When do people usually get journal access after acceptance?

[InquilineKea]

So, remote journal access is super-important to me, and I have a very nasty commute to my university (where I can log into departmental computers with journal access), so I'd much prefer to have journal access at home (also, I need access to a wide variety of journals too). Right now, I'm trying to delay graduation as much as possible just so that there won't be any "loss of journal access continuity" between undergrad and grad school. But are there any other options? When do people usually get that sort of journal access?

Technically, the next school year is a gap year for me, but I've delayed my graduation such that I'm still in UG throughout autumn.

Edited August 29, 2011 by InquilineKea

[eco_env]

I can still access my undergrad school's databases through VPN even though I graduated in May. I was supposed to get access to my grad school's library databases after registering for classes, but that didn't seem to work.

Edited August 29, 2011 by eco_env

[emmm]

I have access to my school's library databases even though classes don't start for another month.

[InquilineKea]

I can still access my undergrad school's databases through VPN even though I graduated in May. I was supposed to get access to my grad school's library databases after registering for classes, but that didn't seem to work.

Hm, what sort of VPN did you use? How were you able to use it?

I still have SSH access to departmental computers, but non-GUI programs can't download journal articles. If I try to SSH -X (which means window access), the lag becomes unbearable

[Eigen]

I've always had success just using the school's library server as a proxy. Usually instructions on how to do this on the library's website.

Note that not all journals allow remote access, nor do all schools.

[eco_env]

Hm, what sort of VPN did you use? How were you able to use it?

I still have SSH access to departmental computers, but non-GUI programs can't download journal articles. If I try to SSH -X (which means window access), the lag becomes unbearable

I'm not sure. I just followed the instructions on the library website. apparently my username and password are still active.

[InquilineKea]

Yeah - I usually use my school's library server as a proxy. I just know that I won't be able to do it once I graduate - hence the issue.

[timuralp]

Hm, what sort of VPN did you use? How were you able to use it?

I still have SSH access to departmental computers, but non-GUI programs can't download journal articles. If I try to SSH -X (which means window access), the lag becomes unbearable

A few things:

- try ssh -C for compression and see if the lag is better

- you can download stuff with wget if you know the URL (it can follow redirects)

You could also tunnel to an HTTP proxy if there is one setup at school.

Edit: Looks like the last suggestion is moot.

Edited August 29, 2011 by timuralp

[InquilineKea]

Oh wow - I didn't realize that wget follows redirects! I'll have to try that sometime.

Is there any reason not to use ssh -C? I'd think that it would be good as a default option

[runonsentence]

Assuming you have your acceptance in hand for the 2012-13 AY, I doubt you'd have library access set up earlier than the summer of 2012, if not autumn.

Other things to try: see if your current university offers alumni library access (my alma mater does). Also look into community access at public institutions and community colleges; many such schools offer limited community access to library resources and databases.

[InquilineKea]

Yeah - well - I know that i can get it after accepting it for UChicago (I asked a student there about it), and Chicago is where I'll most likely end up next year (though there are other options too)

Unfortunately, my library does not grant remote journal access to alumni, and the local libraries have zero journal access.

[timuralp]

Is there any reason not to use ssh -C? I'd think that it would be good as a default option

It's a trade-off between putting more load on the processor or more load on the network. You're probably right that since we have quite a few compute cycles that are not utilized and the network is commonly the bottleneck, it'd make sense to keep it enabled. Either way, it's not too hard to add -C

wget can do quite a few powerful things (like submitting post requests, etc). Check out the man page for it if it seems necessary.

[runonsentence]

Unfortunately, my library does not grant remote journal access to alumni, and the local libraries have zero journal access.

Even the community colleges?

[Eigen]

Does your library have a non-student card policy?

All the universities I've attended have had a policy allowing members of the community to get cards- they're more restricted than for students, but for a (usually) modest fee you can get access to the library materials and database.

Your undergraduate institution may have a similar policy that would allow you to keep using their resources.

[rising_star]

Most public universities have computers in the library that anyone can use without having a login. These computers are, in turn, on the campus network and thus allow you to have access to journal articles, which you could download to a flash drive to read and print out later.

Also, community colleges should have access to journal databases.

[InquilineKea]

Hm good idea - I'll try the community colleges out and see what I can get. There are a few community colleges that aren't a painful 1.2 hour-long commute away (like my local university)

Yeah - I'm still allowed to check books out. The only problem is that they don't allow remote access. I'll still ask them if they do allow remote access.

I just found a way to painlessly wget articles from both Nature and Science. Those were the easiest though. Anything from ScienceDirect seems much harder. Does anyone have any ideas?

As a sample article, http://www.sciencedi...ournal/00191035

Then I can use my remote access proxy into the article, and I get http://www.sciencedi...=/sdarticle.pdf

But, the issue is - how to easily get from the first URL to the second URL (seeing that I won't be able to get the second URL once I lose my remote access). There's a bunch of space in between. =/

Edited September 1, 2011 by InquilineKea

[timuralp]

I just looked it up: ssh can act as a SOCKS proxy. This is nice because you can forward all browser traffic through it and it will appear as if you're logged on from school. Here's how you can set it up on windows: http://www.techrepub...-on-windows/421

*nix/OS X is here: http://lifehacker.co...ssh-socks-proxy

Firefox, Chrome, and IE, I believe, all support using a SOCKS proxy and you can point them to localhost. Other browsers probably do too.

Edit: for more info on what it is/how it works/other options, man ssh on Linux gives a good (maybe too thorough) overview.

Edited September 1, 2011 by timuralp

[rising_star]

Does your school use VPN (virtual private network)?

[InquilineKea]

I just looked it up: ssh can act as a SOCKS proxy. This is nice because you can forward all browser traffic through it and it will appear as if you're logged on from school. Here's how you can set it up on windows: http://www.techrepub...-on-windows/421

*nix/OS X is here: http://lifehacker.co...ssh-socks-proxy

Firefox, Chrome, and IE, I believe, all support using a SOCKS proxy and you can point them to localhost. Other browsers probably do too.

Edit: for more info on what it is/how it works/other options, man ssh on Linux gives a good (maybe too thorough) overview.

Wow - very interesting! I'll have to try that out sometime. Thanks!

Does your school use VPN (virtual private network)?

I'll ask (just emailed my school's tech support)