Access to electronic material

As a student or employee at KTH you have automatic access to electronic material via the library.

Other users are welcome to visit our libraries where we have guest computers and guest accounts for wifi that you can use for a limited time to access our electronic material.

Access electronic resources off campus

As long as you are working at a computer connected to KTH's network, you will access the library's subscribed resources automatically since you have an IP number that belongs to KTH.

If you are outside KTH's network, you will need to log in via the library's proxy server to access electronic material. This happens completely automatically when you search for resources through the library's web pages and search service: you are automatically redirected for logging in and access to e-resources. To access e-resources, you must be registered as a student or employee at KTH.

Below are some additional tips for you who work and study from outside KTH's network.

Problem accessing electronic material?

If you are experiencing problems accessing electronic materials we ask you to report the problem to us so that we can investigate and find a solution. Please describe the problem as detailed as possible and write if you were on campus or elsewhere when you tried to access the resource. If you received an error message it’s helpful if you can send us a screenshot.

Report an access problem

Lean Library Access browser Extension

Lean Library Access is a plug-in for your browser that helps you find and access the library's subscribed e-resources. This extension is especially useful if you are off Campus.

Bookmarklet

Drag and drop this KTHB proxy link to your bookmark toolbar or right click and save it as a bookmark. Once you have done this, you can use the bookmarklet to reload a page through the proxy server and get access to the material (given that it is a resource that the library subscribes to).

Log in with KTH ID

For some resources it is possible to log in directly with your KTH account. You can often find such login under headings like "Sign in via your institution". You then select KTH in the list and get redirected to KTH's login service.

VPN

If you are connected to KTH's network via VPN (Virtual Private Network) you will in many cases be able to access subscribed e-resources. However, if you have problems with a certain resource via VPN then please try one of the methods above.

Licensing Terms for e-resources

The KTH library contracts with a variety of vendors and publishers to provide access to electronic resources. The license agreements stipulate how and by whom they may be used and these terms and conditions must be adhered to. If license terms are violated resource providers may temporarily, or permanently, suspend our access.

The list below provides you with some examples of what is usually accepted/not accepted usage, but some licenses may contain additional terms. Users are encouraged to look for the "Terms of use" for the specific resource/web page for more information. In the library's search tool and linking service there is often an information icon beside the link to the resource. Hover your cursor over it to get a summary of what applies to that particular resource.

Generally acceptable usage

Making limited print or electronic copies
Use for the purpose of research, teaching or private study
Sharing with KTH faculty, staff and students
Posting links to specific content

Generally not acceptable usage

Systematic or substantial printing, copying or downloading
Using for commercial purposes or re-publishing, re-distributing or altering content
Sharing with anyone other than KTH faculty, staff and students
Posting actual content or articles to web sites, list serves etc.

Tools to identify freely available articles

The following tools may come in handy if you are looking for a specific article but can’t get hold of the published version, with these tools you can find open access articles.

Unpaywall is an extension to the web browser Mozilla Firefox. When it is installed an icon will show up in green colour at the right hand side of your browser if there is a free version available. This icon will otherwise be gray. Clicking on the green icon will take you to the free version. Unpaywall is a service run by Impactstory , a nonprofit dedicated to making scholarly research more open, accessible and reusable.

Open Access Button is an extension to the web browser Mozilla Firefox where you can check whether there is a free version available for a specific article. You can also enter your email address and Open Access Button will send the author(s) a request to open up the article in a legal way. Open Access Button is supported by SPARC (Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition).

Kopernio is an extension to the web browsers Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera. This extension will identify free versions of articles, as well as check if you have access to the materials through a subscription held by your library. You can enter your user credentials for the KTH proxy server and this information will be stored within the extension for future access. Kopernio is owned by Clarivate Analytics, the same company that produces the database Web of Science and the reference manager EndNote.

Lazy Scholar is an extension to the web browsers Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Apart from identifying Open Access versions of published articles, Lazy Scholar also displays the journal rank according to CiteScore (Scopus) and altmetric scores from Altmetric.com. Lazy Scholar is a personal project by the PhD student Colby Vorland at Purdue University, US.