University of Newcastle Library Guides
This error message indicates the page was not found on the site. It could mean the platform’s server is down.
The 404 error message comes from the vendor site and indicates that the server itself was found, but that the server was not able to retrieve the requested page.
A few simple steps might assist:
Reload the page: It might be that the error 404 has appeared for the simple reason that the page did not load properly. This can be checked quite easily by clicking on the ‘Refresh’ button in your browser or also by pressing the F5 button.
Check the URL: Regardless of whether you have entered the URL address manually or been directed via a link, it could be that a mistake has been made. For this reason you should check the specified path of the website. It could be that either you, or the person who entered the link, has mistyped something.
Use the website’s search function: Many websites offer a search function as part of their homepage. By entering one or several keywords, it can help you find the specific page that you are looking for.
Delete the browser cache and cookies: If you can access the website from another device, and the HTTP 404 error only seems to appear on a certain computer, then the problem could lie with your browser. Therefore you should delete the browser cache as well as all cookies for this site, and this may then finally allow you to access the page.
However, if this is a persistent problem and you are still having difficulties with access please contact us via UON Library Chat or complete the Online Resources access problem form.
Please note that, while Library staff will endeavour to assist you to resolve your issue, a resolution may need to be directed to another UON team for further investigation.
The request was valid, but the server is refusing action. The user might not have the necessary permissions for a resource.
Check the URL and if you are still having difficulties with access please contact us via UON Library Chat or complete the Online Resources access problem form.
Please note that, while Library staff will endeavour to assist you to resolve your issue, a resolution may need to be directed to another UON team for further investigation.
A generic error message, given when an unexpected condition was encountered and no more specific message is suitable.
Please try again later. However, if this is a persistent problem and you are still having difficulties with access please contact us via UON Library Chat or complete the Online Resources access problem form.
Please note that, while Library staff will endeavour to assist you to resolve your issue, a resolution may need to be directed to another UON team for further investigation.
Some of our resources have a limited number of concurrent user licenses.
For example,
To see if the database you are trying to access has limitations go to the A-Z database list to check.
Please try again later. However, if this is a persistent problem and you are still having difficulties with access please contact us via UON Library Chat or complete the Online Resources access problem form.
Please note that, while Library staff will endeavour to assist you to resolve your issue, a resolution may need to be directed to another UON team for further investigation.
If you receive this error message while trying to access this resource from off-campus please make sure you have logged into the proxy server from the library's website before accessing this resource.
Please try again later. However, if this is a persistent problem and you are still having difficulties with access please contact us via UON Library Chat or complete the Online Resources access problem form.
Please note that, while Library staff will endeavour to assist you to resolve your issue, a resolution may need to be directed to another UON team for further investigation.
If you reach a “hostname error” when trying to access an electronic resource the most common cause is that the server address is incorrect. Make sure there are no unnecessary spaces, typos, etc. in the URL.
If the URL is still not working, please contact us via UON Library Chat or complete the Online Resources access problem form.
Please note that, while Library staff will endeavour to assist you to resolve your issue, a resolution may need to be directed to another UON team for further investigation.
When accessing some databases, or certain areas of databases, you may receive a security warning. This occurs because of a problem in the setup of the Library’s security certificate. These messages are not a security threat from the website and it is perfectly safe to continue to the sites when you get this message. These error messages are due to the proxy server certificate not working properly with certain database websites.
The instructions below are for Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome & Safari.
After you have followed the steps and continued through to the website, you will not get the security warning again for this database in the browser you are using.
The docs/suspend error message is displayed when a user downloads excessive amounts of material in a short space of time from our electronic databases or journals.
The EZproxy service, which is used to authenticate our licensed eResources, has built-in restrictions to prevent the systematic harvesting of content from a site which would be in breach of our license conditions. This limit can also be reached during normal downloading of content, so it does not suggest any illicit action on your part.
When this happens you may be blocked from access to all eResources for a while, however you should find that access is restored automatically after a period of of 2 hours.
If access is not restored after this period please contact us via UON Library Chat or complete the Online Resources access problem form.
Please note that, while Library staff will endeavour to assist you to resolve your issue, a resolution may need to be directed to another UON team for further investigation.
For a more comprehensive listing of all HTTP error messages please see here