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Online databases and electronic journals subscribed to by the College of William and Mary Libraries are restricted, by the vendors, for use by William and Mary students, faculty, and staff. To provide off-campus access for the William and Mary community, a proxy server is used. The proxy server performs two primary functions:

  1. Authenticates users as William and Mary student, staff, or faculty by requiring a login, thus ensuring compliance with vendor restrictions.
  2. Serves as an on-campus intermediary (with a valid IP address) by passing information between off-campus users and restricted online resources.

The proxy server requires no configuration on your part. No more setting up your browser, or turning the proxy connection on and off. From wherever you are on the library's website, just click on a link to an online resource. The proxy server will then determine whether your computer is on-campus or off and route you accordingly.

Once you have entered your username and password, you will be redirected to the database resource you are attempting to access.

If you have any questions or problems, you can review the documentation on the library's proxy FAQ page, or contact the Technical Support Center (TSC) at 221-HELP.

Although the proxy server is better able to work with ISPs that use proprietary versions of browsers (such as AOL or Prodigy) the proxy server MAY still have difficulty with these providers. A simple workaround is to connect to the provider, minimize your session and use your own copy of Netscape, Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer for web surfing instead of their browser. These problems are often somewhat unique to the individual and usually can be resolved on a case-by-case basis by calling the TSC.

If you have any questions about how to select and effectively search the proper database, please call the reference desk at 221-3067 or email them at sweref@wm.edu.