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Linking Directly to Individual Articles and Records: Home

Persistent links, Persistent URLs, or PURLs


This guide describes how to find and/or configure links to articles, journals, films and other resources your students can access through your course web site.

  1. Find a persistent URL. On the article or journal page, look for words such as "Persistent URL", "Stable URL", "InfoMark", "Document URL", or "Permalink." (See images below for finding this in EBSCO or JSTOR, other databases are similar).
  2. Is the link already proxied? If the persistent URL contains the term ezproxy, students accessing it from off campus will automatically be directed to log in using their NetID and Password.  You can use the link "as is" and paste it directly into your course web page.  If you don't see ezproxy, use the Exproxy Link Generator below to build a proxied link.

Ezproxy Link Generator

1. Copy and paste the permanent URL here:

2. Click this:

3. Copy and use the resulting link

Locating Persistent Links in EBSCO and JSTOR

1. Access the desired article in EBSCO
  • Click the title link to see the article details.


2. Copy the permanent link

  • On the right side of the screen, click the "Permalink" menu item.
  • Copy the link provided to the Exproxy Link Generator.




1. Access the desired article in JSTOR
  • Click the title link to see the article details.


2. Copy the permanent link

  • Highlight the link in the location shown.  This is the stable link.
  • Copy the link provided to the Exproxy Link Generator.




Why link?
We encourage you to place direct links to library resources within BlackBoard, Course Reserves, on web pages, etc., for several reasons.

  • Easy access for students to exactly what faculty want them to use
  • No copyright concerns - the link is to something for which we've already paid
  • Linking provides usage stats - so that we do not cancel highly used materials

Why can't I just copy the address from the address bar to save a link to an article?
Web addresses, or URLs, that appear in the address bar of your web browser may contain session-based or search-based information that causes the URL not to work later. This is especially true of the URLs that appear when searching a database. This is why many online databases provide a separate persistent or stable link in each record for an article.

What is a Proxy Server?
License agreements governing usage of the online resources (including e-journals, ebooks and databases) require that we ensure off-campus access is restricted to currently enrolled UTA students and UTA faculty and staff.  The UTA Library maintains a proxy server for this purpose.  When creating links to licensed material, the proxy prefix ( must be placed in the URL to ensure that off-campus users are able to access.  

What is a persistent URL?
A persistent URL is a link that will remain stable over time and allows a user to access the linked document later.

How do I find persistent links in online databases?
Some research databases include a persistent or stable link in the article record. Please note that the terms used and the location of these links in the record vary from one database to another.

How do I know if a persistent URL will work when accessed from a computer outside the UTA campus network?
In order for a link to an article to work on an off-campus computer, it must be "proxied."  A proxied link contains special coding that will allow UTA users to access the article, journal, etc. using their NetID and password.  A proxied link always contains the term ezproxy.

How can I use a proxied persistent link?
Once you have found or built a proxied persistent URL you can paste the URL into a Blackboard page or other documents.