Links, Links Everywhere: Supporting Creation of Reliable Access URLS

Creating reliable links to library resources is a challenging task, for patrons and library personnel alike! Databases have different linking requirements, ranging from identifying the correct base URL to revising the URL for remote authentication. Often, databases’ built-in linking features are unreliable, especially for off-campus users. Linking isn’t just a technical issue, it’s an equity issue. To address this challenge, we have developed a dedicated “Linking to Library Resources” guide that includes unique link creation tutorials for each database we support. These linking tutorials appear in our database detailed descriptions, library personnel use them for staff training and reference, and liaison librarians share them with faculty when creating URLs for their courses. This poster presents challenges of creating reliable access URLs, looks at the “Linking to Library Resources” guide and tutorials in detail, and considers different ways this resource can be used to support equitable access to library resources.