How do I get a link scheme so that I have article-level linking?

Symptom

Applies to

Resolution

Article-level linking is not available for every collection. If there isn’t a link scheme, there can’t be article-level linking. Even for a given provider, some collections have link schemes but others cannot.

To determine if your collection has a link scheme, go to WorldShare Collection Manager, retrieve the collection that the specific journal and/or article is in, and on the Linking accordion, look at the Link Scheme field.

If the Link Scheme field is filled in, but article-level linking not working:

Sometimes a link scheme is set for a collection but an access link won't display. This can be because the citation doesn't have enough information. Each link scheme is unique in what it requires. A lot of link schemes require information such as a volume, issue and start page but others only need a volume or an article title. Contact OCLC Support with a link to the article in WorldCat Discovery.

If the Link Scheme field is empty:

  1. See this article to determine if an existing link scheme will work: How do I identify what the link scheme is for a collection in order to add it?
  2. Test the existing link schemes for the provider.

We check several things to see if we can provide an article-level link, including:

  1. Does the provider offer an OpenURL which we can build a link out of  
  2. Does the provider offer a standard URL to articles which we can build a link using citation data such as volume, issue, start page 
  3. Does the provider have DOI linking 
  4. Can we use the provider’s search feature to offer a link to their article 
  5. Does the provider have a table of contents page we can offer a link to that is broken down by year, volume, and/or issue

Link schemes and ebooks:

Not all ebooks can be linked-to in the chapter. Most ebook providers only allow for a link to the book’s title level. To request a linkscheme for an ebook, contact OCLC Support and provide the following:

  • Your institution's OCLC symbol
  • The ISBN, date
  • start page/artnum (artnum = article number)
  • A username and password that will allow OCLC to proxy through to the provider platform
Page ID
30903