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Stable URLs

Faculty: providing your students with a stable URL for books, articles and electronic reserve items gives them fast access to the readings without having them come into the library. This guide talks about the nuts and bolts of constructing these URLs.

Intro

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Providing your students with a stable URL for books, articles and electronic reserve items gives them fast access to the readings without having them come into the library.  This guide talks about the nuts and bolts of constructing these URLs. Some notes:

  • Stable URLs can be shared in the same ways any string of data can be shared: sent in an email, posted on a website, made into a link on a Canvas page.
  • They are great advantage to students in online classes, as they do not require the student to be physically present on campus (unless the target source is in hard copy).
  • These resources are free of charge to you and your students. Consider participating in our campus-wide Affordable Learning Initiative by substituting online readings for something the students usually have to buy (textbooks).
  • Using authentication (our password system) ensures that you are not violating copyright.
  • Stable URLs are sometimes called "persistent" or "permanent URLs", but to be honest many of them are not permanent.
  • Be forewarned that guide is about extremely picky details, and involves the accurate pasting of data from one source to the next.
  • Many of these situations create long URLs, so consider using a URL shortening service.
  • You will need to test these links from off campus.
  • You should be aware that there are many changes that occur that are out of anyone's direct control, so a stable URL may suddenly become unusable: always keep a bibliographic citation to the work on hand in case you have to rebuild the link.