Q. I'm having trouble connecting to an article, streaming video, or database. Is the service down, or is it just me?

Database connection problems can have many different causes. These are some common issues we see:

Communication or connection problems

1. You might see a message such as "connection is not private" or "connection timed out".
2. Clear your browser history and cache. Directions for different browsers are linked below, under "Links & Files".
   • Another quick check is to try a different browser (for example, Firefox instead of Chrome, or Chrome instead of Safari, etc.) or open an incognito browser and try again.

Login or account problems

1. Problem: the screen may ask you to log in but your k number doesn't work; or it asks you to pay for access. Our library resources will never ask you to pay for access, so you may be in the wrong place. Return to the library homepage and search for the exact article title from our Quick Search (WorldCat Discovery).
2. You may need to log in. This will be your k number and password, just like when you log in to a Kirkwood computer, Talon, or MyHub. 
3. If you enter your k number and password correctly and it still doesn't work, trying reconnecting to the library database from the library website. See our list of databases for the correct links.

Bookmarking or saved link problem

1. Bookmarking or copying a URL from a database usually does not work. It saves the link, but the link doesn't work at a later time. Here's how to solve this:
   1. When you want to link to an article, look for a button or link in the database that says "permalink", "get link", or something similar and copy that URL to save for later. If you can't find this, sometimes using the "cite" function will bring up a link that you can copy.
   2. For the following databases, after copying the link, you will also need to add a "prefix" string [https://resources.kirkwood.edu/login?url=] to the beginning of the URL:
      1. All EBSCOhost databases (Academic Search Elite, EBSCO eBooks, etc.)
      2. DSM-5 online resources
      3. JSTOR
      4. Project Muse eBooks
      5. Symptom Media Films
2. If you've already copied a bad link and now need to find the article again, copy the exact title of the article and paste it into a WorldCat Discovery search. This should link you directly to any library databases that have the article.

WorldCat "view full text" problem

1. Sometimes when you search through WorldCat, you find an article or ebook you want, but when you follow the link for full text the article or ebook isn't found. Try this:
   1. Go back to WorldCat to highlight and copy the article or ebook title. Go directly to the database where it's supposed to be (the name will be given in the WorldCat record, right next to the full text link), and search for the item directly.
   2. Or, simply use the Ask a Librarian chat and ask us to find it. We usually can!

Gale OneFile, security certificate problem, "unsafe" or "your connection is not private"

1. There is a temporary problem with linking to articles in certain Gale databases from our WorldCat Discovery general search. You can see that we have access, but when you try to follow the link for full text access it shows a warning message, saying "Your connection is not private" or similar security warning.
2. Fix: We suggest you copy and paste the title of the article you're looking for into the "Ask a librarian" chat, and we can send you the direct link for the article, bypassing this warning. The database vendor is working to correct this. 
3. Alternate fix: Look in the WorldCat record for the article, scroll down towards the bottom of the screen and note which database the article is in. Copy the title of the article, go to A-Z Databases to access the database directly, then paste in the title. Again, it should come up for you and avoid the security warning message.

Kanopy and Chromebooks

1. Chromebooks can often have problems loading certain types of online content. Kanopy streaming video is one platform we know does not play back on Chromebooks. There may be other streaming services that also don't play back on a Chromebook. Chromebook users can try downloading the Kanopy app for video playback.
2. See the link below, "Kanopy playback problems: troubleshooting guide".

For any problem:

1. Ask us! Use the Ask a Librarian chat function to get help quickly. If that isn't an option please contact us by phone or email.