Adding accessible library resources to your courses

Adding Accessible Library Resources to Your Courses

Did you know that all the electronic resources available through Allen Memorial Library are accessible? Our librarians maintain a guide to the accessibility policies and Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) for all our purchased resources and evaluate any new purchases to make sure they are accessible as well.

HOWEVER,…. Not all the PDFs of articles found in the databases are accessible! Many of the database vendors have chosen to put their time and energy into improving the accessibility of their websites rather than retroactively converting millions of PDFs. So, to share an accessible version of an article, e-book, or other item, you will have to provide your students with a link rather than a pdf. Luckily, this is even simpler than downloading and then uploading a document!

Uploading accessible articles into your Blackboard class:

Find your article.
Once you’ve opened the article, look for a link button – it may say “permalink,” “get link,” “page link,” or “URL.”

Screenshot showing location of permalink in an EBSCO database.

Screenshot showing the location of "get link" in a Gale database.

Screenshot showing location of the remote access URL in JSTOR

If you are offered more than one link to the resource, select the one that begins with the library.vcsu.edu URL. Using a remote access link ensures that students can access the resource both on and off campus.

USE THIS: https://library.vcsu.edu:2443/login?url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1163320

NOT THIS: https://www.jstor.org/stable/1163320

3. Copy and paste the link into your class. MAKE SURE YOUR LINK IS SET TO OPEN IN A NEW WINDOW. Blackboard doesn’t like opening library resources in the same window, and you will get an error message.

Students off-campus may need to log in to the library using the same login and password they use for Blackboard; this screen will automatically appear for them if login is required, and then take them directly to the item linked.

Can’t I just use the DOI?

The DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, is a unique, static link to an article or study. It will get your students to the citation for the article, but it doesn’t verify them as an authorized user of VCSU resources. They will probably be offered several purchase options or a contact via ResearchGate or the like. Unless your students are quite skilled researchers, the DOI is going to frustrate them more than it will help them.

OK, so can’t I just copy and paste the link from the browser bar?

Nope. That link either won’t work at all or will stop working at the most inconvenient time. Unless you enjoy panicked 3 AM emails, please don’t.

That’s it! Your students should be able to access the resources quickly, easily, and in an accessible format, and they still have the option to print off a PDF if they would prefer.