University of New England - Innovation for a Healthier Planet

Services & Spaces

Share Online Resources

Avoid sending PDF copies of online library resources when sharing with students or colleagues – provide a persistent link instead.

Create a persistent link

A persistent link ensures that students can access the content at any time and from on or off campus.

From Library Search Results

From your library search results, look for Permalink from the details page you see when you click on a title; it will be located at the bottom of the Tools section on the right-side of the screen. URLs copied from your browser will not work when shared with others.

From a Database or Journal

Be sure that you are accessing the resource through the UNE Library website so that our paid subscriptions will be recognized when someone follows the link. If the URL begins with “https://une.idm.oclc.org/login?url=” the link can be shared or look for permanant link, permalink, or direct link on the page and use this to share the resource.

Why this is important

Share our licensed online materials as links rather than copies because:

License Restrictions

We contract with vendors to make information resources available. Some vendor licenses specifically prohibit PDF sharing, and we are bound to operate under those licenses. Because it is onerous to track which resources prohibit PDF sharing, we always encourage providing links.

Use Statistics

We continually review cost-per-use statistics for the resources we manage for the UNE community. We must often choose to not renew subscriptions to journals and databases with little use. Downloading and sharing a PDF with a class shows one use rather than the many uses that would result from students accessing the article themselves. Without accurate use statistics, we can’t know that a particular resource is needed.

Content Updates

Corrections, retractions, and related materials are typically found at the publication source; a downloaded copy won’t have these available.

Questions & Help

If you have questions on this, or another, topic, contact a librarian for help!