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Research Guides

ULGuides: Linking

Tips for creating links to various library resources

Using the Proxy Prefix

To enable access from off campus locations, you will need to add the following prefix to the persistent link:

https://login.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/login?url=

 

Example:

Here is a link to an article we should have access to: https://doi.org/10.1119/1.12478

If you want an OU faculty, staff, or student to be able to access this article off campus you would add the prefix as follows:

https://login.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/login?url=https://doi.org/10.1119/1.12478

Caution: Be careful when you are creating the link to only create one link. A common error when creating links in Word, Outlook, or similar software that does auto-formatting or auto-correcting is for the first part (before the equals sign) to be automatically made into a link before the actual link is added. If this happens the first part of the link will take you to the authentication service and the second part will take you to the unproxied resource.

Creating a Proxy Bookmarklet

If you are doing research off-campus and not through the library website, it can be helpful to have a bookmarklet tool that will allow you to apply the proxy with just a click.

How It Works:

  1. Install the proxy bookmarklet in your browser’s bookmark toolbar.
  2. When you come across an article that doesn’t recognize that you are affiliated with OU (i.e., you’re prompted to pay for it), click the proxy bookmarklet in your bookmark toolbar.
  3. You will be prompted to login using your OUNetID (4x4) and password.
  4. If the Library has access to this item, the page will reload showing new links for viewing or downloading your article.

Caution: When clicked, this bookmarklet attempts to use the library’s proxy server to view whatever page you are looking at. Not all will work, but it is a handy way of checking whether we have a subscription to a database you've found through a general Internet search.

To Create the Bookmarklet:

Highlight the following text, then drag and drop it on your bookmark toolbar in your browser. A window will open for you to create a bookmark. Name it whatever makes sense for you and save your changes.

javascript:void(location.href='https://login.ezproxy.lib.ou.edu/login?url='+location.href)

To Use the Bookmarklet:

Navigate to the URL of the resource you want to proxy, click your Proxy Bookmark and the proxy will be applied to the URL.

Example:

Before proxy applied:

After proxy applied:

If you encounter an Unknown Host error (see image below) during this process, we most likely do not have a license for that content.