Staff EmailFAQs
Q. What is Athens?
A. Athens is an educational service providing access to web based resources for college and university students and staff.
Q. Why should I use Athens?
A. Athens gives access to many different databases, indexes and online journals just by using one password.
Q. How do I get an Athens password?
A. Apply at the library counter. You need to have an email address. Athens will email your personal user name and password. If you are a University of Northampton student you can also have a second Athens account to access their resources.
Q. What if I don't have email?
A. You have a college email address – ask at the library counter.
Q. Why do I have to ask a librarian for a password to some of the resources?
A. Not all our online resources use Athens and we have a college password to access them.
Q. Why can't I access some resources from home?
A. These resources are accessed via 'IP' – you have to be logged on to the college network.
Q. Why can't I get full text results from some of our resources?
A. Some resources only give full text access from the date the college subscribed to them. Others are databases of 'abstracts' – they give information about an article but not the whole thing. Examples are Land, Life and Leisure and Sport Discus.
Q. I have searched a publisher's database from my Athens resources but I can't get full text access to the articles I have found.
A. Publishers like Blackwell-Synergy will allow you to search their entire database but will only retrieve full text articles from the journals the college subscribes to.
