Persistent Links: Adding Links to Library Materials in Brightspace

Welcome!

A Librarian created this guide to help you learn how to find and make persistent links to articles and other information available in library databases, and how to add them into a Brightspace course to ensure they are accessible from off-campus.

• Visit the Where to Find the Persistent Link pages to see specific database instructions.
• Have questions about setting up a persistent link to a library resource?

For assistance, contact Pam Czaja, Web Services Librarian, pczaja@monroecc.edu.

1. What are persistent links?

Persistent URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are links that remain constant and forever up-to-date. They are provided by many online library databases to ensure consistent access to full-text online articles, electronic books, etc. Persistent links to resources will remain active as long as the item is included in the database, or as long as the library maintains a subscription to the database.

Database vendors often use different terminology to label persistent links.

Commonly used terms include:

• Bookmark
• Create Link
• Document URL
• Durable Link
• Get Link
• Jumpstart URL
• Permalink
• Stable URL
   

2. What are DOI's?
   DOI stands for Digital Object Identifier. A DOI is a permanent, unique string of number, and symbols that identifies a resource, such as a journal article, and provides a stable link to its current location on the Internet such as a publisher’s website. When available, the DOI is the preferred method of linking if the article is subscribed though the publisher.  

• Example of a DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.identj.2025.02.00
• JSTOR and ScienceDirect Library subscription databases include a DOI in article records. EBSCOhost databases such as Medline with Full Text and CINAHL Plus with Full Text also have DOI links in their records.
• Pubmed, the National Library of Medicine free database also includes a DOI in article records.

3. How do I make a database vendor persistent link or DOI  to subscribed articles accessible from off campus?

In order for persistent links and DOIs to subscribed articles and ebooks to work from off campus, MCC Libraries' proxy server prefix https://ezproxy.monroecc.edu/login?url= must be added to the beginning of the persistent link provided by the database:

Database Vendor Example:

https://ezproxy.monroecc.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NTQ1NDc0NQ==?aid=102613

“Flavour Profile.” Vanilla: A Global History, by Rosa Abreu-Runkel, 1st ed., Reaktion Books, 2020. Credo Reference, https://search.credoreference.com/articles/Qm9va0FydGljbGU6NTQ1NDc0NQ==?aid=102613.

DOI Example:

https://ezproxy.monroecc.edu/login?URL=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.identj.2025.02.009

Seneviratne, C. J., Khan, S. A., Zachar, J., Yang, Z., Kiran, R., & Walsh, L. J. (2025). Efficacy of Ultrasonic Cleaning Products With Various Disinfection Chemistries on Dental Instruments Contaminated With Bioburden. International Dental Journal, 75(3), 1632–1639. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.identj.2025.02.09
 

4. How does signing-in to EZproxy & MCC Network Account work to access content?

When a library user (currently enrolled students, faculty and staff) clicks on this proxied link from an off-campus location, they will first be prompted to sign-in through EZproxy in order to gain access to the full-text article.

The Where to Find the Persistent Link pages in this guide provides detailed instructions on how to make persistent links in many MCC Libraries subscription databases accessible from off-campus. Note: All Ebscohost, Credo Reference, Films on Demand, and many Gale Gengage Learning database records are set up to automatically have the EZproxy prefix added to the beginning of an item URL. For further information see individual pages in this guide for each of the these database providers.

EZproxy has been configured to work with MCC Network Account sign-in. To access persistent links to library resources from off-campus students and faculty will be prompted to sign-in to their MCC Network Account using enter their MCC e-mail username and password.
 

5.  Where can I use persistent links?

You can copy and paste persistent links into Brightspace, an email message, a course assignment submission, online syllabi, etc.

Faculty may want to use persistent links to provide access to:

• specific library databases
• reading lists of articles
• online reference materials to assist students with course assignments

Students may want to use persistent links to:

• return to article they want to re-read
• to share an article with an instructor used for a class assignment
• when working with others on a group project
   

6. Why would I use a persistent link instead of just uploading an article into Brightspace?

Most licensing agreements with database vendors allow instructors to create links in course management systems, such as Brightspace, to connect directly to full-text articles available in library databases, or electronic books. Copyright law prohibits copying and saving the full-text from article databases directly into course sites that are not password protected. Linking to an item using both the persistent URL provided by the database and the library "proxy" prefix is within copyright "fair use" guidelines.
 

7. Why can't I just copy the URL in my browser's address bar?

In most cases the web addresses (URLs) that appear in the top address bar of your web browser when you search the library's subscription databases usually contain dynamically generated session-based information that will not work when copied and used at a later time. Therefore many online databases provide a separate persistent link in each article record which ensures that users are able to access full-text content in the future.
 

8. How do I find persistent links?

Most library databases include a persistent link in the article record. Remember that the terms used and the location of these links in the record vary from one database to another. Use the Where to Find the Persistent Link pages in this guide for detailed information on how to locate persistent links in many of MCC Libraries online subscription databases.