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Persistent Links/Permalinks: Home

How to create a stable link from library resources

How to Use This Guide

This guide has been designed to help you create persistent links or permalinks for the variety of electronic resources available here at Odum Library. 

 

Organization

 

Each tab of this guide corresponds with a topic or database/database vendor and will describe how to locate the permalink as well as any additional link formatting that is required to reliably share with other students, faculty, or staff at Valdosta State. 

 

Overview

 

Continue scrolling on this page to learn more about persistent links/permalinks including: 

  • Why Should I Use Permalinks? 
  • Parts of a Permalink
  • When to Proxy 
  • Shortening Your Permalink 

 

Permalinks

What is a Permalink? 

 

A permalink or a persistent link is a stable URL that should not break or change. 

 

Benefits of Permalinks

 

TIME

  • Saves time for you, your students, or colleagues. 

 

RELIABLE

  • More reliable - A permalink is a stable link that should not break or change. 
    • The link in the address bar of a website can change - breaking your link. 
    • When using Odum Library databases, the link in the address bar is generated from that specific search  and will expire soon after. 

 

CONVENIENT

  • Most databases will have the ability to create a permalink. 
    • Explore the tabs on the top of this page to see how to create the permalink in specific databases and library resources. 

 

  • Can be used in BlazeVIEW, web sites, reading lists, and e-mails. 

 

Drawbacks of Permalinks

 

EXTRA STEP SOMETIMES NEEDED

  • Not all database generated permalinks are created equal.
    • To ensure that VSU students, faculty, and staff can access a specific full-text article from a library database or electronic journal from anywhere (on campus or off campus), you may need to add a proxy to the database generated permalink. 
      • Good news! This guide  will explain how to find the permalink in various databases and any additional steps. Explore the tabs at the top of the page for resource-specific information. 

 

 

 

Components of a Proxied Link

 

When creating a reliable link that VSU students, staff, and faculty can access from anywhere (on campus or off campus), there needs to be two components:

 

  • The proxy prefix indicated in orange below. 

 

  • The target URL indicated in green below. 

 

 

Proxy Prefix 

 

With the switch to OpenAthens, prefix visibility can vary depending on the database

 

In most cases, the proxy prefix will  look like this:  https://go.openathens.net/redirector/valdosta.edu?url=

 

 

Target URL

 

The target URL will change depending on the item (article, ebook, etc.) that you want to link to. 

 

A screenshot from OpenAthens Link generator.  The Target URL and proxy prefix in the generated link  are highlighted. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/valdosta.edu?url=is highlighted in orange and labeled as the proxy prefix. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9775-40 is highlighted in green and labeled as the Target URL

 

 

Example

 

 

JSTOR provides a Stable URL. This Stable URL is your target URL and a component of your permalink. Notice that this Stable URL does not include the proxy prefix.  

 

  • To make this Stable URL (Target URL) from JSTOR, a reliable link to embed in BlazeVIEW or an e-mail, we will need to add the proxy prefix. 

 

The proxied permalink will look like this:

https://go.openathens.net/redirector/valdosta.edu?url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/483319

 

  • If VSU faculty, staff, or students access the link from off campus, they will be asked to log in through MyVSU. If Valdosta State University has access to the article, this ensures that students will be able to access From Knots to Narratives without being asked to pay money to read it. 

 

 

Result from JSTOR, there is an arrow pointing to the Stable URL, this is the permalink.

 

When to Proxy

 

Whether or not you need to proxy your permalink depends on the resource you are trying to share.

 

No Proxy Needed

 

  • “Open” Internet

 

Items you find on the “open” Internet that anybody could access without a subscription or login do not need to be proxied.

 

  • Free Library Collections

 

Some items may be linked through the library catalog, however, these free library collections do not require a subscription or login and thus do not need to be proxied.

Included below are examples of collections or databases that would appear in the library catalog, GIL-Find@VSU, but would not require a proxy. 

 

  • Open Access Journals
  • Open Access Books
  • Project MUSE Open Access Books
  • Springer Open Access Journals (SpringerOpen Free)
  • SpringLink Open Access eBooks)
  • HathiTrust (Open Access Resources)
  • Reveal Digital Independent Voices
  • Open Access Music
  • Open Access Periodicals 
  • Singe Journals
  • Digital Commons Online Journals
  • Free Medical Journals
  • Free E-Journals
  • Oral History Association Publications
  • Wiley Online Library Open Access Free 2013
  • Wiley Online Library Free Backfiles
  • Taylor & Francis Open Access
  • Sage Journals Open Access Journals
  • PubMed Central Open Access
  • JSTOR Early Journal Content Free
  • Highwire Press Free
  • DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Bio One Free
  • Georgia Government Publications
  • U.S. Government Information
  • Open Access Databases

 

Special Collections and Archives Collections

 

Some items may be linked through the library catalog, however, these free library collections do not require a subscription or login and thus do not need to be proxied.

 

  • Online Exhibits (Valdosta State University)
  • Vtext (NAMOSRL)
  • Fraser (FRASER publications)
  • Vtext (Slavery Papers and Speeches)
  • Vtext (Odum Library Faculty Research and Teaching Materials)
  • IAPSOP (International Association for the Preservation  of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals)
  • Open Access Periodicals (VSU Student Publications)
  • Vtext (Georgia Collection)
  • Vtext (Dissertations and Theses)
  • Vtext (Miscellaneous Georgia Publications)
  • Vtext (Demorest’s Family Magazine)
  • Vtext (Digitized Books Collection)
  • Vtext (Civil Rights Collection)

 

Questions

 

Want to find a permalink for an item or document?

Unsure about whether a link would need a proxy?

Need assistance creating a proxied permalink?

 

Use our Live Chat service or contact sepaul@valdosta.edu or jessicalee@valdosta.edu

 

 

Instructions for finding the persistent link varies according to database/database vendor. This section of the guide will help you identify what tab to select for finding and sharing a persistent link. 

Strategies for Identifying Databases

 

Icon

Icons for databases can typically be found in the top left corner. It may include the database company name (EBSCO,  ProQuest) in addition to  the name of the database. 

 

Address Bar

Looking at the contents of the address bar can provide additional clues. 

 

Ask A Librarian

If you have any questions, we're happy to help! Try our Live Chat service to chat with a VSU librarian: https://www.valdosta.edu/academics/library/general/live-chat.php 

Permalinks can be quite long. You can shorten them by using a service that shortens the URL.

 

URL Shortening Web Services

 

 

If you need assistance locating an appropriate resource that Valdosta State University has access to: 

 

Contact the Reference Department

 

Visit our Using the Library research guide 

 

Try our Live Chat