Library > Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

If you are experiencing any issues with Library systems or accessing resources, the information here may be able to help.

Search the known issues to see if what you're experiencing is listed. If it is not listed or the solution provided does not resolve your issue, report it to the Library.

You can filter by keyword and/or category.

Known issues

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Library collections

These issues relate to accessing your Library account and online resources.

If you are trying to use the Library Collections Search but only get a blank page, try the steps outlined to resolve the issue.

  • You should clear your browser cookies and cache before trying to access the page again.

  • Try accessing the page in a different web browser (e.g. Edge or Chrome) or in an incognito/private browser window.

If you have completed these steps but still get a blank page, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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Usually, if you cannot login to My Account, it is because you are using the wrong username and/or password.

Follow the steps below to resolve this issue.

If you have completed these steps but still cannot log in, please report your issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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When you are trying to view an online Library resource (e.g. via the Library Collections Search or a course reading list), you may be asked to log in via the following form.

The authentication form to access Library resources

If you are unable to log in, try the following steps.

  • If you are not a current La Trobe student or staff member, make sure the checkbox confirming that is selected.

    If you are a current La Trobe student or staff member, make sure that checkbox is not selected.

  • Select the 'Unsure of your username/ID?' link and check that you are using the correct format for your username.

  • Select the 'Forgot password?' link to see what password you should be using. If you cannot remember your password, select the appropriate link to reset it.

  • There is a known issue where the login to databases expires and will not work despite your login working elsewhere. In this instance, you will need to reset your password.
    Note: La Trobe students/staff will need to reset your La Trobe password, whereas other patrons will need to reset your Library password.

If you have completed these steps but still cannot access the online resource, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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The process of logging in to the ClinicalKey website can be a bit confusing. If you are experiencing issues, try the following steps.

  • If you have not previously registered with ClinicalKey, you will need to register to create an account.
    Note: Use your La Trobe email address (e.g. 123456@students.latrobe.edu.au) when registering.

  • If you had registered with ClinicalKey while on La Trobe's network (e.g. on-site at a campus), then connect to the University's VPN and then try logging in again.

  • If the login page is not showing a green bar under the header saying 'Welcome! We recognize your network - La Trobe University', then you will need to identify your institution as La Trobe before logging in.

    To do this:

    1. Select 'Log in via your institution', which is listed under 'More options'.
    2. Type 'La Trobe' in the search field and then select 'La Trobe University'.

  • If none of the previous steps have resolved the issue and you have a ClinicalKey account, we recommend chatting directly with them to troubleshoot any queries relating to your account.

    A 'Live chat' option is available in the bottom-right corner of the ClinicalKey login page.

If you are still unable to log in to ClinicalKey, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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SciVal requires you to register individually before you can access it.

Create an account using your La Trobe email address (e.g. 12345678@students.latrobe.edu.au) and then log in with the details that you registered with.

Note: Do not use the 'Sign in via your organization' option as this will not work. You must sign in using your email address and password.

If you have created an account but are still unable to log in to SciVal, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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To sign in to SciVal or Scopus, you should use the email address and password that you registered to their site with. If you are off campus, you will need to use the VPN or one of these links to SciVal or Scopus (to access the site via the Library Collections).

Do not select the option to 'Sign in via your organization', as that will lead to a loop or an error message like the following:

La Trobe University - Stale Request

You may be seeing this page because you used the Back button while browsing a secure web site or application. Alternatively, you may have mistakenly bookmarked the web login form instead of the actual web site you wanted to bookmark or used a link created by somebody else who made the same mistake.

Left unchecked, this can cause errors on some browsers or result in you returning to the web site you tried to leave, so this page is presented instead.

Please completely close and re-open your browser if this problem persists.

If you have created an account but are still unable to sign in to SciVal or Scopus, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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The first time you sign in to Westlaw, you may need to set up the La Trobe single sign-on. Every time after that, you should be signed in automatically.

To set up the single sign-on, complete the following steps.

  • Go to Westlaw via either the Help Guide for Law or the database entry in the Library Collections Search.

  • On the login page, select 'Access with single sign-on'.

  • In the 'Organisation email or group ID' field, enter your La Trobe email address.
    Note: This should be in the format '12345678@students.latrobe.edu.au' or 'j.bloggs@latrobe.edu.au'.

    Select the checkboxes for 'Remember email/group ID' and 'Always use single sign-on' and then select 'Continue'.

