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Troubleshooting Tips

Question

Answer
I am experiencing difficulties logging in to OpenAthens and I am confident I have an active CWL. What should I do?

As a first step, clear your cache and cookies.  Check this guide on how to do it for different browsers.

Secondly, try an alternate browser. Note that a VPN connection will not provide access to Library resources. If neither of those options work, please contact the Library: https://ask.library.ubc.ca/
I am experiencing difficulties logging in to OpenAthens and I have an OpenAthens access account. What should I do? 

Using an OpenAthens access account, you must follow these steps, in this order:

  • Go to https://library.ubc.ca
  • At Login (top right), click on OpenAthens login
  • Click on Login to OpenAthens
  • Log into OpenAthens using your OpenAthens username/password (do not search for Institution)
  • Click on the link to the UBC Library website and start searching
  • You will remain logged in for the duration of your browser session

If you still encounter issues, follow these steps: clear all cache and cookies. Secondly, try an alternate browser. Note that a VPN connection will not provide access to Library resources. If neither of those options work, please contact the Library: https://ask.library.ubc.ca/
I am using the "General" search box on the library's home page and the results seem incomplete. What is going on? Some publishers require that users authenticate in order to view bibliographic/item data through a search tool like Summon, which powers the "General" search box on the UBC Library home page. For many searches, this will not significantly affect results, but in some subject areas many relevant results could be excluded. In general, it’s a good practice to be logged in with OpenAthens when searching using Summon. To start a new session, click “LOGIN” at the top right of any Library web page and choose “OpenAthens Login”. After searching in Summon, click on “Login to view all available results” if it appears upper right. It is important that those using OpenAthens accounts (as opposed to CWL) do both steps in this order.

OpenAthens SSO Debug

If you are experiencing technical difficulties with OpenAthens, Library staff may ask you to look up and confirm the attributes associated with your account. Please follow the instructions below. 

  1. Visit this page to access the bookmarklet. Drag the bookmarklet to your browser's favourites/bookmarks bar. Ensure you are not in private browsing mode.
  2. You must be at a login.openathens.net page to turn debug mode on or off. Go to https://login.openathens.net/auth.
  3. Enable the bookmarklet by clicking on it in your favourites bar. You should see a pop-up that says "SSO debug enabled". 
  4. If you use UBC credentials to log into OpenAthens (students, faculty, staff, most alumni), search for UBC at the right of the page under "Find Your Institution". Click on the "University of British Columbia (UBC Library)" link when it appears and sign in using your CWL. If you use an OpenAthens access account (faculty authorized users, affiliated college employees), sign in on the left using your OpenAthens account.
  5. You should land on a page that looks like the one below. In the Attributes tab, please take note of the values listed (e.g., Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Member, etc.). This is the information Library staff will request to assist with troubleshooting. You do not need to tell us your personal identifier (the long alphanumerical that is greyed out in the example below). 
  6. Debug mode will stay in effect until you turn it off. To turn it off, go to https://login.openathens.net/auth. Disable the bookmarklet by clicking on it in your favourites bar. You should see a pop-up that says "SSO debug disabled".