Frequently asked questions - online resources

If your OU password isn't working, please follow the guidance in the Passwords and troubleshooting page.

You might be accessing an older, stored version of the page. Please try clearing your browser’s cookies and cache.

If a page appears asking you to log in with an OpenAthens username and password, please follow our OpenAthens guidance.

Follow these steps to see if you can access it through your Open University login. 

1. Go to Library Search and Login 
2. Check you are logged in correctly, and search for the article. Your name should appear in the top right corner if you are logged in. 
3. If the article is found, follow the links presented.

Please contact the Library’s Helpdesk if you think your login doesn’t grant you access to Library Search and our resources but allows you access to other OU websites.

You can use a Library tool we have developed to add a bookmarklet to your browser favourites bar. This will allow you to access content directly without having to login everytime you visit academic articles, journals and databases licensed by The Open University Library.

Please ensure you’re signed in. On the top right corner, ensure your name is displayed. If it says “Sign in”, please click on this and you’ll be prompted to log in.

Sometimes an article you have found in Library Search may not take you to its full-text. It may be taking you to the journal homepage or even give you an error message. If this happens, there are a couple of ways to check if you can access it. 

1. Try searching for the article title in the search field of the journal homepage. 
2. Search for the Journal title via the Journal Search tab above the search box in Library Search. Ensure that the available dates cover the issue of the article you’re trying to access. (The dates can be found under the View Online section)
3. When you are on the publisher's platform, navigate to the particular volume/issue number and search for the page number(s) or title of the article.
4. If you still can’t find or access the article, please contact the library helpdesk.

If you didn’t save the permalink and you have only kept the URL, it’s very likely the resource will not open. Try to locate the AN number found in the url you have. For example:

You have kept the following URL and no other details. https://web-p-ebscohost-com.libezproxy.open.ac.uk/ehost/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=0ee8d424-56ec-4401-9048-600089c472bf%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#AN=110516782&db=a9h

1. Locate the AN number towards the end of the URL, in this case it’s AN=110516782 .
2. Go to the Ebsco database, click on the option Choose Databases, then tick the box Select all and then OK.
3. In the first search box type the AN number (in this instance AN 110516782; AN space and then the number).
4. Hit Search. The result you get should be the title you had tried to save in the first place.

The first time you use Westlaw, you will be prompted to create an account with One Pass. Once you have created an account you can access Westlaw via Library Search or the Databases list and login as normal with your OUCU and password.

Please note that the Safari browser may ask you for a registration key when you try to create a One pass account. Please try opening Westlaw UK in Google Chrome instead.