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I don't have numbers and this is really just my guess impression, but I'd be shocked if there weren't a lot more libraries in Google Scholar than in LibX. It should be possible to get both numbers from publically available lists though. I think the google scholar search is a good one. The other thought would be letting users somehow direct themselves to their _own_ link resolvers, just like vendors do. You'd need to either build a directory of link resolvers for them to choose from, or I have some memory that there is _some_ relevant OCLC service. I don't recall if it's actually sufficient or has a decent API, or how extensive it's directory is. On Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 10:16 PM, Kevin Hawkins < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > I've got two simple questions but first a long statement of background so > you know why I'm asking. If you're in a hurry, feel free to skip to the > questions. > > == Background == > > We've got a research group on campus that has built up an annotated > bibliography of literature in their topic of study over the years, which > graduate students have carefully organized according to a taxonomy of > topics. They are happy to continue to host this bibliography online as a > searchable database. > > However, they've asked us in the library to help them think through what > it would mean for them to help people reach the full text when available > online (often through licensed library resources). Supporting users at our > institution is easy -- we can prepend the proxy server string to the DOI, > or query our link resolver, or query our library discovery product. But > I'd also like to offer some options for what they could do to help users > not at our institution. > > Including a hyperlinked DOI or other publisher-provided permalink will > allow users at other institutions who are on campus and using VPN to reach > the resource directly, assuming their institution subscribes. So while > that's an easy solution, it only helps certain users. > > In brainstorming with a colleague, we've come up with two other options > that we might offer to the research group for helping users at other > institutions reach the full text: > > a) They could recommend that users install LibX and then use its "magic > button" feature to select the citation and search for it through their > institution's library. > > b) They could build queries that go to Google Scholar and suggest that > Google Scholar users configure "library links" in order to prepend their > institution's proxy server link or send them to their link resolver. > > While I know that Google Scholar's database includes plenty of bare > citations (without any links to full text), I'm not sure it's big enough to > actually include the sorts of book chapters and possibly obscure journal > articles found in this bibliography. But I'm content to leave that to the > research group to experiment with. > > == The questions == > > 1. Does anyone have a sense of the number of institutions with "editions" > for LibX versus the number of institutions with "library links" set up in > Google Scholar? I can't find full lists on the websites of either, but if > we know that one is more comprehensive than the other, I'd just as soon > recommend that. > > 2. Are there other options you'd suggest besides LibX and Google Scholar > (with "library links") for helping people people find a library-licensed > version of a resource when you don't know what institution the user is at? > > Thanks in advance for your thoughts, > > Kevin >