What does this icon mean?

We know how frustrating it can be to locate a great citation, only to find that you can't get it in fulltext. We are always looking for ways to make it easier for our users to locate fulltext articles. The UOW Library icon is linked to some server software, known as an open URL resolver, which can help you find out whether fulltext is available for the citation you have found. In many cases it will take you right to the article. Sometimes you may just see a link with text such as "fulltext at UOW Library ", instead of an icon.

So every time I see that icon, fulltext is available?

Unfortunately, no. The graphic appears by default. It does not go through any test to see if we subscribe before it appears. You need to click on the UOW Library icon to see if you can access fulltext.

Where a database has its own fulltext, please use that link to fulltext even if the UOW Library icon is there.

Using UOW Library icon

Select a database for your search, in this example a search was done on Psycinfo on the Ovid platform. A record of interest is located.

Click on the UOW Librayr icon to start a search against Library subscriptions. A window like the one shown below will be displayed but the links available will vary.

For this article there is a link to the fulltext at the publisher, Oxford Journals Online, and a database, Proquest. There are links to the article and links to the journal title. Use the ones that go to the article. In this case we go to Oxford.

What if I just see an abstract?

Normally a link will take you to the title and abstract of the article. You will need to locate a link to a pdf copy of the article or sometimes an html fulltext version. The example above shows a link to the pdf.

For very recent articles the fulltext may not yet be loaded. This will be more likely with sites that licence other publishers' material, for example Proquest, Gale and Informit fulltext databases.

Contact the Electronic Services Librarian using the link at the bottom of this page if you find links to articles the Library does not subscribe to.

Getting back to the database

Your browser will normally have opened separate windows to show links and to display the site where the article is located. Close these windows and that should take you back to your search in the database. If you do not close the windows when finished you may find that the next lot of fulltext of articles you want next will open on other windows and not be obvious to you. With Ovid databases it is necessary to click to go back to the previous page to return to your search

When there is just a link to the catalogue

This means that we have not been able to identify any subscription that you can access directly. Not all publishers have enabled this technology or we may only subscribe to the title in print.

Do a journal title search in the catalogue and see if we have any access.

If you discover that we do not subscribe to that journal for the volume and date you require, document delivery may be an option for clients who are entitled to use this service.

Sometimes there are other links to fulltext in the databases

Yes, we have set up links directly to fulltext from our databases where possible. You can use the other links if you prefer.

Trouble shooting

I end up at the publisher site but not at the article

You may find that the link has just taken you to a contents list of the right issue. You should be able to find the article just by scrolling down the page.

If you are just taken to the journal title it will be necessary to go to the correct volume and issue and scroll through to the article you require

If you just get to the publisher site, browse by journal name and then by volume and issue.

There is no link to fulltext. See above, "What if I just see an abstract?"

The link doesn't work

If you get to the site and get some sort of error message, you may be able to access the browse or search links and locate the article that way. If you can't, try going back to the Resolution Server window and use a link to the catalogue to at least get to the right title on the site and browse from there.

If the link times out it may be best to go in via the catalogue also. It is probably a faulty link.

Some databases can provide good links for a publisher but others cannnot do so for the same publisher

That is right. We are still configuring our resolver and publishers are sending us different details in their links. We are looking into this but WebBridge will probably still remain imperfect but extremely useful despite this.

How does the resolver work?

This is strictly for the curious.

Open URL technology sends various elements of metadata and identifiers relevant to publications in the form of a URL known as an Open URL. This is directed to a local Open URL link resolver, which checks against holdings files and if the Library subscribes, generates a link to the journal article, book chapter etc. It is possible to put links to other services, such as catalogues or bookshops if appropriate. Some of these features are best integrated with a user authentication system that allows different levels of user authorisation, so that research students or academic staff are offered different links to those for undergraduate students.

More information about Open URL and the standard on which it relies may be found on this page, prepared by the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the USA.