Creating Persistent Links to Articles and More

If you want your students to link directly to an article, image, or other item in one of the library’s databases, you must create for them what is called a persistent link. A persistent link is a specific URL that will link straight to the item that you want them to access. The method to create a persistent link varies somewhat among the different databases the library provides, but here are two commonly used collections of full-text articles as examples. If you need help creating a persistent link to an article in a database not listed here, or if you have any questions about this process, please contact your Gardner-Harvey Library staff.

EBSCOhost Databases

1. Locate the article by searching an EBSCO database such as Academic Search Complete.

2. When you have located an article, click on the title to access the article display page, where you can view the full citation record of the article. On the right side of the screen there will be a button labeled "Permalink." Click on this button to display the permalink. Copy the exact link that is provided.

Example: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=70245062&site=ehost-live

3. The link you just copied will work for any student who is on-campus. If you want students to have off-campus access to the article, you need to add the proxy server login to the front of that URL. Just add the following text to the link you created in Step Two: https://proxy.lib.miamioh.edu/login?url=

Using the example link in Step Two above, your link now looks like this: https://proxy.lib.miamioh.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=70245062&site=ehost-live

This link will work fine both on or off-campus (students clicking the link on-campus will not be prompted to enter their Unique IDs and passwords).

4. You can then paste this link into your Niihka course site for students to access the article.

Electronic Journal Center

1. First, find the article you want in the Electronic Journal Center: https://journals.ohiolink.edu.

2. Open the article description by clicking on the title of the article to which you wish to link.

3. Copy the link of the article description page from the address window of your internet browser.

Here’s a sample URL:  https://journals.ohiolink.edu/ejc/article.cgi?issn=02664909&issue=v28i0002&article=114_olmsapmfhe

(Do not copy the URL of the PDF or HTML full text itself, because this URL changes.)

4. The link you just copied will work for any student who is on-campus. If you want students to have off-campus access to the article, you need to add the proxy server login to the front of that URL. Just add the following text to the link you created in Step Three: http://proxy.lib.miamioh.edu/login?url=

Using the example link in Step Three above, your link now looks like this: https://proxy.lib.miamioh.edu/login?url=http://journals.ohiolink.edu/ejc/article.cgi?issn=02664909&issue=v28i0002&article=114_olmsapmfhe

This link will work fine both on or off-campus (students clicking the link on-campus will not be prompted to enter their Unique IDs and passwords).

5. You can then paste this link into your Niihka course site for students to access the article.