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Michigan State University

Stable Links for Electronic Resources

This is a how-to guide for creating permanent, stable links to MSU-owned full-text articles from online journals, e-books, and streaming video or other media.

What are stable links? Why should I use them?

Stable links are URLs for online library resources (i.e., journal articles, e-books. streaming media) that can safely be reused for off-campus access. To ensure compliance with copyright law and licensing agreements, use the appropriate stable links to share article-level or chapter-level content or streaming media within a learning management system (i.e., D2L) or in course-related materials.  

Why?

  • Stable links are persistent. URLs that appear in web browser navigation bars are often dynamic, meaning they are unique to each web browsing session. 
  • Stable links allow off-campus users to log in so publishers can recognize authorized MSU users. 
  • Stable links make it easy to manage and copy content between courses in D2L

For questions about stable links, please contact Discovery Services at 517-353-8700 or using this Contact Form that is also available on the MSU Libraries website.