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Faculty & Staff Resources at Kistler Library

Are you a new member of Rosemont College's faculty, or a returning member looking to learn more about using the Library for your courses? View this guide to learn about the resources and support available to you from Kistler Library.

Linking Directly to Library Electronic Resources

If you want to link directly to an e-book or online journal article in a course, you must follow two steps::

  1. Locate and copy the permanent or persistent link to the resource.
  2. Ensure that the link will pass through the Library's proxy server when a student clicks it.

Step 1: Many of our online databases, like Project Muse, JSTOR, PsycINFO/PsycARTICLES, and CREDO Reference, create "stable" URLs for each of their resources. This means that in these databases, you can simply copy and paste the address from the URL bar at the top of the screen.

However, in other databases, you may see a Permalink or Persistent URL provided. (See examples from EBSCOhost and the ACLS Humanities E-Book Collection at right.) If you do, use this URL to make certain that you are linking directly to the resource.

Step 2: Once you have a link to the book and article, you need to add information that will ensure students pass through the Library's proxy server when they click it. This is extremely important, because passing through the proxy server gives students the opportunity to enter their Rosemont email address and password, to prove they are authorized to access Rosemont's resources. If you simply provide the link without the proxy server information, students won't be able to view the resource from off-campus.

You can use the simple tool below to convert any permalink to a book or article into one that passes through the proxy server. Paste the permalink into the box marked "URL to be proxied," click Create Proxied URL, and a new URL will appear in the box marked "Proxied URL." Copy and paste this new URL for use in your course.

NOTE:The new URL that appears may wrap onto multiple lines! If the URL seems to cut off at the end, check to see whether there's more text hidden below.

 Image: Location of Permalink option on EBSCOhost.
Permalink on EBSCO
Image: Location of Permalink option on ACLS Humanities E-Books.
Permalink on ACLS Humanities E-Books


 

 

Saving and Re-uploading Documents

Another option for sharing articles from the Library with your class is to save a copy of the resource to your computer, and upload it to the course. If you choose to use this method, however, please see the following copyright section.

We also advise against sharing full e-books this way, both for copyright reasons and issues of practicality. If you wish to share an e-book from the Library with your class, please follow the instructions for linking to a resource above.

You can save a full-text article in one of two ways:

  1. As a PDF.
  2. As HTML.

Saving as a PDF is generally the easier way. Locate the article you want, click the PDF Full Text option, and open the article PDF. You can then hover your mouse near the bottom of the screen to bring up this toolbar:

Image: PDF toolbar.

Click the floppy disk icon to save the PDF to your computer.

If PDF full text is not available, however, you can save as HTML. To do so, first open the full-text article as a web page. Then you can either select Save As from the File menu, or right-click on the text and select Save As. You can save the file as either  "Web Page, Complete" or "Web Page, HTML only," but if the article includes special features or media, you may wish to choose "Complete" to make sure all elements are saved.  In this case, when you upload the file later, you should also include the folder of Web Page Files that saved along with the HTML document.

Reproduction and Copyright

Whenever possible, linking to Library resources is always best practice, rather than downloading and re-uploading the files. If you must upload a copy of an article to your course, however, please follow these protocols:

  1. ONLY reproduce the work in Canvas. Avoid emailing the work directly to students, and do not under any circumstances upload it to a location or website that is available to the general public, without a Rosemont login.
  2. Use as little of the original work as possible. Articles rather than full journal issues, chapters rather than full books, etc.
  3. Include full citation information for any work you reproduce. This information should, if possible, be embedded in the filename, or otherwise inextricable from the document itself.
  4. Include a copyright notice for any work you reproduce. This notice should acknowledge the copyright holder of the original work, state your intention to reproduce the work only for educational purposes, and prohibit further reproduction of the work beyond personal use.

These principles also apply to any resources from your personal collection that you may wish to scan and upload to your course. Resources shared with students for educational purposes should follow the guidelines for Fair Use at all times. For more information on how to determine Fair Use, see the Fair Use notice from the United States Copyright Office.

Villanova University's Office of the Vice President and General Counsel also has a Copyright guide available. The guide includes information on the TEACH Act, which has implications for resources in distance learning. If you have questions or need further information on copyright issues, please contact a librarian.

Click here to visit a Copyright Guide for Librarians written by the US Copyright Office at the Library of Congress.

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