  • You will then see the La Trobe sign in, where you enter your La Trobe username and password.
    Note: Your username should be in the format '12345678@students.ltu.edu.au' or 'jbloggs@ltu.edu.au'.

  • You should now be signed into Westlaw with your own La Trobe account.

If you are still unable to sign into Westlaw, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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If you are trying to access a resource on Ebook Central via the Library Collections Search and get an error saying 'Unfortunately, this link doesn't seem to be working', please follow these steps:

  • Access the Ebook Central database in the Library collections and select one of the links in its 'View it' section.

  • Search for the resource on the Ebook Central site.

  • Please let the Library know of this error so that we can fix the issue. Do this by reporting the problem to the Library (including the resource title and the URL that produced the error message).
    Note: If you were able to access the resource through Ebook Central, please let us know when reporting the issue.

If you were unable to access the resource on Ebook Central, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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If you are trying to access a resource on Standards Online (Intertek Inform) and are getting an error, please refer to the following steps.

  • There is a limit on concurrent users (i.e. the number of users accessing resources at any one time) on the Standards Online site, so try accessing the resource at a later time.
    Note: When you finish with a resource (or have downloaded it), log out from Standards Online to free up access for another user.

  • If you try to open a PDF and are getting an error (e.g. 'Failed to load PDF document'), this is because PDFs from Standards Online are encrypted and can only be opened in a PDF viewer (not in a web browser).

    Download the PDF file and open it in a PDF viewer (e.g. Acrobat Reader).
    Note: When opening the encrypted file, you will see a security warning saying the document is trying to connect to 'doc.drm.saiglobal.com'. Select 'Allow' to approve the connection and view the document. For more information, view Intertek Inform's Digital Rights Management.

If you are still experiencing issues accessing resources on Standards Online, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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If you are unable to view a resource and get one of the following error messages, try the steps outlined to resolve the issue.

Error messages:

  • Bad request
  • Request header fields too large
  • Request header field exceeds server limit
  • You may have logged in too many times in your session
  • Error 400 or 431

If you have completed these steps but still get the error message, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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If you are accessing Library resources and are repeatedly being asked to complete a CAPTCHA (i.e. a test) to verify that you are human, you should connect to La Trobe University's VPN.

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The Library membership that you had as a La Trobe student or staff member does not continue once you leave the University. You will need to request La Trobe University Alumni membership.

View La Trobe University Alumni membership information

If you have a La Trobe University Alumni membership and Library card but still cannot borrow resources, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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Some resources are restricted to current La Trobe students and staff only (often eBooks fall in this category). These restrictions are set by the publishers of the database or online resource (not by the Library).

As a La Trobe University Alumni, you have free access to a limited range of online databases for non-commercial/personal use only.

More online resources can be accessed on a guest computer at our Melbourne (Bundoora), Bendigo and Albury-Wodonga campus libraries, as the database/resource will identify that you are using a Library computer to access the material.

You may also find our Open Educational resources and guide to Open Access sources helpful.

If you believe that a specific resource should be available to La Trobe University Alumni but you cannot access it, please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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Library facilities

These issues relate to facilities within the Library building.

If you are unable to access the eduroam network, please try the following steps.

  • Check that you are using the correct login details provided by your university.
    Note: For La Trobe students, your username should be in the format '123456@students.ltu.edu.au'. For La Trobe staff, your username should be in the format 'jsmith@ltu.edu.au'.

If you have completed these steps but still cannot access the eduroam network, please contact the Library for assistance.

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You will need a MyPrint account in order to print, photocopy or scan in the Library. La Trobe students and staff are automatically set up with an account.

Note: If you're not using a Library computer, you will need to be connected to the Library's network or have a valid University Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to access MyPrint.

If you are unable to log in to a printer, try the following steps.

  • If you are a La Trobe student or staff member, log in using your La Trobe credentials.
    Note: Your username should be in the format '123456@students.ltu.edu.au' or 'jsmith@ltu.edu.au'.

  • If you are not a La Trobe student or staff member, create an account on MyPrint and then use the username/password you registered with to log in to a printer.

If you are still having problems logging in to a printer, please contact the Library for assistance.

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You can check your printing balance and review/cancel your print jobs in MyPrint. In order to use the Library printers and photocopiers, you will need sufficient credit in your MyPrint account.

Note: If you're not using a Library computer, you will need to be connected to the Library's network or have a valid University Virtual Private Network (VPN) connection to access MyPrint.

Top up your MyPrint balance

If you are still having issues printing/copying after topping up your balance, please contact the Library for assistance.

