LinkOut for Libraries: A New Service Option for Health Sciences Libraries

Health sciences libraries are now able to link their users to the full-text of electronic subscriptions through PubMed's LinkOut feature. This new capability was described in the March - April 2001 NLM Technical Bulletin article, "LinkOut for Libraries Now Available". This article includes links to background information and instructions.

But what's really involved in providing this service for users? How difficult is it to provide these links? Is it worth the effort? At the outset, it is important to recognize that this is a serials service; hence, it has the complexities of any project involving serials. The good news is that if you have a small serials collection, you will not have a lot of titles to deal with. If you have a large serials collection, you probably have experienced serials staff to prepare the electronic journals holdings information. You should discuss LinkOut with your serials staff before deciding to participate. If you are the serials staff, feel free to call Julie Kwan, your PSR LinkOut representative for advice.

Once you have decided to proceed, you will need the following:

1) An icon for your library
This is the image that creates the button your users will click to see the full text of an article. You can see an example in the Technical Bulletin article. Many libraries use their library's logo or other hospital or corporate graphic image. If you are located in a small hospital library, perhaps your hospital's information technology department can create the icon for you. The icon should be no more than 100 by 25 pixels, and it should look like a button (i.e., it should either have a border or have a colored background). If you do not have your own library icon, PubMed will generate a simple button that says "Library Holdings".

2) Store this icon on an accessible server
Your library icon will be stored on a server in your institution, and the icon must be accessible outside of an intranet. The PubMed programs will point to this icon for each article that your users will be able to access full-text. Because your library icon is on your local machine, you can change the icon any time you wish; you will not need to contact NLM to change the icon. Again, if you are in a small hospital library, your hospital information technology department should be able to help you.

3) Generate a list of your electronic journal holdings by provider
You will need to create a list of your electronic journal holdings by provider; the provider might be a publisher or an aggregator. You might be able to get this information from your serials vendor, or you might be able to easily pull it together from your serials invoices. You should know which years you have available electronically.

4) Set up an account with NLM
To get your LinkOut account, you will send a message to NLM (linkout@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). Indicate that you wish to have your library's electronic journal holdings represented in LinkOut. Include the name, telephone number, and email address of your contact person. You will then receive a user name and password.

5) Enter your library information and your electronic journals holdings information
You will enter your data using simple web forms accessible through the LinkOut Files Submission Utility (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov:80/entrez/linkout/libHld/LK-submission.cgi). The Library Identity form includes: library name; library or institutional URL; the URL for your library icon; and the name and email address of your LinkOut representative. To enter library holdings, you will select a publisher or aggregator from the provider list and then use check boxes to indicate the titles and years for which you want your library icon to display. You do not need to enter all of your holdings information in one session. In fact, you may wish to enter only a partial list and then take a look at the results. You will need to wait until the next day before the icons will display. (Editor's Note: Ovid is currently not a LinkOut provider.)

6) Edit the link to PubMed in your library's web pages
By changing the link to PubMed on your library's web page, your library icon will automatically appear. You will edit the link as follows, where NameAbbr is the Name Abbreviation you will receive when you get your LinkOut account from NLM: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?holding=NameAbbr

7) Let your library users know that they can select your library as a provider through their Cubbies
Your users can select your library as a LinkOut provider using their own Cubbies. Then they will see your library icon even if they are not using a library machine or accessing PubMed through your library web page.

There is an excellent Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page that will answer many of your questions. This FAQ is specifically about the Library LinkOut Submission Utility, which is the set of web forms through which you submit your library information and electronic journal holdings information. More information about LinkOut is available at LinkOut and Library Holdings from PubMed's Help system and from the NN/LM page LinkOut for Libraries.  JK

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