Confirm which AVA portal you are using
AVA has different library arrangements. The HBZ university portal is not the same sign-in context as a public-library portal asking for a card number. Retain the actual portal address supplied by your institution instead of choosing any search result with the AVA logo.
For example, entering a public-library card on the university service would answer the wrong authentication question. Begin with the university library’s current digital-resource link and confirm that the institution participates. A friend’s access at a different university does not establish your own eligibility.
Use the institution’s approved remote route
The HBZ FAQ says a university VPN can grant network-based access automatically. It also describes SAML 2.0 or Shibboleth authentication where the institution uses that arrangement. Follow the route your library documents; do not substitute an unrelated commercial location-changing VPN.
Check whether the university sign-in itself succeeds before blaming a film. If other institutional resources are also inaccessible, the issue may belong to the remote-access service. If authentication succeeds but only AVA fails, keep that distinction for the library or university support team.
Compare one film under the same entitlement
Use the same film page and browser when comparing campus and authorised home access. Record the visible message and whether the institutional session is active. This narrows the difference to authentication context rather than changing the title, account and device simultaneously.
The FAQ directs unresolved login questions to the institution. Provide its support team with the portal, authentication route and failed step, while keeping passwords and live login codes private. Institutional viewing access also has its own use conditions; gaining access at home is not evidence of permission for a public screening or for sharing the university login outside its intended users.
Questions about this guide
Should an HBZ university user enter a public-library card?
Use the institution’s own HBZ route; its FAQ describes university-network or SAML authentication.
Is any commercial VPN equivalent?
No such equivalence is established. The documented route is the participating university’s approved network access.