Online Learning Support

In the world of the Internet, many of us are used to saving the URL of a document in order to find it later. We often go to the address bar in our browser, copy the URL, and paste it into an email or document to use later. Unfortunately, database articles don't work in quite the same way. The URL in the browser's address bar is tied to your current visit to the database. Once you log out, that URL will no longer work.

Databases use a permanent URL to return users to specific articles. Each database calls these links something different; you may see stable URLs, persistent links, permalinks, or permanent links. These types of links always get you back to the correct article. 

The image below shows the permalink in EBSCO's Academic Search Complete databases. All EBSCO databases will have the permalink in the same location.

In EBSCO databases, an incorrect URL is included in the citation for the source. Unfortunately, to get the source's location correct, you have to delete the link from the citation and replace it with the correct permalink.

Take a look at the two links together below. The difference is highlighted in orange. The Permalink is the one that will get you back to the article.

Luckily, EBSCO databases are the only ones with this discrepancy below is an image of an article in a Gale Database, like the Literature Resouce Center or Academic OneFile. The permanent link here will be in the two links that specify "Cite" or "Get Link." Unlike EBSCO, the links from both of these locations in a Gale database are the same and both work.

Please contact one of our Librarians in person or through our Ask a Librarian if you have questions.