Imagine being able to turn on your computer at home and begin searching for the full text of magazine and journal articles from thousands of sources.  Imagine being able to request a book from your library’s interlibrary loan service with a click of the mouse. Imagine searching resources such as the Encyclopedia Britannica or the American Psychological Association’s PsycInfo database as a service of your library -- even when the library is closed. Members of the Central Connecticut State University community may immediately begin using the CCSU Library’s electronic databases, catalogs, and specialized resources from their own homes, or from anywhere they have access to the Internet using a World Wide Web browser such as “Netscape Navigator 3.0” (4.0 is recommended) or “Microsoft Internet Explorer”. 

If you are connected to the World Wide Web through a service provider such as SNET or AOL, and you are faculty, student, or staff at CCSU, you have “remote” access to numerous databases.  “Remote Access” became available  during the late spring.  As a result, just about any electronic resource available in the Library is now accessible from locations outside the CCSU campus.  The most conspicuous exceptions are the CD-ROM databases offered by the Library; these are only searchable in the Library’s Reference Department (3rd floor).  Among the resources available from outside the campus are LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe, “Business Source Elite” (full text bibliographic database), BIOSIS, Sociofile, Communication Abstracts, Medline, PsycInfo, ERIC, CONSULS (the CSU Library catalog), “Academic Elite” (full text general journal/magazine database), FirstSearch, full text journals from Johns Hopkins University (Project Muse), the MLA (Modern Language Association) Bibliography, and Biography and Genealogy Master Index.

To access the resources from off-campus, follow these steps:

1) Using a private Internet account and a World Wide Web browser, connect to the CCSU Library’s Home Page. The URL, or address of the Home Page is http://library.ccsu.ctstateu.edu/lib
2) Click the link called “Access to Electronic Resources”. At the top of the Electronic Resources Pages, click the first link called “Off-Campus Access Page”
3) After you have chosen a resource to use, you will need to complete a form to gain access. The form requires your name,  your social security number entered without dashes, and a PIN (personal identification number). Please note, the first time you use the service, you will be creating your own PIN, and you will be asked to provide that same PIN in the future when you try to access the resources.
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