Why don't my article links work?

By Sarah Hebert

Last year a very panicked student stopped by the desk and asked me for help. Her term paper was due in less than an hour and all of the article links she had saved no longer worked. She could not complete her works cited, had no idea which articles she had used to write the paper, and was probably going to fail the class. 

Library databases usually have two types of links—temporary and permanent. It’s important to save the permanent link because the temporary links are – well – temporary.

For most websites it’s okay to save links at the top of the page. For instance, if I were sending a link to the Library’s website I would click in the address bar and copy this link-- https://www.nhti.edu/support-success/library-research-resources/.

Library databases are different, though. The link in the address bar is only temporary. It’s important that you copy the permanent link (sometimes called the persistent or permalink). If you choose the wrong link you may find that you can no longer access an article that you need. 

Which brings me back to the student I mentioned earlier. You might be wondering what happened. She was very, very lucky. I was able to use facts and quotations from her paper to find her sources and she got an A. I don’t think she’ll make the mistake of saving temporary links again, though . . .