A: You should not be prompted for a username and password once you have typed in your Massachusetts library card number. This is an error, or it indicates a software conflict on your PC. These magazine and newspaper databases are licensed through the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, Massachusetts Regional Library Systems, or Massachusetts Library Networks. Though they are not free resources, they have been made available freely to anyone with a valid library card from a Massachusetts library.
When you go to view a magazine or newspaper database from home, the database vendor must check to see that you have logged in with an authorized library card. In some cases, they use a technique called a "referring page", "referring URL" or "HTTP_REFERER" method of authentication. This piece of information, carried by your web browser, assures the database provider that you successfully came through the Board's login process.
Some of the new Internet security products that many users have installed on their PCs block the ability of the database provider from seeing referring URL information. The database provider thus does not know you came from our Web site, and that you have already been approved to see their product. Not knowing that you are approved, they ask you for a username and password. The two most popular families of security software that block referring URLs are the Norton Internet Security/Norton Personal Firewall products and Zone Alarm Pro. (The free Zone Alarm basic product does not block referring URLs).
In order to allow database vendor Web sites to see referring URLs, you must tell your security software that these are trusted Web sites. The Symantec notice provides instructions on how to establish trusted sites for the Norton family of software. For ZoneAlarm Pro, simply make sure that the privacy panel's cookie control custom button to 'Remove private header information' is NOT checked.
Here is a list of what you should enter as the trusted Web site for some of the databases we provide:
| Product | Trusted Web site(s) |
|---|---|
| bigChalk Electric Library | elibrary.bigchalk.com |
| Grolier Encyclopedias | go.grolier.com |
| Newsbank Newspapers | infoweb.newsbank.com |
| Proquest Newspapers | proquest.umi.com and mblc.state.ma.us (2 sites must be trusted) |
| Science Online | www.fofweb.com |
| World Book Online | www.worldbookonline.com |
Do not add a "www" before these URLS unless it is explicitly shown.
If you are required to specify which URL is the referring URL you want to allow to be passed to the database vendor, use the following: http://mblc.state.ma.us/cgi-bin/remote.pl