Accessing subscription-based electronic academic resources in India

1. National Library of India off-campus access to electronic resources
Step a: Go to https://www.nationallibrary.gov.in/
Step b: Click on 'Register' in top-right column
Step c: Activate account from email received
Step d: Log in
Step e: Click on 'Digital Collection'->'Electronic Resources'
Step f: Receive instructions in another email
Step g: Be aware that the National Library of India is financially not well-off and has not renewed subscriptions to several resources it lists in its 'Remote Access to E-Resources' portal

Step h: Also remember that JSTOR has two views -- 'All Content' and 'Content I can access'. The National Library of India's offsite JSTOR access allows access to a very limited range of articles.

2. NLIST programme under INFLIBNET
This scheme is applicable to college teachers in India. If your college subscribes to this, you will get access to several electronic resources and their latest versions unlike through the National Library of India portal. An example is Oxford University Press journals. If you are a student in a college in India, you are not likely to have access to this programme. Contact your teachers for access.

You will notice that JSTOR through the NLIST programme has a much greater range of articles than through the National Library of India's offsite portal. However, even for NLIST, there is a four-year gap period which means that you will not be able to access articles published on JSTOR within the last four years.

3. If you are attached to a university, you are likely to have access to a far greater number of subscription-based electronic academic resources. There is no uniform scheme and currently it is based on how much your university is able and willing to pay for such services. The 2020 National Education Policy envisages a uniform subscription programme for universities as well thereby making it cheaper for the taxpayer. Additional resources outside the common subscription can always be bought by universities if they are able and willing. If you are a student in a university in India, you are likely to have access to these resources not only from institutional on-campus computers but depending on your university's policy, you may also have remote off-campus access to these resources.