Adding or Deleting an External Link for a Library

If you want to, you can add an external link for a library item. You can add an external link to a commercial web site (such as Amazon) or an OpenURL source. Once you add an external link to a Library, the link is available to be added to one or more library profiles.

If you want to add an external link to an RPA site, you can assign an RPA link to only one library profile.

When you add an external link to an Information Portal Library, you specify the description and type of link that you want to add, and the URL to which you want to point. If you want to add a commercial link, you need to determine the format of the URL before you specify the URL to which you want to point. You determine the format depending on whether the external link substitutes or populates specific information to be passed as part of the URL.

If a URL populates information, then it might look like one of these formats, where the parameters and values being populated may include the library item’s ISBN or the user’s last name or user barcode, depending on the type of external link:

http://domain_name/base_url?(parameter)=
http://domain_name/base_url?some_parameter=some_value&(parameter)=

If a URL substitutes information, then it might look like this example, where the parameters and values being substituted may include the library item’s ISBN or the user’s last name or user barcode, depending on the type of external link:

http://domain_name/base_url/(parameter)/some_parameter

The table below gives examples of some types of links that populate or substitute information in the URL:

Type of Link

Example

A commercial link that populates data in the URL

http://www.amazon.com/execu/obidos/ASIN?(isbn)=&storeid=245ad

A commercial link that substitutes data in the URL

http://www.amazon.com/exec.obidos/ASIN/(isbn)/245ad

If a Library has an external link that is no longer used, you can delete it.

This section explains these tasks:

 


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