Trent Library Glossary

Restricted Access and Authentication

Not everything that is online is free. Many online resources only provide access to people or institutions which have paid for them. These sites restrict access by authentication, where a user is asked to provide proof that s/he has the legal right to access it. At Trent, this is done through our proxy server.

Sites with restricted access are only available to CURRENT Trent students, staff, and faculty.

When we click on a link to a restricted site, we are routed through the proxy server which asks us for our username and password. When we enter the correct u/p for our Trent Novell account, we are passed through the proxy server to the site. The site recognizes our proxy server and accepts us as a legal user.

For further information, see the How do I get access from home? help page.

Close this window.