Access to most resources in Cambridge is via Raven: a Raven authentication screen will appear as you try to access a resource behind a Cambridge paywall. This is nearly always automatic, but you can force a log-in directly to Raven by going to the website directly.

This means that access to a large number of resources available in Cambridge won't be possible until you've received your Raven username and password. (It is, however, usually the same as your email address and password, if you've received that already).

Can't find what you need?

There is a request form you can use to request books, ebooks, journal subscriptions and databases, amongst other things, including DVDs and music scores.

You may be required, on occasion, to authenticate using Shibboleth, or via the UK's Access Management Federation. (Note that Cambridge does not use Open Athens).

You may be able to search for the institution in order to log in to a resource; alternatively choose UK Access Management Federation, and the University of Cambridge from the results.

If you're not certain whether Cambridge has access to something, you can try one of the following:

• Ask! Check with the ejournals team or the library staff in your college or department library.
• Check on the journals search or databases search for dates of access.
• Check iDiscover.

If Cambridge does not subscribe to something that you've found in your search results, and would like to access, then you have several options - this mostly depends on the nature and format of the item:

• if it's a book or ebook, then you can often make a recommendation for a library in Cambridge to purchase it - try the University Library's request form or alternatively ask your subject or college library if you can make requests there (you usually can!)

• if it's a journal article, then you might want to question whether you'd be interested in the whole journal or just that particular article or volume. If the former, then you can make a request for a subscription; if you just need an article, then an inter-library loan might be better.

• if it's a database or another electronic resource that you'd like access to, you can recommend it here but please note that it might take a little while for you to hear back about this.

It's always worth checking with library staff as they might know of more expedient ways to access something.