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Whenever possible, use links with proxy information when linking to databases, journals, articles, ebooks & book chapters on the website. Links with proxy information allow publishers' websites to recognize that users are members of the Tufts community and have access to library resources that we subscribe to. If you link to something without adding proxy information, off-campus users may not be able to access the resource.
- Creating proxied links to databases
- Creating proxied links to journals, articles, ebooks & book chapters
Creating proxied links to databases
The ERM librarians at Tufts create proxied links to every database to which Tufts subscribes. These proxied links use what is called the database proxy name. When a user clicks on one of these links, the proxy name is matched with its associated resource in a database managed by LTS called the Central Database. Once this match is made, the URL for the database is pulled and a proxied link is created. This process is seamless to the user and takes place in a matter of milliseconds.
Some examples of URLs using a proxy name are below. The proxy name comes after ‘Location=’ in the URL:
https://www.library.tufts.edu/ezproxy/ezproxy.asp?Location=JSTOR
https://www.library.tufts.edu/ezproxy/ezproxy.asp?Location=ArtSource
https://www.library.tufts.edu/ezproxy/ezproxy.asp?Location=CUP
In the above examples, JSTOR, ArtSource and CUP are the proxy names for the databases JSTOR, Art and Architecture Source, and Cambridge Core respectively.
Advantages of using the proxy name
The main advantages of using the proxy name for a database is that you don’t need to know the URL of a resource to create a proxied link. URLs for databases change periodically and keeping it in one place makes it easy to change when necessary, without needing to find every location in which the URL was used. It also ensures that a resource will be proxied correctly. While the ERM librarians are entering in the proxy names and URLs into the Central Database, they also enter in the configuration needed for the resource to proxy correction with EZproxy.
Disadvantages
There is one disadvantage to using the proxy name method and that is that you may not know what the proxy name is for a resource. Don’t worry, you can always talk to one of the ERM librarians or someone in LTS. You can also find the proxy name or the entire URL in the database section of the Tisch Library website. Hover over the link to a database, right-click and choose ‘copy link address’. This will give you the entire URL using the proxy name.
Creating proxied links to journals, articles, ebooks, book chapters. etc.
If you need to create proxied links to articles, journals, ebooks or other resources, you can use our EZproxy proxy prefix:
http://ezproxy.library.tufts.edu/login?url=
Add any URL to the end of the proxy prefix and EZproxy will try to proxy it. You can use the Tufts Libraries Automatic Proxy Link Generator to do this automatically.
For best results, use the DOI or permanent URL.
The permanent URL or DOI is usually located near the top of the page, or in the item's citation. If you can't find the DOI or permanent URL, use the link in your address bar (but be aware that the link in your address bar might break after a while).
If you're using the DOI, you will need to make sure it has this prefix in front of it: https://doi.org/ followed by the actual DOI number. Note: it should look something like this https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1170
Your proxied link will look like: http://ezproxy.library.tufts.edu/login?qurl=https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1170
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