University Library > Guides > Direct Links to Electronic Articles

Direct Links to Electronic Journal Articles, etc.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Faculty and staff may provide students with permanent direct links to articles in electronic journals, magazines and newspapers to which Andersen Library subscribes. These links may be made from course management software such as Desire2Learn®, as well as from individual faculty and staff home pages and ROAD. For the Library's online subscription resources that provide permanent links, there is no limit to the number of times or length of time one can link to an article, since the Library has already paid for the access. The Library provides access to about 13,000 electronic journals, many through online database systems such as EBSCOhost® and ProQuest®.

Faculty and staff may also provide durable links to materials they have placed on electronic reserve (eReserve) in the Library Catalog, as well as Catalog searches. Some examples of eReserve materials include articles from print journals, magazines and newspapers, book chapters, poems, short stories, quizzes, homework answers, and other printed material. When using durable links, there is no limit to the number of times one can link to a work. However, in order to comply with copyright restrictions the length of time is restricted to one semester. If a link is needed to an eReserve item for the subsequent semester, please contact the Circulation Department. To read about durable links to eReserves and the Catalog, please refer to the Direct Links to eReserves & the Catalog. webpage.

The instructions given below are very detailed, so if you are familiar with using durable links, you may wish to jump directly to the Database Specific Tips section.

How It's Done (in one step)

The Library employs EZproxy® software, which allows registered UW-W students, faculty and staff to access Library resources from off-campus, but restricts access by others, thereby helping Andersen Library comply with copyright restrictions and licensing agreements. When the EZproxy prefix https://libproxy.uww.edu:9443/login?url= is added to a URL faculty, staff and students can get to it from virtually anywhere. Without the coding, the link will only work on campus.

Example

  1. URL: http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2043966&db=afh
  2. ADD: https://libproxy.uww.edu:9443/login?url=
  3. USE: https://libproxy.uww.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2043966&db=afh

Known Problems

Proxy Server

Occasionally, people have difficulty successfully logging in to the proxy server. This is usually due to irregularities with their last name, such as a name change, hyphenation, or length, or having a firewall on their computer. If someone cannot log in using either method outlined above, please have them contact a Reference Librarian for assistance, either in person at the Reference Desk in the Library, by telephone at (262) 472-1032, or by email via AskaLibrarian/AskAway webpage. More information about off-campus access may be found on the Troubleshooting Guide.

Long URLs

Desire2Learn® cannot handle long URLs and sometimes breaks them up, causing the links to be unusable. The way to solve this problem is to make the URL shorter.

One website that does this is http://tinyurl.com . How it Works: Enter a URL with the proxy server coding attached in the text field provided and click on the Make TinyURL! button. The free service then creates a very small URL that will not break into smaller sections and never expires.
For example: The 252 character https://libproxy.uww.edu:9443/login?url=http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2003&res_id=xri:pqd&
rft_val_fmt=ori:fmt:kev:mtx:journal&genre=article&rft_id=
xri:pqd:did=000000388809101&svc_dat=xri:pqil:fmt=text&req_dat=xri:pqil:pq_clntid=3852
transforms into the 23 character http://tinyurl.com/levf .

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Database Specific Tips

Since Andersen Library has paid for these databases, there are no copyright restrictions on the number of times the same article can be viewed. These are different rules from Interlibrary Loan.

ACM, Project MUSE, Institute of Physics, Sage Premier Journals Online, and some other databases:

No special steps to take.

Follow a link to one of these companies' databases from the Journal Holdings List.

  1. Do a search for the title of the article in the database, omitting any initial article.
  2. Copy and past the citation information into your document
  3. Click on a link to the full text of the article.  Some databases have direct link for some full text formats but not others. If there is a PDF file with a durable link, use it instead of the HTML full text URL.
  4. Copy the URL for the page (on the "Location" line of the Web browser) into your document 
  5. Add EZProxy® coding. Format with HTML coding if needed.

Alexander Street Press, and some other databases:

No special steps to take.

These databases are not linked from the Journal Holdings List. Access via a list of databases.

  1. Do a search for the title of the entry in the database, omitting any initial article.
  2. Click on the link to the full text. 
  3. Copy the URL for this page (on the "Location" line of the Web browser) into your document, along with citation information.
  4. Add EZProxy® coding. Format with HTML coding if needed.