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Software applications

These issues relate to software applications that are used for viewing or referencing Library resources.

If you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader to view a PDF and it is showing a blank screen or incomplete document, try the following steps.

  • In Acrobat Reader, select the Edit menu and then Preferences.

  • Go to the Internet category and make sure the option 'Display PDF in browser' is checked. Then select OK.

  • Close Acrobat Reader and then open the PDF again.

If these steps haven't resolved the issue, try right-clicking the file (if you have it downloaded) and select Open with, and then select a web browser (e.g. Edge or Chrome).

If the file still isn't displaying correctly, it may be corrupt. Please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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If you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader to view a PDF and it is not printing correctly, try the following steps.

  • If you are viewing the PDF in a web browser, make sure to select the print option (e.g. a printer icon) within the PDF viewer rather than the web browser's menu.

  • Check that you have the correct paper size (e.g. A4) selected in the print options.

  • In the print options, make sure the 'Shrink oversized pages' option is selected. This will shrink the content so that it fits on the page.

If the file still isn't printing correctly, please contact the Library for assistance.

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If you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader to open a PDF and are getting an error message saying the file is damaged, try the following steps.

  • If you are viewing the PDF in a web browser, refresh the page.

  • If you accessed the PDF from a link on a web page, return to that page and select the link again.

If the error is still shown when you open the file, it may be corrupt. Please report the issue to the Library and a member of staff will assist you.

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If changes to references in your EndNote library aren't being shown in your Word document, select the 'Update Citations and Bibliography' button in the EndNote tab in Word.

If selecting that button doesn't resolve the issue, try performing the following steps:

  • Make a back-up of your document (by duplicating the file or saving it with a different name).

  • With your document open, select 'EndNote 21' from the top menu to display the EndNote tab.

  • In the EndNote tab, select the 'Convert Citations and Bibliography' drop-down and then select 'Convert to Unformatted Citations'.
    Note: This will unformat all the references in your document.

  • Select 'Update Citations and Bibliography' in the EndNote tab, which should reformat all the references.

If you are still experiencing issues with EndNote references in Word, you can book a consultation with a Research Librarian to get some assistance.

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You should not be making manual text changes to citations and bibliographies in a Word document if they are linked to EndNote. You should use the 'Edit Citation(s)' tool so that any changes are applied to EndNote.

To update a citation in a Word document, follow these steps:

  • Right-click the citation in the document and select 'Edit Citation(s)' to view the citation context menu.

  • In the context menu, you can select a different format to change the way the citation is displayed.

  • Select 'More...' to add a prefix, suffix or page numbers. It will also give you an option to 'Edit reference', which will allow you to add details in EndNote for the linked reference.

  • If the edits you need to make are not possible through the 'Edit Citation(s)' tool, you may need to unlink the citation from EndNote and convert it to plain text. To do this, highlight the field and press 'Ctrl+Shift+F9' (on a PC) or 'Cmd+6' (on a Mac).
    Note: If you want to unlink all fields in a document, do a 'Select all' action ('Ctrl+A' on a PC, 'Cmd+A' on a Mac) rather than selecting an individual link. Just be aware that this will also convert any hyperlinks to plain text.

If you are still experiencing issues with EndNote references in Word, you can book a consultation with a Research Librarian to get some assistance.

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To ensure spacing of your in-text citation is correct, you must manually input a space after the content in the prefix box and before the content in the suffix box.

When adding page numbers, ensure only numerical values or a range (e.g. 12-14) are entered – do not type 'p' or use commas within numbers.

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The referencing style is determined by the Word document, so it will overrule the output style that is set in EndNote. This is because you can be working on multiple documents, which each may require different formats for citations and bibliographies.

To change the referencing style in a document, follow these steps:

  • With your document open, select 'EndNote 21' from the top menu to display the EndNote tab.

  • In the EndNote tab, select the required format from the 'Style' drop-down.

  • Select 'Update Citations and Bibliography'.

If you are still experiencing issues with EndNote references in Word, you can book a consultation with a Research Librarian to get some assistance.

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If you are importing a reference into EndNote and get an error saying 'someone else is using your library', try the following steps.

  • In EndNote, select 'File' from the top menu and then select 'Close Library'.

  • Open the reference file with EndNote and it will be imported into your library.

If you are still experiencing issues with importing references in EndNote, you can book a consultation with a Research Librarian to get some assistance.

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Related links

  • Library FAQs
    Frequently asked questions related to Library services and facilities.