A normal web transaction takes place between a piece of software called a web browser and a web server. The browser, running on a local machine, contacts the web server running at a different location on the Internet and requests a particular document or other piece of data (based on the URL).
Many of our resource providers limit access to their websites and web servers through a technique called "domain restriction"; in this case, the web server checks to see from which domain the request originated, i.e. on what part of the Internet the requesting browser is running.
Our resource providers restrict requests to the set of networks collectively referred to as "Muhlenberg Campus Network". You are on the Muhlenberg Campus Network domain if your computer is physically located on campus and connected to the campus network. In this case, the resource provider's web server will see you as part of the Muhlenberg Campus Network, and will allow you to connect and use their resources.
You are not part of the Muhlenberg Campus Network if your computer is physically located somewhere other than Muhlenberg's campus, or you connect to the Internet through a non-Muhlenberg Internet Service Provider (e.g. Verizon, Penn TeleData or PDT, RCN, AOL, etc.), or both. In these cases, the resource provider's web server will see that you are not part of the Muhlenberg Campus Network domain, and will deny access to their resources.
For the provider, this is the most efficient way to enforce licensing restrictions over the Internet. Unfortunately, it means that any of our patrons using non-Muhlenberg internet service providers will be denied access to "domain restricted" resources.
A proxy server solves this problem by relaying ("proxying") requests between a web browser and a restricted domain. Once the web browser has been told which proxy server to use, that machine servers as a "go between", forwarding transactions between the browser and the actual websites from which documents are being requested. In most browsers, once proxying is turned on, this "extra step" is transparent, handled automatically and invisibly.
By proxying all requests through a proxy server located on the Muhlenberg Campus Network, you gain access to all resources that are "domain restricted". The resource provider's web server sees only the forwarded request from the proxy server, located on the Muhlenberg Campus Network, and thus allows the connection.
To ensure that only legitimate library users are granted access to restricted resources, their names and College ID numbers are verified by their records in the Library user database before they are allowed to use the proxy service.
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