EBSCOhost databases: Persistent Links

Sometimes following the link to an Ebsco database from the Journal Holdings List results in a listing of articles from the desired periodical; other times it results in a list of databases.

  1. Either:
    • From a list of articles: Do not delete what appears in the textbox. Type AND, then a phrase from the article title in quotes in the textbox at the top of the display. Click on the Search button.
    • From a list of databases: Select the database named in the Journal Holdings List. Click on Advanced Search. Type a phrase from the article title in quotes in a textbox at the top of the display. Type the journal title in the Publication box. Click on the Search button.
  2. If there is a list of results, click on the article's title to view the item record.
  3. From the Persistent link to this record (Permalink) field, copy the URL and paste it into your document.
  4. From the Title and Source fields, copy the the citation information into your document.
  5. Add EZproxy® coding. Format with HTML coding if needed.

EMERALD (Electronic Management Research Library Database)

Follow a link to one of journals in this collection from the Journal Holdings List. 

  1. Type the article's title, omitting any initial article, into the textbox in the upper right corner of the display, and click on Go.
  2. Copy the citation information into Desire2Learn or other medium.
  3. Below the citation, click on the View PDF link.
  4. Copy the URL for this page (on the "Location" line of the Web browser) into your document.
  5. Add EZProxy® coding. Format with HTML coding if needed.
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Gale (Gale Virtual Reference Library, Literature Criticism Online)

These databases are not linked from the Journal Holdings List. Access via a list of databases.

Gale Virtual Reference Library

  1. Search using the Basic Search
  2. Click on the title of the entry you want
  3. Copy and paste the Source information into your document.
  4. Click on Bookmark this Document
  5. Copy the Bookmark URL
  6. Paste URL into Desire2Learn or other medium.
  7. Add EZProxy® coding. Format with HTML coding if needed.

Literature Criticism Online

  1. Search for title of work or author name in the Basic Search textbox
  2. Click on the title of the entry you want
  3. From below the displayed pages, copy the Source Citation into your document, including the URL
  4. Paste information into Desire2Learn or other medium.
  5. Add EZProxy® coding to the URL. Format with HTML coding if needed.

JSTOR Collection Arts & Sciences I, II & III Collections: Stable URL

Follow a link to one of journals in this collection from the Journal Holdings List.

  1. Type the article's title, omitting any initial article, into the textbox in the upper right corner of the display, and click on >
  2. Then either,
    • Copy the Stable URL, if there is one, or
    • Click on the Item Information link and copy the Stable URL
  3. Paste URL into Desire2Learn or other medium.
  4. Add EZProxy® coding. Format with HTML coding if needed.
  5. Copy and paste the citation information into your document.
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ProQuest Databases

Follow a link to one of journals from the Journal Holdings List.

  1. Click on the database named in the Journal Holdings List.
  2. In the textbox, type the article title, less any initial articles, in quotes.
  3. Click on the Search button.
  4. Click on the title of the desired article in the Results list.
  5. At the bottom of the Document View of the item record, locate the Document URL field, and copy the provided URL and paste it into your document.
  6. Add EZProxy® coding and additional citation information. You may wish to add a note instructing students to view the document in PDF format (if available). 
  7. Make URL smaller if needed (see Known Problems above).

WilsonWeb databases:

Follow a link to one of this company's databases from the Journal Holdings List.

  1. Type the article title, in quotes, in the textbox and click on the hour class button.
  2. Click on the title link for your article to bring up the article citation.
  3. Copy the Title and Source information from the top of the display and paste into your document.
  4. In the Persistent URL field near the bottom, click on either the Click to copy the PDF full text article link or the Click to copy the HTML full text article link.
  5. In the popup window click on the OK button.
  6. Paste the resulting URL into your document.
  7. Add EZProxy® coding. Format with HTML coding if needed.

Campus Research, Children's Literature Comprehensive Database, Gale (Associations Unlimited, Contemporary Authors), LexisNexis, and Science Direct

Unfortunately, these databases do not support durable URLs at this time.

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Detailed Steps for Articles

Step 1-Determine University Library Holdings

Identify whether the Library has an Internet subscription to the periodical that contains the desired article, a database that provides full text of the article, or a print subscription to the periodical containing the article.

