my.access FAQs

If you have other my.access questions, please let us know at my.access@library.utoronto.ca.

General information about my.access

Who needs my.access?

If you are off-campus, and you want to use e-journals, indexes, e-books, and other web resources that are licensed by the University of Toronto Libraries or restricted to the UofT community then you need my.access.

This service is available to current UofT students, including pre-university and UofT school students, staff, and faculty.

UofT alumni can subscribe to a selection of 7,400 online journals, newspapers, and more from Proquest. For details, please see the Digital Library for Alumni web page.

UofT School of Continuing Studies students do not have off-campus access.

How does my.access work?

For example, if you are off-campus, and you want to access an electronic journal (or any other licensed resource from the U of T Libraries, such as an online book or index):

1. Start from any University of Toronto Libraries web page.
2. Follow the links to the journal you need.
3. Select the journal that you wish to access
4. At this point you will be asked to log in. You may choose either your UTORid and password (offering single-sign on to UTORmail, Blackboard, and other UofT web services), or your library card/Tcard barcode and pin.
5. After entering this information you will be connected to the journal you selected.

You'll be asked to log in once per browser session, the first time that you choose a link to any licensed resource. If you then use other journals, indexes, etc. you won't need to log in again, for as long as your browser remains open. 

Accounts and passwords for my.access

What is my username and password for my.access?

You may choose to use either your UTORid and password (offering single-sign on to UTORmail, Blackboard, and other UofT web services), or your library card/Tcard barcode and pin.

I have forgotten my UTORid or UTORid password. What do I do ?

For help with your UTORid, please go to the Help Desk, First Floor, Robarts Library, or call 978-HELP, or email help.desk@utoronto.ca.

I have forgotten my library card or TCard password (PIN). What do I do ?

If you do not know your PIN, or have forgotten it, you can have it emailed to you.

Please visit any library circulation desk for further help resolving any problems with your password/PIN.

How do I activate my.access?

All you need to use my.access is a valid UofT library card and PIN. For details on how to obtain a Library card please see Library Cards.

To use my.access. My.access sets a browser cookie so that you only have to log in once during each browser session. This cookie disappears when you close your browser. .

How do I exit my.access?

When you close all your open browser windows you will be automatically logged off. NOTE - you will be prompted to log in for each new browser session.

Web browsers, bookmarks, and my.access

Does any web browser work with my.access?

Yes.

Is there any conflict between my.access and firewalls?

My.access uses the web ports 80 and 88, and there is generally no conflict between my.access and firewalls.

However, if you have a firewall, and you find that after logging in successfully to my access, there are some titles you are unable to view, please check the setting on the firewall. Changing the setting from the default to "medium" may solve the access problem.

My browser can't display the my.access log in page. Why not?

The my.access log in page uses port 88. If your browser is unable to display the log in page, please check to ensure that your firewall allows your browser to display pages from this web address and port:

http://auth.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca:88/

Will my.access affect sites I have bookmarked?

If you have bookmarked e-journals, indexes, e-books, and any other licensed resources, you may need to update your bookmarks. Otherwise, your bookmark links will not work off-campus. See our url converter for help.

Does my browser have to accept cookies?

Yes, your browser must accept cookies for you to use my.access. For more information on how to set your browser click here

Email and my.access

I use my.access, and I subscribe to an email alerts service, so I receive emails that contain links journal articles. How can I access these articles from my email?

To follow links from email messages to journal articles (such as the links provided in an email alerts or current awareness service) please follow these steps:

1. Ensure that you have a UTORmail account (one that ends "@utoronto.ca").
2. Send or forward mail messages that contain links to journal articles or other licensed resources to your UTORmail account.
3. Go to my.utoronto using the following link: http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url=http://my.utoronto.ca
4. Select the webmail link and open your email message.

By using the link to my.utoronto above, you will ensure that links to journal articles within your email messages are rewritten to be usable when off-campus.

My.access for web page maintainers

I maintain a web page with links to UofT-only resources. How can I provide access for off-campus UofT users?

The EZproxy software (which provides the my.access service) will allow off-campus UofT users access to a UofT-only address if two things are true:

1. The link to the restricted page must invoke the my.access software. Do this by prefixing your restricted URL with the my.access server URL. So, if you have a link in your page to:
   

   http://some.restricted.thing

   you must change it to:
   

   http://myaccess .library.utoronto.ca/login?url=http://some.restricted.thing

   The link to the restricted resource must be absolute (starting http://); it cannot be a relative URL.

    

2. The url for the restricted resource must appear in our my.access configuration file. All ".utoronto.ca" addresses are in the configuration file, but addresses for restricted resources outside the university may not be. To ensure UofT access to a restricted resource on external web site, please send the URL for the restricted resource to my.access@library.utoronto.ca. This is not necessary for any e-journals, indexes, or other licensed resources that the library provides.

Note: only the "opening" link into your restricted resource needs to be rewritten, by prefixing it as described above. Links on subsequent pages within that restricted resource do not need to be rewritten. The my.access service checks any pages it sends out, and rewrites any links to further restricted resources within those pages, on the fly, as long as the urls for those restricted resources are in its configuration file.