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OCLC Support

Full Text and Open Access Links

Learn how to configure the appearance of full text links in WorldCat Discovery.

To access this screen, sign in Service Configuration, open the WorldCat Discovery and WorldCat Local left navigation, select Full Text and Open Access Links.

Use this screen to set the appearance of full text links. For more information on how links display, see Full-text link display.

When you are finished, click Save Changes to save and continue, or Cancel to start over

EZproxy

Enter your EZproxy base URL. This will prepend any LHR or OPAC links to direct off-campus users through your proxy server. For more information about configuring EZproxy, see EZproxy for WorldCat knowledge base links.

 Note: EZproxy configuration for WorldCat knowledge base links is managed in the EZproxy WorldCat Knowledge Base "Settings" module.

  1. Enter your EZproxy base URL. Example value: http://ezproxy.oclc.org/login?url=
  2. Select to enable or disable the base URL:
    • Prepend proxy base URL to Local Holdings Records (WorldCat Discovery only)
    • Prepend proxy base URL to OPAC records (WorldCat Discovery only)

WorldCat Local Search Results / WorldCat Discovery Search Results and Detailed Views

Primary Links

WorldCat Discovery displays primary links on the search results and is exposed on the detailed view of a record.

Links from the WorldCat knowledge base to full text content.

Configure link display order in the WorldCat Discovery section of Collection Manager Settings module. See WorldCat Discovery for more information.  

View now links are only returned for the following content types:

  • Journal (Full Text)
  • e-Book
  • Audio
  • Image
  • Video

 Notes: 

  • The following content types will not return a view now link:
  • The content type of the WorldCat record must match the content type of the title in WorldShare Collection Manager to surface a link. The date range of the record in WorldCat must fall inside the date range of the Collection in Collection Manager.
Links from LHRs

Enable LHRs in the OPAC Statuses, Locations and Circulation Policies module.

Links from the LHR will display when a link is contained in the 856 $u field.

Links from Local OPAC

Local OPAC link options:

  • Monograph (default type): Anything that is not in one of the groups below
  • Serial: Leader value of serial, not web-based
  • Article: Leader value of article
  • E-Serial: Leader value of text serial and cataloged as an internet resource. Also Leader value of Computer File and cataloged as an internet resource and serial
  • Mass digitized electronic content: Only assigned to non-article, WorldCat Records with the same original and alternate types before bibliographic matching. Content is defined as mass digitized if one of the following is true:
    • The MARC field 029 has any of the following values:
      • DGCNT
      • CNTNT
      • CNTCOLL
      • DGCOLL 
    • The MARC field 040a has the value as OCLCE
  • All other electronic content: Any other electronic content such as e-books, e-computer files, e-audio, e-visual materials, and e-maps
Links from WorldCat record 856 and 956 to open access content/free content

WorldCat Discovery uses WorldCat MARC Indicator 40 to inform availability link displays and uses WorldCat MARC indicator 41 or 42 to inform description displays.

Options Display rules
Government and Educational documents (i.e., GPO.gov, ERIC, etc.)
  • 856 $u contains hdl.loc.gov AND 1st indicator of 4 AND 2nd indicator of 0, 1 or 2
  • 856 $u contains .gov/ and .pdf OR $u contains .edu AND .pdf NOT $u contains loc.gov AND 1st indicator of 4 AND 2nd indicator of 0, 1 or 2
  • 856 $u contains gpo.gov AND 1st indicator of 4 AND 2nd indicator of 0, 1 or 2
  • 956 field contains $u with any URL AND any indicator values AND comes from ERIC.
  • Canadian domains/URLs
    • .gc.ca
    • .ourcommons.ca
    • .sencanada.ca
    • .parl.ca
    • .parl.gc.ca
    • https://idl-bnc-idrc.dspacedirect.org/
    • .bankofcanada.ca
    • .cihi.ca
    • .gnb.ca
    • .snb.ca
    • .languesofficielles.nb.ca
    • .officiallanguages.nb.ca
    • .agnb-vgnb.ca
    • .electionsnb.ca
    • .nbpolicecommission.ca
    • .legalaid.nb.ca
    • .nbhc.ca
    • .fredericton.ca
    • .saintjohn.ca
    • .alberta.ca
    • .alberta.ca
    • .gov.ab.ca
    • .assembly.ab.ca
    • .gov.bc.ca
    • .bclaws.ca
    • .gov.mb.ca
    • .gov.nl.ca
    • .assembly.nl.ca
    • .gov.nt.ca
    • .novascotia.ca
    • .gov.ns.ca
    • .nslegislature.ca
    • .gov.nu.ca
    • .assembly.nu.ca
    • .ontario.ca
    • .gov.on.ca
    • .ola.org
    • .ontla.on.ca
    • .princeedwardisland.ca
    • .gov.pe.ca
    • .gouv.qc.ca
    • .assnat.qc.ca
    • .banq.qc.ca
    • .saskatchewan.ca
    • .gov.sk.ca
    • .gov.yk.ca
    • data2.collectionscanada.ca
    • collectionscanada.ca
    • central.bac-lac.gc.ca
    • epe.lac-bac.gc.ca 
HathiTrust
  • 856 $u contains hathitrust.org AND $3 contains Full View AND 1st indicator of 4 AND 2nd indicator of 0.
Internet Archive (Archive.org) / Project Gutenberg (Gutenberg.org)
  • 856 $u contains archive.org AND 1st indicator of 4 AND 2nd indicator of 0, 1, or 2.
  • 856 $u contains gutenberg.org AND 1st indicator of 4 AND 2nd indicator of 0, 1, or 2.
WorldCat Digital Collection Gateway (i.e., OAIster, CONTENTdm, etc.)
  • 029 $t = DGCNT AND 856$u contains URL AND 856 $y = View Online AND 856 $3 = Item resolution URL
  • 029 $t = CNTNT AND 856 $u contains http://worldcat.org/oclc/number/viewonline
  • 029 $a = CNTNT AND 029 $b has the form CnnnRnnnn AND 856$y = View Online AND 856 $u contains URL

