Chat with a Librarian
Skip to Main Content
ask a librarian email questions

Find Articles (Databases)

Use the Subject List and the Alphabetical List below to help you find the best database(s) to use for your research.

Troubleshooting Username/Password Issues

First you need to verify you are using the correct username and password for authentication.

For Students and Employees:

Username: Your SCC email address (on the back of your SCC ID card), example: absmith@sccsc.edu

Password: This is the same password you use for the Portal and D2L

You can use  the link for 'Get Your Username' to find your email if you do not have a SCC ID card.

 You can use the link to 'Manage Your Password' if you need to find or change your password.

If you do not have a valid cell phone attached to your Colleague account, you will have to contact SCC IT Phone: 864-592-4682 Toll Free: 1-877-722-2754  Email: itsupport@sccsc.edu.

Please note you must be a current SCC student or employee to access our databases off-campus. If you're a Community Patron or Alumni, you'll have to visit the library in person to gain access.

Restricted Computers

If you are using restricted computer from a company or school, it can interfere with authenticating your account for certain databases.This is very common with dual-enrolled high school students who have been issued laptops by their school district that has restrictions about what content/pages can be accessed, but it can also happen if you are using an employer-issued computer that has strict security (example - at a hospital).

Use a Different Computer: If you are using a a computer that has strict security, the easiest thing to try is to use a different computer if you have access to one (example - a personal laptop you or your family purchased). You could also visit any SCC Library locations or SCC computer lab to access the databases on one of our computers.

Contact Us for Alternative Login: If neither of those is an option, Contact Us or submit the issue to Ask a Librarian. Be sure to let us know you're using a restricted laptop and tell us us which database you need access to. We may be able to send you a special temporary login to bypass the issue.

Use a Different Database: A third option is to try a database from a different company. For example, if you're trying to access one of our Gale databases, you could try to access an EBSCO database instead. We have seen EBSCO databases allow students with restricted computers access.

Browser/Bad Cookies

If your username/password is correct and you are not on a restricted computer, the next issue to check is browser or bad cookie issues. Try the options below.

Browser: try using a different browser (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari) to access the database. If you're able to access the database in a different browser then it was a browser issue.

Bad Cookie: Right click on the database link and choose to open in a Private or Incognito window. This will fix a bad cookie issue.

Database Outages

If you've tried the above steps, and you still can't access the database, it could be because that specific database or all the databases from a specific company are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. This does happen occasionally, so please Contact Us or submit the issue to Ask a Librarian (email or chat). Often our users are the first ones to let us know that there is an issue. From there, we'll contact the vendor to get the database back up an running as quickly as possible. We will also offer you any alternatives we can, either giving you a temporary work around or recommending alternative databases/sources. We can also contact instructors to confirm the outage if a specific database is needed for an assignment.