Off-site Access to E-Resources

The Gottesman Research Library utilizes a proxy server that allows members of the Museum community to access almost all its electronic resources from off-site.

To utilize the proxy server, follow these steps:

1. From a catalog search or from Databases on the Gottesman Research Library's homepage, search for or select the resource (eBook, e-journal, database, or article) you want to access.
2. If it is a free resource, you will be able to click on it for direct access. If you click on a licensed resource, you may first encounter a window asking if you want to accept the site's security certificate. Click on selections to accept the certificate and make the acceptance permanent -- by making the acceptance permanent you will avoid this step in the future. The exact procedure for accepting the certificate will vary depending on the operating system (Mac, Windows, etc.) and browser you are using (Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.).
3. Next you will see a screen prompting you to enter your user name and password from your Museum email account. Do not enter your entire email address, just the part that comes before the @ symbol (so leave off: @amnh.org). Also, do not enter an alias user name. Once you have entered the appropriate user name and password, click “submit query.”
4. Depending on your browser, you may see a “Security Alert,” “Security Information,” or “Security Warning” window. Click “Continue” or “OK”. You should now have access to the resource.

EZProxy Bookmarklet

Follow the steps below to install our EZProxy bookmarklet for easy full-text access to our licensed material found via non-Library sites, such as Google Scholar:

1. Create a bookmark to add to your browser's "favorites" toolbar.
2. Select the bookmark and edit the Name and URL as follows:
   NAME: "AMNH Library Proxy"
   URL: javascript:void(location="https://libraryproxy.amnh.org/login?url="+location)
   Please note: The bookmarklet is compatible with most web browsers and platforms, as long as your bookmarks or favorites allow javascript.
3. After that, any time you are off-site and on a page for an article you want to get, click "AMNH Library Proxy" from your favorites bar to see if you can get it. The bookmarklet will first take you to our Proxy login screen.  If the bookmarklet doesn't work for a particular article, it likely means either we don't subscribe or you might be trying to access the journal from a different source than a Museum subscription. In those cases, to be certain we don't subscribe, you'll need to look up the journal title on our e-journal page. 

Need More Help?

If you encounter any difficulties or have any questions about the proxy server,  the Reference staff will be happy to walk you through it. Please email [email protected].

Usage Restrictions for Licensed and/or Copyrighted Materials

Use of licensed electronic resources is governed by agreements that impose certain restrictions. Usage is restricted to 1) Museum staff members, and 2) members of the public using workstations located in the Gottesman Research Library.

These resources are also restricted to individual, non-commercial use only; any systematic downloading, distributing, or retaining substantial portions of information is prohibited. Also prohibited is the electronic transfer of documents. Users of full-text resources may not print multiple copies of any article (or entire journal issues).

Off-site Access Policies

Off-site access to licensed resources is restricted to members of the American Museum of Natural History community and is authenticated by the user's email login and password. According to the AMNH Acceptable Use of Computing Resources Policy (on the Museum's intranet), "sharing passwords is not permitted" and is considered unacceptable use of a Museum email account; thus, users may not share password information with others to enable access to the Gottesman Research Library's resources. Failure to comply with this policy jeopardizes our subscriptions to licensed resources, and may result in the termination of the user's Museum email account.

It is the responsibility of each user to insure that he or she complies with these usage guidelines.