Library Resources for Faculty

Best BVU Practices for Linking to Library Materials in your Course

1. When possible link to the full-text of an ebook or an article.  Don't reproduce the full-text in Canvas or in print. 
    
2. BVU subscribes to an Annual Copyright License for Higher Education from the Copyright Clearing Center. This service allows you to provide thousands of articles and book chapters secure in the knowledge that the copyright considerations are met.  However, this generous license does not cover everything!  Let us check for you.  Even if copyright royalties need to be paid, they usually less expensive than anticipated.  Let's model being ethical users of information for our campus community! (See the Copyright Considerations section for more information.)
    
3. Be mindful of the link that you use. It is best to use "persistent" or "permailinks."  These links may not match what you see in the web browser bar.  If your link begins with this prefix, https://libproxy.bvu.edu/login?url= (the link for the material begins immediately after the equal sign), then your students should have access regardless of their location. It's an excellent idea to check those links from off-campus before you publish, though.
    
4. Assume that no link will last forever. License agreements and subscription prices means that content available to you varies over time.  Please check all your links to library-owned material at the beginning of each term.  Contact a librarian if you need assistance finding alternate readings.
    
5. Provide the complete citation to the material along with the link.  If the link ever fails, then the students will know what they need and the librarians will have a chance to find it. (Smith 2007) doesn't help much!