URL redirecter for library databases

Wed Oct 10 14:53:34 EDT 2012

PURLs can be very simple, and don't require almost any backend.  If you
have access to some webhosting, so even a simple library webpage where your
file extensions are html , then you can make a separate html file for each
database, then have that html file redirect to where you want it to go.

So, I might make a folder on the website called "libpurls" then inside it
make a file called "jstor.html" and that file would read:

<html>
<head>
<meta HTTP-EQUIV="REFRESH" content="0; url=
http://mylibrarysproxy.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://www.jstor.org">
</head>
<body>
This page should redirect you to <a href="
http://mylibrarysproxy.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://www.jstor.org">JSTOR.
If you were not redirected, then please click here to go to JSTOR.</a>
</body>
</html>

Then make an incoming link to
www.yourlibrarywebsite.com/libpurls/jstor.html and
someone who visits that will be automatically redirected to JSTOR with a
working proxy added on the front.  You can make a back up of your PURLs by
clicking and dragging the "libpurls" folder.

You will also have to keep a current list of your PURLs in
www.yourlibrarywebsite.com/libpurl and make sure librarians are right
clicking to cut-and-paste your PURL, instead of the destination it
redirects to.

Awareness across library staff is the hardest thing to get working.  Put
your central list as front and center as you can, and make it easy
for librarians to work with.  Once you have a system of PURLs, do not
change the way it works for librarians trying to use it.  So, commit before
you launch the PURLs and give really consistent instructions.

The advantage of doing the PURLs in LibGuides is that the librarians who
use it most tend to be from many different backgrounds, and not just a
technology background.  So, it can help in getting the PURLs to the people
who need them most.   LibGuides also lets librarians reuse/copy the link
from another guide, so they don't have to remember to right click the link,
then copy the PURL, then paste the PURL.  The disadvantage of doing PURLs
exclusively in LibGuides, is that it is difficult to make a meaningful
systemwide backup, so it's a really good idea to keep a master list of
working database links.

-Wilhelmina Randtke

On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 12:06 PM, Coral Sheldon-Hess <coral at sheldon-hess.org
> wrote:

> Eric,
>
> I don't know if this approach will help you manage ALL links, but it's a
> good way to manage links in LibGuides: *
> http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/7019*
> *
> *(I admit, I have not yet taken the time to implement it in my library's
> CampusGuides system. It's a lot of tedious work to set up, if you're
> already running with a lot of guides...)
>
> --
> Coral Sheldon-Hess
> http://sheldon-hess.org/coral
> @web_librarian
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 7:38 AM, Eric Loehr <eloehr at smith.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> We're trying to figure out a way to keep our database URLs current
>> without having to update them in multiple places when they change; right
>> now we have links to databases in our Drupal site, Libguides, on static
>> HTML pages in Moodle, and maybe other places I'm not remembering.
>>
>> What I'd like to do is to assign a URL to each database (that can be
>> entered in all of the above places) that can point to a database of some
>> sort which redirects it to the correct URL. That way we'd only have to
>> update it in the database instead of multiple web sites.
>>
>> After some Googling, I found YOURLS ( http://yourls.org/ ) - -  "YOURLS
>> is a small set of PHP scripts that will allow you to run your own URL
>> shortening service (*a la*TinyURL). You can make it private or public,
>> you can pick custom keyword URLs, it comes with its own API."
>>
>> Has anyone ever used YOURLS?   Are there other better possibilites out
>> there that folks are using?
>>
>> Thanks - -
>>
>> Eric
>>
>>
>> --
>> Eric Loehr
>> Library Systems Manager
>> eloehr at smith.edu
>> (413) 585-2969
>>
>>
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