Re: Links to Alternative Full-Text Articles in Full Text Databases Gerry Mckiernan 20 Dec 2002 19:06 UTC
_Re: Links to Alternative Full-Text Articles in Full Text Databases_ In response to my recent posting regarding Links to Alternative Full-Text Articles in Full Text Databases [http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Web4Lib/archive/0212/0196.html], I received the following from EBSCO Publishing's chief technical officer, Oliver Pesch (OPesch@epnet.com), which I am reposting with his permission (see below) In addition, in a subsequent response to a related query, Oliver confirmed that linking to the original full-text was available in the EBSCOHost full-text database such as its _EBSCHost Academic Premier_ ( as well as from its versions of A&I databases) <QUOTE> Just to clarify that indeed the links to alternate full text will appear in full text databases as well as A&I databases. In fact in cases where full text is embargoed due to publisher restrictions, the SmartLinks does a nice job of providing direct access to the current content when an institution has a subscription. </QUOTE> Thanks, Oliver! /Gerry Gerry McKiernan Embargoed Librarian Iowa State University Ames IA 50011 gerrymck@iastate.edu DISCLAIMER This posting is for informational and educational purposes and does not constitute and endorsement *********************************************************** Hello Gerry I saw your posting the SERIALST about linking to Alternative full text. You mentioned EBSCOhost in your list so I thought I would respond (you can pass this on to the list if you wish). The answer for EBSCOhost is yes. We provide two linking technologies to allow a library to control links to full text (or alternate full text). SmartLinks allows for validated and rights checked links to e-journals articles. CustomLinks are 'calculated' links that a customer can configure to point to a number of targets including full text (JSTOR), document delivery, interlibrary loan, OpenURL link resolvers, etc. Our SmartLinks feature provides validated and rights checked access full text in E-Journals (as well as to articles in our aggregated databases -- which is important if you are searching an abstract & index databases, such as Econlit, and want access to the full text.) SmartLinks can find articles that are available through CrossRef (6 million or so) and as well we take advantage of our relationship with EBSCO Subscription Services and are able to provide links to the 3+ million articles that are available through EBSCOElectronic Journals Service. If a matching e-journal article is found by SmartLinks, it will verify that the customer has a subscription to thejournal before the link is shown. Subscription verification (rights checking) can be done automatically for journals subscribed to through EBSCO, or it can use a library supplied list of holdings. We recognize that the publisher's version of the full text may contain different information than that which we provide; therefore, we always display the SmartLink even if the record in question has full text as part of the database. [SmartLinks : http://www.ebscoweb.com/faqs/EBSCOHOST/519.html] The second feature we offer is called CustomLinks. Unlike SmartLinks (in which a search for a matching full text article is performed go find the link) CustomLinks works by allowing links to be calculated using a customer-controlled URL template. A customer can create URL templates for a wide variety of targets, including full text targets such as JSTOR. The appearance of these links (there can be more than one for a given record) can be controlled through the use of journal lists, presence of fields (e.g. only show this link if the record has an ISSN) or the existence of full text (e.g. hide an ILL link if the record has full text.) [CustomLinks: http://ejournals.ebsco.com/login.asp?Librarian=1 ] The net result is that a library can create and control alternate links to full text and other services. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to send me a note. Thanks, Oliver