4. Accessing Sources

While searching for sources of information, you will notice that some are directly available to you and others are not. When it comes to academic publications like scientific papers or textbooks a publication can be ‘open access’ or ‘closed access’:

• Gold open access: the publication is made publicly available by the publisher on its website. This can apply to any type of academic publication, including books. You can access and use these publications.
• Closed access: the publication on the publisher website is behind a paywall. You cannot access this publication via the website of the publisher.

When it concerns a ‘closed access’ publication, there are other ways to get access:  

• Green open access: It could be that the pdf of a scientific article is uploaded to an archive or repository by the author. This can be because the publisher allows it or because it is required by law. You can access and use that version (which can usually be found via Google Scholar).
• Access via login: It could be that the university you study at or work for pays or has paid for (permanent) access to the publication. These publications are part of the University Library collection. You can access and use the publications in the University Library collection via one of the routes described in the next section. 
• Access via loan: If neither of the above applies, other universities might still have access to the publication you are looking for. A print book, chapters of an ebook, or a scientific article can in that case be requested via the Interlibrary loan system. Requesting literature is not necessary for course or project related assignments. If you detect publications that are not accessible but very relevant to the topic, it is best to discuss a solution with the teacher or to contact the information specialist of your faculty.

The literature that the university is subscribed to (mostly scientific journals) or purchases (mostly ebooks or print books) is referred to as the University Library collection. The literature in the University Library collection is tailored to the research fields and study programmes of the university. The scientific papers, textbooks and other content in the collection can be accessed by students and researchers in the following ways:

• FindUT discovery tool: By searching via the discovery tool FindUT. By default FindUT only shows the content that is in the University Library collection, so you can quickly check if a book or article title you are interested in is in our collection. You can search in FindUT via the search tool at the University Library homepage or go there via de link in Databases A-Z.
• Browser extension: By installing the Lean Library browser extension. This plugin recognizes publications that are in the University Library collection and will ask you to login using your credentials when you try to access them. You can download the plugin via the Off-campus access page.
• Redirect to FindUT: By making use of the ‘availability’ button that pops up next to or above search results in literature databases such as Scopus or Web of Science. In Google Scholar, such a button will appear in the form of a link when you add University of Twente under library links. When you click on an ‘availability’ button or library link, you will be redirected to a page in FindUT that indicates if the publication is in the University Library collection.
• Search from campus: By searching from a location on campus. For this to work, you have to connect the Eduroam WiFi network or the wired University of Twente network.