News and problems

EBSCO eBooks will be undergoing scheduled maintenance on the afternoon of Monday 8 December, between approximately 12 - 5 pm. 

You should be able to read ebooks online without interruption throughout the maintenance period but you will be unable to download ebooks or chapters from ebooks.  If you have downloaded an ebook to read offline before the maintenance period begins, you may also find you cannot read this offline while this maintenance is carried out.  Full access to downloaded ebooks and download functionality should be restored from around 5 pm.

We apologise for any inconvenience this scheduled maintenance may cause.

Please plan your work accordingly.  If you experience any ongoing issues after the work ends, please let us know.

Due to scheduled maintenance, Ebook Central will be unavailable between 3-5 am on Sunday 14 December.  If you expect to be working in the small hours of the morning, please plan your work accordingly. 

If you experience any service disruption after this maintenance window, try clearing your browser data and reloading the site. If this doesn't work, please contact us.  

EBSCO have announced that they intend to carry out scheduled maintenance on all EBSCO eresources on Friday, 9 January 2026, between 11 am - 1 pm.  Please plan your work accordingly.  

Each of our EBSCO eresources, including all EBSCO databases, including the EBSCO Discovery Service and EBSCO eBooks is expected to become temporarily unavailable at some point during this two-hour maintenance period for around 10 minutes.  The work is expected to be completed by around 1 pm, after which full access to all EBSCO eresources should be restored.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this scheduled maintenance may cause.

If you experience ongoing problems accessing any of our resources after 1 pm, please let us know.

From February 2026, users of EndNote will be required to change their password at least once every 180 days (around once every 6 months). 

What you must do now

If you do not use EndNote

If you do not use EndNote, you do not need to do anything.

If you have an EndNote account that you still use

If you are an EndNote user, you must check your EndNote account is linked to an email account you can still access before the end of January 2026.  Go into EndNote > Options > Email address and, if necessary, relink your account to an email account you currently use and can access.

When asked to reset your account password, go to Options > Password and a link to reset your password will be emailed to your registered email address.  For this reason, failure to update your email address may result in you becoming locked out of your account after you are required to update your password.

Need help?

If you find technology overwhelming, please ask for support.  Both Library and IT staff can help walk you through changing your registered email and/or resetting your password in EndNote.  Come find us at a staffed desk in the Library or chat with us online.

Alternative reference management platforms are also available.

A small number of staff and students have been unable to log into our legal information database, Westlaw.  If you find you are unable to log in, please contact Westlaw directly, as follows:

1. Visit the Online product support webform
2. Enter (copy and paste in) the following information:

Nature of query: Accessing online services

Query type: Login failure

Your details: Enter your personal details

Account details: Leave blank

Query subject: University of Portsmouth - Westlaw login failure

Query details: I am unable to access the University of Portsmouth's subscription to Westlaw UK. Please could you reset my account, ensuring that my profile includes a valid registration key for Westlaw UK?

In all known cases so far, Thomson Reuters have restored access promptly after being contacted.  If you experience ongoing problems, please contact the Library and we will be happy to help.

Members of staff are being invited to register when they try to access Sage Catalyst ebooks.  This is not necessary, and we are asking the supplier to remove this confusing message when trying to log into an ebook.  

If you are presented with a request to register for the Sage Catalyst ebook platform when trying to access an ebook, click on the link to proceed without registering to proceed straight through to the ebook.