username should not include @ramapo.edu.

– Off campus access to library resources is for current students, faculty (including emeriti), and staff only. Alumni do not have off campus access.

“Journal Finder” page

Getting to a journal or article through the “Journals” page will always route you through our proxy server. This search works best when you enter either a journal title (only), or a International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

Proxy Prefix

Another way to get your browser to route you through the library proxy server (while off-campus) is to add this “proxy prefix” in front of the URL: https://library2.ramapo.edu:2443/login=

For example, if the URL of an article is:
   http://www.jstor.org/stable/3056806

Then you can edit the URL to look like this:
   https://library2.ramapo.edu:2443/login=http://www.jstor.org/stable/3056806

This new URL will prompt off-campus users to login with their Ramapo username and password, and then give them the same access as they would have on campus.

NOTE: If you are still having technical problems obtaining access, please contact the Ramapo College Help Desk at ext. 7777 or at helpdesk@ramapo.edu.