Accessing LIAS From Home Or Off Campus

Penn State's Library Information Access System (LIAS) in addition to the CAT (The Libraries On-Line Catalog) contains a collection of officially licensed databases available through the Penn State network on the University Libraries Web site at http://www.lias.psu.edu. Once there, a simple click on the A to Z e-Resource list will connect users to over 430 specialized databases such as ProQuest Direct, LEXIS-NEXIS, and many other information resources covering just about every area of study and interest imaginable. Penn State faculty, students and staff can access LIAS while on campus from workstations located in the campus libraries as well as in campus computing labs. While outside the Penn State network, from home or off campus, the most common way for faculty, students and staff to connect to LIAS is through a third-party Internet Service Provider (ISP) using a cable modem, DSL, or ISDN. Some resources are free and open to the public while others are available only to the Penn State community. The latter services require authentication. By authenticating, LIAS users enter their Penn State Access Account ID and Password, when prompted, to gain access to these resources. An alternate method for accessing LIAS remotely is through Penn State's Virtual Private Network (VPN), specifically, the LIAS-VPN. When using the LIAS-VPN, off-campus users are assigned a Penn State IP address which lets them make a connection as if they were on campus. The LIAS-VPN must be used to access licensed LIAS resources, if the user authentication method is not used. To download and install the latest VPN client, go to http://downloads.its.psu.edu. Instructions for using the LIAS-VPN are outlined below. Using either of these two methods, authentication or LIAS-VPN, will ensure that remote users can still gain access to Library databases and many other Penn State Internet resources when connecting from outside of the Penn State network.

Instructions for Using LIAS-VPN:

1--Upon completing the download and installation of the VPN client, launch the VPN Client.

A new window will open listing all of the available Penn State VPN connections in alphabetical order.

2--Select LIAS-VPN and then click on the Connect button (or double click on LIAS-VPN).

3--Enter Your Penn State Access Account ID and Password at the prompt and click OK.

The VPN connection process will begin, and, when completed, a small, locked padlock icon will appear next to the LIAS-VPN entry. This indicates that the VPN connection has been established and that LIAS databases can now be accessed remotely.

4--When you have finished using LIAS, select the LIAS-VPN connection entry in your VPN client and then click on the Disconnect button. This will terminate the LIAS-VPN connection session.

Note: You will need to do steps 1-4 each time you access LIAS using the LIAS-VPN method.