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Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen
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Off-Campus Access

You are not on campus? Our licensed e-media are available to students, staff and registered guests of the University and University Medical Center Göttingen.

We provide two technical options for accessing electronic media from outside the campus network:

  • VPN (Virtual Private Network) and
  • Shibboleth (single sign-on)

Unfortunately, we cannot offer external access to members of other universities, alumni and private individuals for licensing reasons.

Eligible are

  • Students of the University of Göttingen
  • Employees of the University of Göttingen
  • Guests of the University Medical Center Göttingen and other faculties of the University of Göttingen

Switching off the HAN server

External access to e-media via the HAN server is no longer available. You may have used an outdated HAN link and were therefore redirected to this page. Please use VPN or Shibboleth to access electronic media from outside the campus network.

Access via VPN

This requires the use of the eduVPN app. This app is also available for all mobile devices. Detailed information on use and installation can be found on the GWDG website and in this brief overview.

Use your login data for the AcademicCloud account to log in. It is important that you select a profile for eduVPN that authorizes you as a member of the university (Mitarbeiter*in, Studierende, Guest of University of Göttingen). If you deactivate the slider, you can switch between your VPN profiles.

Advantages of eduVPN

  • Access to the media is as convenient as from the campus.
  • You can access a resource directly from the provider without any further login.
  • You use a secure internet connection and can also access your network drives at the university.

Access via Shibboleth

Over 150 publishing platforms can be accessed from outside the campus network via the single sign-on technology Shibboleth. The Shibboleth login can often be found directly on the publisher's website. The terms "institution", "library" or the temple icon indicate a Shibboleth login, which is to be distinguished from the personal login. The name "Georg-August Universität Göttingen" or a variant of the name must be used in the selection. Sometimes you must first select the federation (German or DFN-AAI). To log in, use your access data as specified in your AcademicCloud account and the corresponding password.

Frequently asked questions about access outside the campus network

  • Use your AcademicCloud account access data to log in to eduVPN/Shibboleth. If you have problems with your account, please contact GWDG support or studIT.
  • Please note: Only employees and students of the University of Göttingen as well as guests of the University of Göttingen can access licensed electronic media from outside the campus network.
  • Please also check in DBIS or the EZB whether the access rights for the selected electronic resource are further restricted. It is possible that access from outside the campus IP area is not permitted.
  • If you have any further questions, please contact the staff at the Information and Service Desk in the Central Library.

There are various reasons why you may not be able to use eduPVN for access:

  • If you cannot install the eduVPN app on your end device: Many publishers offer an institutional login via Shibboleth.
  • If eduVPN does not suggest a profile that matches your status, please contact the GWDG support@gwdg.de.
  • Are you a guest of the university? Your guest card has probably not yet been activated for off-campus access to e-media. To apply for or renew a guest card, you will need a GWDG guest account. You can obtain both from your institution/faculty. Only with a valid guest card and guest account you can select the guest profile in eduVPN that grants you access to electronic media.

  • Sometimes the Shibboleth login only appears when accessing the full text.
  • Unfortunately, we cannot offer Shibboleth access to all publishers. On the one hand, smaller publishers in particular often do not offer this authentication. On the other hand, we exclude some publishers for reasons of data protection, because they require the transmission of personal data for access. However, you can use these publishers' services conveniently via VPN.
  • If you do not have the option of logging in with individual publishers, experience access problems or have further questions, please contact ssoteam@sub.uni-goettingen.de

As we can now offer good alternatives with eduVPN and Shibboleth, we have discontinued the HAN service.

Please note the information on our registration page.

To obtain access authorization for e-resources, please first apply for a GWDG guest account and a guest card. Information on all the necessary steps can be found under "Guests of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen" on the Registration page.