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UMass Libraries > Research and Instructional Services

1. What does UM Links do?
   provides a direct link from a database citation to the full-text (if available) and to other potential options for obtaining the material.
2. How do I access UM Links?
   Some databases to which the library subscribes contain the UM Links button. When you find a record in one of these databases, click on to open a new window displaying the menu of service options for obtaining the material.
   For a complete list of databases that may be enabled with UM Links, click here and choose SFX Resources from menu on left.
3. What service options does UM Links provide?
   Service options will vary from citation to citation. When available, and as appropriate, UM Links will offer one or more of the following:
   · Full-text and/or abstract.
   · Search of the UMass Library Catalog.
   · Search of the Four College Catalog.
   · A "Google" search for the title.
   · An Interlibrary Loan request.
4. Who can use UM Links?
   UM Links will appear in databases licensed for the UMass Amherst community. These databases and UM Links are available to anyone using computers on the UMass Amherst campus. UM Links services are available from off-campus to UMass Amherst students, faculty, and staff with an OIT account; enter your OIT login and password when prompted.
5. Why didn't I get a full-text link for my article?
   Possible reasons include:
   · There is no full-text available either for that journal or for specific [usually older] volumes of it.
   · UMass Amherst does not have a license for access to the full-text for that journal.
   · Very recent articles may not yet be available.
   · UM Links is not available for the database.
   If a full-text link is not shown, be sure to check the UMass Amherst Library Catalog to see if the journal title is available in print form.
6. I clicked on "get full-text," but I only get to the journal's home page. Why?
   The UM Links service will get you as close to the full-text as it can. Sometimes, you will go straight to the full-text; and sometimes you will have to navigate the publisher's site yourself to get to the full-text. Essentially, "Full text available from" means that the full-text is available - but you may have to get to it yourself.
7. Why are there multiple windows?
   When you click on an option within the UM Links menu, a new window always opens. Each window will remain open until you close it by clicking the X in the upper right hand corner. Make sure to close only your UM Links menu windows, not your search window.
8. Why do only some databases feature UM Links?
   Many, but not all, of the databases the Library subscribes to are "OpenURL enabled," the technology behind this linking feature. The OpenURL protocol offers interoperability between an information resource and a service component, so a user can follow a link from one to the other. For example, Sociological Abstracts, the information resource, may link to Academic Search Premier, the service component with full-text. Without the OpenURL protocol, there would be no connection between these two resources. See format specification at http://www.sfxit.com/OpenURL/openurl.html
9. Problem? Want to comment on the UM Links service?
   Send an email to dbhelp@library.umass.edu

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