Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Login? NEW!
Login is needed to access these Orbis features: Your Library Account, Place Requests, and Bookbag. Yale students, faculty, and other affiliates can now login with their NetID. Readers without Yale NetID can use the "Visitor Barcode" option to login: first enter the barcode on the back of your library card (Ex.: VIS0001112), then your last name, and click on the OK button.

**Remember to log out when you finish a session so that your library account information remains confidential.

Information about NetIDs is available at http://www.yale.edu/password.

Is Login Secure?
Login to Your Library Account is secure. The information entered on the login page and the information about your library account is encrypted.
Login directly to Place Requests is not secure. To secure this process, login first through Your Library Account and then select Place Requests.
The library will implement a new authentication process in the spring. This new process will incorporate reader authentication against the ITS Central Authentication Service (CAS) and will apply to Your Library Account, Place Requests, and Bookbag. More information about the CAS server is available at: http://www.yale.edu/fsp/doco/dcc.html.

**Remember to log out when you finish a session so that your library account information remains confidential.

Why Is Orbis "Unavailable" Or Why Has It Timed Out?
To avoid repeated search results messages of "Orbis is unavailable" or "Your session is timed out", try clearing the cache in your browser (in Internet Explorer go to Tools -- Internet Options -- Delete temporary files) rather than closing the browser and starting over. This will keep the session active for those who have logged in.
For a permanent solution in Internet Explorer, go to Tools -- Internet Options -- General. Click on "Settings" and select "Every visit to the page".

What Browser Should I Use?
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or above is the recommended browser, especially for non-Roman language display. Recent versions of Netscape (6.0 or higher) and Firefox (1.0.7 or higher) also perform satisfactorily.

Can I Adjust My Font Size in Orbis?
In Internet Explorer 5.5, Firefox 1.0.7, and Netscape 6.0 browsers and above, you can adjust font size through the View-Text Size and View-Increase/Decrease Font options.
For other browsers, one solution is to switch to a lower screen resolution (from 1024x768 to 800x600 for instance) through the Control Panel-Display-Settings options. This change will affect all applications, however, not just the browser.
Another option is to use a magnifying tool such as Microsoft Magnifier (available under Programs-Accessories-Accessibility) or a more sophisticated package such as Zoom Text.

How Can I View Non-Roman Characters And Special Characters?
Non-Roman scripts for Japanese, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Hebrew and Yiddish will now display in Orbis, as a result of the Orbis catalog now being Unicode compliant. Detailed instructions for displaying non-Roman languages are available in the Orbis help pages.

How Can I Connect to Orbis via Telnet?
Text-based access to the Orbis online catalog is available. From a Web Browser, type telnet://orbis.library.yale:4000. The Telnet interface only supplies basic bibliographic information and does not support many of the advanced features present in the Web interface. It is not possible for readers to access the former Telnet interface.
For additional information and instructions on configuring the Host Explorer Telnet client, see the Orbis Telnet Access section of the Help Guide and http://www.library.yale.edu/wsg/orbistelnet.html.