If a user is failing to connect from off campus to a database or other licensed resource and they contact us to let us know that the page says “Maximum sessions reached, please try again later,” please let Mike Waldman or me know right away. This is a message from EZproxy, the system we use to allow remote access to databases, and it indicates to us that a computer somewhere (usually overseas and unaffiliated with any Baruch user) is automatically trying log in to EZproxy repeatedly and using up all the available login slots (“sessions.”) We have a fix in place to resolve this as it happens but it relies on us knowing about the problem as soon as possible.
As a general rule, if user says “I can’t log in to the library” or some variation of that, it’s worth finding out if they are talking about OneSearch logins, which require entering a library ID number for a library account that has been activated, or if they are trying to connect to a database, an ebook, an article, etc. that is protected by our EZproxy system (“remote authentication.”) The easiest way to start the troubleshooting process is if you ask the user you are helping for the specific wording of the error message they are seeing and ask them for the URL of the page where that message is displayed.
If they say the URL with the error message is displaying at onesearch.cuny.edu etc. or cuny-pds-lb.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com, then that means it’s a OneSearch problem likely involving a library account that hasn’t been activated yet.
If they say the URL with the error message is displaying at remote.baruch.cuny.edu etc. or login.baruch.cuny.edu etc., then that’s something related to our EZproxy system for remote authentication. Depending on the error message, it could be a problem with EZproxy or it could be a problem with their username and password.
If the URL with the error message is on the platform of one of our databases, that will direct our troubleshooting in a different direction (it may be a problem with database, not us).