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Readings Online

Linking to resources: FAQs

Important: please use the Open Athens link generator when sharing links with students.


  • If you don’t use a permalink / stable URL, there’s a high chance that the link will break
  • Your students will hit a paywall if links don’t contain the Open Athens redirector


  • DOI stands for Digital Object Identifier
  • It’s a unique string of numbers and letters that is permanently assigned to a digital resource
  • Most DOIs you see are hyperlinked to the resource itself, and function as a stable URL / permalink
  • DOI is an international standard
  • Journal articles with a DOI will generally show it on the article itself or in the suggested article citation


  • Look for a hyperlinked DOI
  • Look for an option in the database to copy a permalink (persistent link, stable link etc)


  • It's the authentication system used by our library to provide access to subscribed resources
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  • It takes a permalink / stable URL and adds a prompt to log in via the single-sign-on


  • Find the DOI link or other stable link and paste this into the generator.This works for most databases
  • Some of our databases already have authentication in their URLs, eg Proquest eBook Central. These will come up blank if you use the Open Athens link generator.


  • Enter as many details as you can into Readings Online and select the ‘locate’ option. The team will then create the link for you
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