CONTENTdm items from DCG:

  • 029 $t= CNTNT or 029 $t=CNTCOLL. cntcoll:

Non-CONTENTdm items from DCG

  • 029$t=DGCNT or 029$t=DGCOLL
Other
  • 506 field 1st indicator is 0
  • 506$f is Unrestricted online access and 856 $u contains URL and1st indicator is 4 and 2nd indicator of 0, 1, or 2.
  • 856 field 1st indicator 4 and 2nd indicator 0, $u contains URL and $7 equal to zero.
Links from non-WorldCat Record 856

Vendors will sometimes provide OCLC with 856 links for Central Index records. These 856 links will not appear in the OCLC record, but are mapped from the Central Index. Checking this box will allow those vendor-provided links to appear in your WorldCat Discovery instance, and will display as an Access Online button. It is important to remember that these links are not passed through the institution's proxy and are not matched with knowledge base holdings. Therefore, users are likely to hit a login or pay for access page, and will not reach a full text article.

Links from DOI

Users can access open content using DOI full text and open access links provided by Unpaywall. For more information see, https://unpaywall.org/faq. When enabled, DOIs will inform the Access Online action on search results, detailed records, and Course Reserves. DOIs are compared to Unpaywall data to ensure that only DOIs leading to open access content display. When a DOI leads to a downloadable PDF, a View PDF button appears on DOI links enhanced by Unpaywall. When it cannot be determined that a DOI link informed by Unpaywall leads to a PDF, a link to Access Online <insert DOI> appears. If a DOI is not present in Unpaywall, the DOI will not inform the Access Online button, but will continue to display in the Description of detailed records.

 Note: If a user encounters a link from Unpaywall that does not lead to Open Access, you will need to contact Unpaywall directly to have the link corrected. Please see, How can I tell if a link is from the WorldCat Knowledgebase or is a DOI link? to determine if the link in question is a DOI link.

Other Links

WorldCat Discovery collapses the display of other links on the detailed view of a record.

  • Links from the WorldCat record 856 to non-open access content/non-free content.
  • WorldCat Discovery uses MARC Indicator 40 to inform availability displays.
  • WorldCat Discovery uses MARC Indicator 41 or 42 to inform description displays.

Interface Display

Determine whether to display all primary links or the first primary link only on search results and Course Reserves.

Display first primary link only

The first primary link will display on search results and Course Reserves for all material types except when an e-serial has multiple full-text access options. 

  • When an e-serial has multiple full-text access options, users will see all alternate access options for that record from the search results page. This will happen regardless of whether an institution has selected to display all primary links or only the first primary link. The display of all alternate access options ensures users have access to alternate links that provide different ranges of full-text coverage for an e-serial.

An Alternate Links textual link will display immediately below the primary access option button. This offers users the option to choose either:
    •    The primary access option button to connect with content at the first primary link.
    •    The Alternate Links textual link to open the drawer that presents all primary links.

Display all primary links

Determine whether to display all primary links. If configured, when an item has multiple e-link access options available, a drawer displaying all primary links will open for all material types when the user clicks the full-text button.

WorldCat Local Detailed Record Page

Choose whether to display the following links in the detailed record view of WorldCat Local.

  • Links from the WorldCat knowledge base to full text content.
    Configure link display order in the WorldCat Discovery section of Collection Manager "Settings" module.

     Note:  Links from the WorldCat knowledge base may contain open access/free content.

  • Links from LHRs 
    LHRs can be enabled on the OPAC Statuses, Locations and Circulation Policies module.
  • Links from the WorldCat record 856 to non-open access content/non-free content.