Using a Browser Bookmark

When not on a campus computer or using an MWireless or MWireless-UMHS network connection, you can use our proxy server bookmarklet to check for a library subscription to specific content.

What to expect

After adding the bookmark, you can select it when you're on a web page that's asking you to pay for access to content. The bookmarklet refreshes the page and checks to see if we have a subscription.

Add the bookmarklet to your browser

The bookmarklet is a line of code behind this Check for Library Access link that you need to add as a browser bookmark.

The steps to add a link as a bookmark vary between browsers, but you usually need to either:

  • Select and drag the link into your bookmarks bar, or
  • Right click on the link and use the option to add a bookmark, or
  • Find the option to add a bookmark manually, copy the link address and paste it in as the new bookmark’s URL or destination. Name it Check for Library Access, or whatever is meaningful to you.

If you're using a mobile browser, you will likely need to copy the link, bookmark this page, edit that bookmark, and paste in the copied URL.

Use the bookmarklet

The next time you find yourself being asked to purchase access to an article, select the bookmark!

If we have a subscription, you’ll be prompted to log in with your U-M credentials for immediate access.

Otherwise, the page will either refresh without any changes or display a "Proxy Server Problem" page. Both cases most likely mean we don't have a subscription. You can search for the item using Library Search to be sure.