Creating Persistent Links to Wayne State University Library Resources What is a Persistent Link?

The links to articles, books and book chapters in library databases are often dynamically created. That is why you cannot just copy and paste the URL from the Address box into Blackboard. Additionally, links to articles in restricted library databases need to include the EZ Proxy prefix so off-campus authenticated users can access the restricted resources. You can use the database provided persistent link or a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) to create your persistent link. Following are instructions for creating EZ Proxy authenticated persistent links to copy into your Blackboard site or course website.

Creating a Persistent Link directly from a Library Database

Many databases have specific instructions for creating persistent links to articles. Remember, you must insert the following prefix in before the persistent link URL (no spaces) to add our EZ Proxy Authentication to the persistent link http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url= Persistent links are identified through a variety of names and buttons in the databases. Some of those include: Permalink Link Pickup Bookmark Stable URL Document URL Persistent URL

If you cannot locate a persistent URL in the database you are using, please contact Ask-ALibrarian for assistance.

To create a persistent link from a library database:

1. Highlight and copy the entire persistent link provided by the database. Sometimes these can be quite long. 2. Paste the link into Blackboard (either Text Box for an ITEM or URL box if an EXTERNAL LINK) or on a Word Document. 3. Insert the following prefix in before the persistent link URL (no spaces) http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url= (This adds our proxy server authentication script) You can use CREATE ARTICLE LINK under COURSE TOOLS in Blackboard to create a link containing the library prefix, which you can copy into your Blackboard course Example: If the persistent link for your document is http://www.jstor.org/stable/4151533 The hyperlink would be: http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/4151533
Where: http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url= http://www.jstor.org/stable/4151533 is the WSU Proxy Authentication Script is the persistent link provided by the database

Students are then taken to a page where they can select the PDF link to access the full text of the document.

Creating Persistent Links to Wayne State University Library Resources

Creating a Persistent Link using a DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

The DOI (or Digital Object Identifier) is a standardized method for identifying an electronic object. Publishers are increasingly using DOIs to uniquely identify articles, book chapters, or any other objects in their databases. When available, the DOI is the preferred method of linking to a document because it is platform independent and will never change. Look for the DOI or doi: in the bibliographic record or the article full text page. The format for a DOI looks something like this:

To create a persistent link using a DOI:

4. Highlight and copy the entire DOI number provided for the document 5. Paste the DOI into Blackboard (either Text Box for an ITEM or URL box if an EXTERNAL LINK) on a Word Document 6. Insert the following prefix in before the DOI URL (no spaces) http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/ (This adds our proxy server authentication script and the DOI link script) You can use CREATE ARTICLE LINK under COURSE TOOLS in Blackboard to create a link containing the library prefix, which you can copy into your Blackboard course Example: If the DOI for your document is doi:10.1016/j.jinteco.2004.07.002 The hyperlink would be: http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2004.07.002
Where: http://proxy.lib.wayne.edu/login?url= http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/J.JINTECO.2004.07.002 is the WSU Proxy Authentication Script is the DOI resolver script is the DOI

Students are then taken to a page where they can select the PDF link to access the full text of the document.

HOT TIP: DOI Lookup

A form which allows you to retrieve Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for journal articles, books, and chapters by cutting and pasting the reference is available at http://www.crossref.org/freeTextQuery/