FirstSearch URL not working from WebCT

[Elena OMalley]

Does anyone use OCLC static URLs to link to FirstSearch/ECO 
articles from within WebCT? 

Here's what we've tried:
Find an article in FirstSearch Electronic Collections Online and go
to its fulltext.
Choose link pickup.
Copy the IP address recognition URL at that point or email it to ourselves 
and then copy it (we've tried it both ways).
Log into WebCT.
Create a link.
Paste the URL in (and verify that it's the same and hasn't changed).

The link that FirstSearch provides contains encoded characters, but when we
try to use that link from WebCT, what shows up in the location/address
bar is converted. And then the user is redirected to an OCLC error message
that says the URL's SICI was improperly formatted. I know what a SICI is,
but I'm not that familiar with the format. Is it incorrect?

So, here's one example of the encoded URLs we pasted in:
http://firstsearch.oclc.org/FSIP?sici=1058-4609%2819971001%2914%3A4%3C433%3A
BCTNMA%3E&dbname=ECO_FT

and here's what showed up in the location bar when we try it from WebCT:
http://firstsearch.oclc.org/FSIP?sici=1058-4609(19971001)14:4<433:BCTNMA>&db
name=ECO_FT 
(I also tried using this from WebCT, and got the same error message.)

When I created a test page outside of WebCT and linked using the encoded
character URL,
it connects to the article -- there is no error message.

We've contacted WebCT and OCLC for help but couldn't resolve the problem.
Has anyone encountered this before?

Thanks,
Elena O'Malley
_______________________________________
Elena O'Malley                      
Head of Library Computer and Internet Services
Emerson College Library
Boston, MA 02116
Elena_OMalley at emerson.edu