The quickest way to do this is with the Citation Linker. Enter as much of the citation as is known into the form and click on the Find It button. You may read more about using this tool in the How to Use SFX: Find It & Citation Linker guide.

The Journal Holdings List may also be used. It is a customized list of all the periodicals available at UW-Whitewater in full-text (HTML), full page image (PDF), print and other formats. This list is arranged alphabetically by publication title and includes the dates ranges covered in various locations (if available). Links are provided to sources of online content. In some cases, the links lead directly to the desired online journal, where you may browse for the article. In other cases, the links lead to a database or a list of databases (you must select the one which contains the periodical), where you may search or browse for the article. Details about using specific databases are listed in the Proprietary Database Tips section below.

Example

  1. From the Library home page click on the link to the Journal Holdings List under Find Articles, Statistics
  2. Type a periodical title, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education in this example, in the Title text box and click on . Hints:
    • If there is an ampersand (&) in the title, try replacing it with the word "and"
    • If there is a colon (:) in the publication title, try typing only the words before it
    • Omit any initial articles, such as the, an, le, etc.
    • In the Results list holdings are noted thus:
      • If the Library does not subscribe to the periodical, as message such as "NO Assessment & evaluation in higher education Titles" appears. At this point, you may choose to order the article via Interlibrary Loan and request that it be put on print or electronic Course Reserves when it arrives, using the Course Reserve Request Form. Need instructions for linking to eReserves?
      • If the library does subscribe to the periodical, holdings statements will appear. Check the date of the article against the listed dates to see if it is available at any of the listed locations.
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Step 2-Locate Article

If Andersen Library subscribes to the periodical you seek in:

  1. Print or microform formats:
    You may photocopy the article and place it on print or electronic Course Reserves using the Course Reserve Request Form.
    Need instructions for linking to eReserves?
  2. Electronic formats:
    Click on the provided link. Because what happens at this point varies, examples for several of the major databases are listed under Proprietary Database Tips below. Search or browse for the desired article in the database that has opened. Often, the quickest search is by title or phrase (using words from the title). Some databases, such as in this example, bring up a list of volumes or issues, which may be browsed, by date.
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Step 3-Copy URL

Eventually, you will come to screen that offers a durable link for the article. Copy and paste this information into D2L or web page, including HTML coding if it is offered. In D2L, you will need to use a href coding in the HTML view to make the URL into a working link.

Example

This information is presented in the Academic Search Elite database from EBSCOhost®:

Persistent link to this record: http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2043966&db=afh

Step 4-Include Citation

The library recommends including the full article citation to the link for identification of the work. One reason students find the citation valuable is that they tend to cite course readings in their papers. Another is that if the link fails, they will be able to look up the article using the Citation Linker or the Journal Holdings List.

Example

This information was presented in the Academic Search Elite database from EBSCOhost®:

The Quest for the Holy Grail or Hunting the Snark? Bridging the quality-resources divide on effectiveness and efficiency. By: Livingstone, George, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, Jun99, Vol. 24, Issue 2, p. 249

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Step 5-Add EZProxy Coding

To enable off-campus access for UW-W students, faculty and staff, the library's EZProxy® server address < https://libproxy.uww.edu:9443/login?url= > must be added in front of the URL for each article from one of our proprietary databases or eReserves item. This will result in a proxy login prompt for off-campus users, requesting their login information. Depending on where this link is placed, HTML coding may also need to be added.

Example

Add EZProxy® coding:

Change:  http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2043966&db=afh

To:  https://libproxy.uww.edu:9443/login?url=http://search.epnet.com/direct.asp?an=2043966&db=afh

Step 6-Add Note

Because few databases allow links directly to the scanned text of an article (PDF), you will probably need to link to the HTML version of the text or citation. If this happens, you may wish to add a note to your link suggesting that students read the PDF version of the article, and explain how to open the PDF.

Example

After clicking on the link below, please click on the PDF Full Text link to read this article.

Step 7-Test Link

If possible, test your link from off-campus before the semester begins.

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For assistance, contact a reference librarian at (262) 472-1032, by email or chat or in person at the Library's Reference Desk.

Last Revised: MS - 11/12/2009