Accessing Library Online Resources

Creating a persistent link (permanent, stable) directly to a journal article will depend on the source of the article. Is the source of the material from a publisher's site or through an aggregator?  Once this is established the EZProxy prefix (http://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=) is added to the item URL (link).  Please refer to the tip sheets at the left for information on creating or using persistent links from specific publishers/databases. 

NOTE: An ‘aggregator’ is a database that obtains the full-text of articles from various publishers and makes the full-text available directly from within a database.  Many of the EBSCO and ProQuest databases are 'aggregators'.  In some cases, the library may license full-text from a particular journal via the publisher website as well as from one or more aggregator databases.

If the full-text of an article is available from more than one source, use the following to guide your decision regarding which source to use:

1. If one of the sources of full-text is via the publisher website, link to this version.  In some cases, an item may have a DOI (digital object identifier) to link to full-text.  The DOI link will only work if the University of Alberta Library has a license for the journal via the publisher website.  See below for use of a DOI in linking to content.
2. If full-text is available via an Open Access source, link to this version.
3. If none of the sources of full-text includes the publisher website or an Open Access source, select an aggregator that includes the EZProxy prefix with its persistent links.

Use of the DOI (digital object identifier) to link to the full-text of an item.

• The DOI link will only link to full-text when the University of Alberta Library has a license for the journal via the publisher website.  If the access to full-text is via an aggregator database, do not use the DOI to link to full-text.
• If access is provided via a publisher website, and a DOI is available, use the following EZProxy prefix for the DOI:

https://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=https://dx.doi.org/

For example, the complete EZProxy link for an item, available through the publisher, with the DOI, 10.1038/NPHYS4274 is:

https://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NPHYS4274