Linking to Library Resources

Introduction
How to determine whether a resource is available off campus
Specific resources:
Tips & Troubleshooting

Introduction

Creating direct links into electronic library resources can prove more challenging than simply linking to the front page of the resources site. The end result, however, makes the time creating these links well spent - whether it be a direct link from a subject page to a vital journal article in Ovid or a time-saving link from FLO to a journal in Infotrac (Academic ASAP).

Direct links to resources can be used in a variety of ways:

Bypassing the "front page" screens and logging users directly into specific search screens or databases.
As a shortcut to supplying results on commonly researched topics (by linking to predefined searches).
As a shortcut to specific fulltext articles.
As a shortcut to table of contents pages or journal issue listings in a fulltext journal database.

The types of links you can make depends on the capabilities of the providor of the resource. Details of how to link to several of the most popular electronic resources are given below.

How to determine whether a resource is available off campus

Before making a link to a resource you should make sure that it is available both on and off campus. If it is absolutely necessary to link to a resource which is only available on campus you should clearly indicate that this is the case (saves many irate phonecalls!).

Webpage

On the a-z list of full-text resources, those which are NOT available off campus are identified as " On campus access only ".

For example: On the list of full-text resources starting with the letter "A", the Proquest journal "ABA Trust Lettery" is available off campus however the Blackwell journal, "Abacus" is not.

ABA Trust Letter October 1994 - December 2006 Source: ProQuest 5000
Abacus Current & previous year only On campus access only Source: Ingenta (Blackwell Standard Online)

Library Catalogue

Catalogue records for journals which are not available off campus will incorporate the following statement (or similar):

Available on campus only at the URL provided.

Infotrac (Academic ASAP)

The InfoTrac InfoMark

enables you to link to Infotrac pages and resources. The URL of any page on which the InfoMark appears is safe to use as a link from your pages.

Providing the InfoMark appears, you can make a number of different links:

Links to Articles: Use the URL of the article page to create a reference to an article.
Predefined Searches: Any search which produces citations can be saved. Each time the saved link is selected, the search will be run anew, so the results are always fresh. To create a predefined search, save the URL at the citation list page (the page with a list of articles matching the search).
Search Setup: You can create a link to search interface (with selected resource(s) and search method) by saving a search page InfoMark.
Reading List: You can create a "reading list" or similar application by performing a search, selecting the desired citations from the result, and saving the mark list page InfoMark. The link will provide a shortcut back to a list of the selected citations. From there, articles can be retrieved.

Further information is available on the Infotrac site (click on the InfoMark on any page).

Our ezproxy prefix should be added to infotrac urls, to enable Flinders staff and students off campus access to our resources. Just add http://ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/login?url= to the beginning of any Infotrac URLs.

Proquest

Proquest have enabled open url linking, so to link to an article or journal in Proquest, all you need to do is search for what you need - then copy the resulting URL.
Then add our ezproxy prefix to the URL - http://ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/login?url=

For the article -
Who's who in post-war Iraq
FT.com. London: Jul 11, 2003. p. 1
The Resulting URL will look like this;
http://ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=000000357758761&SrchMode =1&sid=2&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1058765175&clientId=20831

Ovid

Link to the Library's OVID Gateway
Link directly into Ovid using Jumpstart URLs
Linking to OVID from within FLO

Link to OVID Gateway

This link will take users to the Ovid Gateway located on the library site which contains information about OVID and how to access the service as well as links to each OVID resource. The Ovid Gateway is located at URL: http://www.lib.flinders.edu.au/resources/databases/ovid

Using Jumpstart URLs to link to OVID

"Jumpstart" is OVID Technologies name for URLs which can be constructed and used as shortcuts to various functions and areas of the OVID Web interface. These URLs can be created and used by anyone who has access into an OVID server. Brief instructions on how to assemble these URLs are given below.

Required Elements

NOTE: In the directions which follow, the URLs are case sensitive and no spaces are allowed.

To start assembling a Jumpstart URL for an OVID database use the following base URL -

http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS

Selected Optional Elements

NAME	ALLOWED VALUES
&MODE=	&MODE=ovid - the default Advanced OVID interface
&MODE=	&MODE=easy - Easy Mode
&PAGE=	&PAGE=dblist - sends the user to the Database List page
	&PAGE=main - sends the user to the search page of a requested database. Must be used followed by the element below, which tells the system which database to use. &D= database nickname Database nicknames for OVID databases
	&PAGE=titles - performs a search and sends the user to the Titles Display page. Must be used with the following elements: &D= database nickname &SEARCH= search words Database nicknames for OVID databases search words are the words in your search. Multiple words are separated with "+" between them.
	&PAGE=fulltext - loads a full text article. Must use the following elements: &D= database nickname &AN= Accession Number Database nicknames for OVID databases You can find an Accession Number on the article's Complete Reference display page.
&LOGOUT=	&LOGOUT=y - logs user out of system once search/display is complete. This is an optional element best used with the PAGE=fulltext option. It is designed to supply the user with an article but then free the system for other users.
&NEWS=	&NEWS=N - skip News page
&NEWS=	&NEWS=Y - stop at News page first

Samples

The following URL will send the user directly into the full Medline database on the Ovid server, in Advanced Mode, after displaying a news page (if available):

http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&D=mesz&PAGE=main&NEWS=y

The following URL will supply the user with a fulltext article titled "Making it all better" by Nick Lipley, in the Nursing Standard Volume 13(42),7-13 July 1999, pp 12-13.

http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&NEWS=n&PAGE=fulltext&D=ovft&AN=00002311-199907070-00027&LOGOUT=y

More Information

Other Jumpstart options are available and described in the OVID Online documentation.

Once you have completed your OVID url you will need to add the Library's ezproxy prefix to the url -
http://ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/login?url=
This will enable Flinders staff and students to authenticate to gain access to our resources. If you don't add this, anyone without a Flinders IP address will be denied access.

Linking to OVID from FLO : seamless access for remote users

When linking from FLO to OVID you can construct your link so that off campus (non Flinders IP address) users have seamless access (ie they will not be prompted for a username and password). Seamless access can be provided as users will have been authenticated when logging onto FLO. To create seamless links, our ezproxy prefix is added to the jumpstart url:

http://ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/login?url=

Thus the following URL, which includes the ezproxy prefix, sends the user to the Ovid database list in Advanced mode:

http://ezproxy.flinders.edu.au/login?url=http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&MODE=ovid&PAGE=dblist

Tips & Troubleshooting

Regularly check your links. The fluidity of electronic publishing means that availability often changes rapidly.
To copy a link: click on the link and hold your mouse button down (Mac Users) or right click on the link (PC users). If you then choose the "Copy this link location" option you can paste the link into your page.

FLO Main Index

Please direct all comments to author,
Tony Nicholson,
Network Support
Flinders University Library.