Have you ever found a great article or an eBook that you wanted to pass along for your students to read? So, you copy and paste the URL and later you find out it doesn’t open correctly? I have talked to some of you already about bookmarking or copying the correct URL. There is a link on our library faculty resource page to describe certain instances: How to Bookmark E-Journal articles.
Not all pages that we view on the Internet are the same. Static URLS remain at the same address but dynamic pages change, meaning they won’t be there when you come back the next time to view that information. The items in databases, like the OPAL catalog or EBSCO, move around. I can’t explain how, they just do.
Besides databases, we have to contend with on-campus vs. off-campus Internet sites. Under vocabulary tab I told you about proxy servers. So, if the URL works on campus (which is automatically authorized) it may not work off-campus if you need permission to use a database. An off-campus URL sometimes must have the proxy address inserted before the article address.
You may also be interested in some copyright information from the U.S. Copyright office
On Sakai, post bookmarks instead of whole articles or citations. Of course I am promoting library usage! And, usage includes each time someone looks at a journal article or eBook online! It will save time for students and it will make you look pretty smart.
Contact me to see if an existing article you want is available full text in a database. I can also help construct the URLS for you to post on Sakai.