Creating Direct Links to Online Articles in Blackboard

Contents:

For help with questions not answered here, please email or call:
Kathi Rickert | kdrickert@stkate.edu | x8738

(If you don't want to mess with this and just want a librarian to create the link for you, call or email Kathi. Let me know what your article is and I'll make the link and send it to you.)

Why would faculty want to do this?

• As an alternative to using electronic reserves for providing access to relevant journal articles
• As a convenience for faculty, since they can do this themselves
• As a convenience for students (one-stop shopping in Blackboard, a familiar tool)
  

Where can direct links be inserted in Blackboard?

• Directly into the online syllabi
• Under "Course documents"
• Under "External links"
• Wherever faculty feels students are apt to find and use them

What are the challenges of creating direct links?

• Different terminology and procedures among databases: may be called a persistent, durable, direct URL, stable link or document link
• Some databases do not allow direct linking (e.g., Lexis Nexis)
• Vendors can (and do!) change their interfaces with little or no notice
• Link must provide off-campus access, so it must link the user to EZProxy (as explained in B, below)

Steps in creating direct or persistent links

A. EBSCO Databases (including Academic Search Premier, Business Source, CINAHL, Health Source, etc.):

While looking at the article citation, locate and copy the Persistent link to the citation. (Note that this link already contains the EZProxy URL.) Copy this link and paste it into your Blackboard course -- be sure to test it to make sure it works.

B. ProQuest Databases (including ProQuest Education Journals, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, and ProQuest Newspapers):

From the text+graphics display or full text display, scroll to the bottom of the window and locate the Document URL. Copy this link and paste it into your Blackboard course -- be sure to test it to make sure it works.

C. Other Full Text Databases:

1. Open Word and paste this partial URL onto a blank page: http://pearl.stkate.edu/login?url=
(this preface to the URL will link the user to EZProxy, allowing on- or off-campus access).

2. Open a Web browser and locate the citation of the article to which you will link.
(Note: the URL to the article citation is usually shorter than the URL to the article itself, and there will be a link to the article.) See the example below.

3. Locate the persistent/stable/direct/jumpstart link (the exact term may vary). The persistent link is often found in the article citation, although sometimes you will need to use the article URL. Copy this link.

4. Paste the link into your Word page after http://pearl.stkate.edu/login?url=

Remove any extra coding or spaces. Copy the entire URL and paste it into a Web browser to test it.

5. Test the URL. If you are doing this from on-campus, you should be taken directly to the citation, which will contain a link to the article. If you are off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your CSC network login (username and most current password), then you will be taken to your article citation.

6. You're now ready to paste your complete URL into Blackboard course!

What will the direct link look like?

The persistent link you will paste into Blackboard may be quite long!

1. Begin with the EZProxy URL: http://pearl.stkate.edu/login?url=

2. Copy the Persistent or Stable link, which may look like this:

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0899-2851%28200023%290%3A216%3C9%3ARGWABA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23

3. Now paste it after the EZProxy URL. The finished URL will look something like this:

http://pearl.stkate.edu/login?url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0899-2851%28200023%290%3A216%3C9%3ARGWABA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-%23

Be sure to test the link before adding it to your Blackboard course. If it works -- great!! If it doesn't, don't give up.
Read on about Troubleshooting, or call Kathi, x8738.

Troubleshooting: what to do if your link doesn't work

Problem: The link doesn't go to the article.
Double-check the URL. Delete any extra code that is contained in the article URL.

Problem: The article link works from on-campus, but not from off-campus.
Are you remembering to insert the EZProxy preface to the article URL?

Problem: I can't find anything that says it's a "persistent link."
Try putting the article on your screen and copying the URL that shows in the browser address window. If you test this and it doesn't work, it may be that this database doesn't allow linking. Call a librarian for assistance.

(Note: In Ovid databases, bring up the full text article, then select the link Email Jumpstart. Copy the URL following: The Jumpstart URL is: and paste it after = in the EZProxy partial URL.)

(If you don't want to mess with this and just want a librarian to create the link for you, call or email Kathi. Let me know what your article is and I'll make the link and send it to you.)