Proxy Server

Manfred Kuechler
Hunter College

Last updated: Feb 5, 2002

During the fall semester 2000, CUNY libraries started to offer additional off-campus (home) access to an increasing number of licensed resources via use of the library bar code attached to CUNY and college ID cards. As of August 2001, this service covered most, but not all available data bases. Also, given the complexity of process involved, it may not be available at all times. However, access via library bar code is considerably easier than using a proxy server. Consider this as an alternative.

Proxy Server

What is a proxy server?

A number of web sites have access restrictions. One of the most common forms of restricting access is by IP address of the remote computer (your work station). For examples, many library resources (like data bases with full text journal articles) at Hunter and at CUNY central can only be accessed when using a computer with a Hunter or CUNY IP address -- in practical terms, a computer on campus. When you connect to the Internet via an independent ISP (Internet Service Provider) like AOL, EarthLink, ATT, etc. you have an IP address that does not qualify and that would not give you access to such resources.

This is where the proxy server comes in. This server has a Hunter IP address and your browser (MS Internet Explorer or Netscape) uses the proxy server as a relay station: the browser sends your request for say EBSCO or Lexis-Nexis to the proxy server first which forwards it to EBSCO or Lexis-Nexis under its own IP address, gets the page and sends it back to you. To avoid abuse, you need to identify yourself to the proxy server as a legitimate user and that is why you must get an account on the server.

How to get an account on the Hunter proxy server

To get a proxy server account at Hunter, send an email message to <proxyreq@hunter.cuny.edu> and include

your name,
department (for faculty and staff) or major (for students),
your status (faculty, staff, undergraduate, graduate -- if you are a student, whether this a new account or a renewal),
your library barcode number located on the back of your ID card (something like 2 1407 ...... ),
and your ISP (e.g., AOL, EarthLink, ATT, etc.)

You will be notified by e-mail about your login and password for the proxy server. The library asks to allow 5 business days for setting up a proxy server account. All student accounts expire after one semester and must be renewed after the student has registered for the next semester.

How to set up your browser to work with proxy server

Check this help page at the Hunter library for detailed instructions including screen shots.

Hunter proxy server vs. CUNY proxy server

In addition to the Hunter proxy server, there is a CUNY proxy server. At this time, however, only faculty can accounts on the CUNY proxy server -- so this is not an option for students. Luckily, all CUNY wide resources are available via the Hunter proxy server, so you don't miss out on anything. The only advantage of an account on the CUNY proxy server (which would work with CUNY wide resources but not with Hunter-specific resources like the "Project Muse" data base -- a very interesting collection of journals with online access to the full text of articles) is that it is less of a detour.