What is NC LIVE?

NC LIVE (North Carolina LIbraries for Virtual Education) is the state's electronic library, created to give you access to magazine articles, national and local newspapers, business and professional journals, reference sources, and research material - all electronically. This exciting online information goes far beyond anything readily available over the Internet and represents a rich and diverse information resource to help you in your work, school, and other aspects of your daily life. NC LIVE is brought to you through a partnership of public, academic, and community college libraries and is funded by the North Carolina General Assembly and the state's independent colleges and universities. NC LIVE is available to anyone who uses an NC LIVE library. Best of all, library users can now take NC LIVE home, via NC LIVE @ home.

What is NC LIVE @ home?

NC LIVE @ home allows library patrons to connect to NC LIVE from home with their own computers via the Internet.

How do I access NC LIVE @ home?

Simple. Contact your library and ask the staff how to get a password. It's quick and easy and allows you to get started right away.

What do I need to have at home to connect to NC LIVE @ home?

A computer (at least a 486 or a Macintosh 68020), a Web browser with JavaScript and cookies enabled, and an Internet Service Provider. Your library can provide you with a more detailed list of the minimum hardware and software requirements.

How do I connect to NC LIVE?

Simply use your Web browser to open the NC LIVE home page at http://www.nclive.org/. When you see the "NC LIVE Remote Access User Validation" screen, select your library's name from the drop-down list, type your password, and click the SUBMIT button. If your password is correct, then you're in. Your library can provide you with more information if you need it.

What do I get?

NC LIVE provides you with fingertip access to extraordinary global resources, some of the finest and most diverse information available online today. Specifically, NC LIVE lets you search:

• State and national newspapers
• Hundreds of research journals and popular magazines
• Encyclopedias
• Information about companies and other directories

This sounds like an Internet Search Engine.  Is it?

No, it's much more. NC LIVE's resources are not accessible to the general Internet user. NC LIVE is also much more focused than an Internet search engine, which throws out a wide net across part of the World Wide Web, often bringing back personal Web sites and unrelated junk. NC LIVE searches carefully-prepared databases and brings back resources you can use.

Once I get my search results, can I get to these resources immediately, on-line?

You can read many newspaper and encyclopedia articles, most company profiles, and some magazine articles immediately, online. You will need to go to your library to read other articles, especially if they are older, but NC LIVE will point you in the right direction.

May I share my password with friends?

It is important that you not share your password with others. NC LIVE's many resources are made available through a statewide subscription - called a license - that allows only the registered users of participating libraries to have access to them. Your library has a legal responsibility to make sure that everyone who receives a password for NC LIVE @ home is qualified to use its resources under the terms of these licenses.

What happens if I share the NC LIVE password with someone else?

Unauthorized sharing of passwords may result in any or all of the following:

• You could lose your library privileges.
• Your library and all of its users could lose access to NC LIVE, temporarily or permanently.
• The vendors from which NC LIVE obtains its resources might raise prices for access to their databases, which might mean fewer resources for you and your library's users.

What do I say to someone who asks for my password?

Tell them to contact their library to get their own password. After all, public libraries serving every county in North Carolina can provide a password for NC LIVE @ home.

Do I have to renew my password?

Passwords will be changed every three to six months. Your library will let you know how to get the new password.