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Online and Distance Education Services

Information about obtaining materials for online, distance and FLEX option students and faculty.

Linking to Library content in Canvas

A wide array of learning materials is available through the hundreds of databases the UWM Libraries licenses. These materials—including journal articles, video and e-books—are part of the collection of affordable learning materials the UWM Community can share with students. The UWM Libraries can support faculty in the process of identifying stable links to content and CETL can assist with linking to library licensed content in Canvas

 Linking to licensed content is preferred in most scenarios

  • Linking to content allows the UWM Libraries to track the real use of content when assessing journal and database usage
  • Linking gives students the option to use the html version of an article when it is available; many databases offer audio recordings of the articles and html is ideal for use with screen readers
  • Linking allows students to view course materials in the context in which they are disseminated; gives them practice reading database and catalog records; and introduces them to the value and process of scholarly publishing


​A PDF copy of a resource may be preferred for some learning scenarios such as providing an access copy for students who do not have consistent connectivity or adding a copy to the Canvas file manager that students can annotate in Hypothesis. The UWM Libraries Interlibrary Loan Office can assist with locating and scanning documents for Canvas. 

Off-Campus Access URLs in Search@UW

Off-Campus Access URLs in Search@UW

1. Click on the title of a source in your search results to open the item record.

2. Under the Send To section of the record, click on Permalink. 

Search@UW Send to Screenshot

3. A box with an off-campus access URL will appear below the Send To section of the page. Copy the link to share with students. 

Search@UW Permalink box

Off-Campus Access URLs in Ebsco

Off-Campus Access URLs in Ebsco

1. Click on the title of a source in your search results to open the item record.

2. Click on the Permalink icon in the Tools menu on the right side of the item record page. 

Ebsco record screenshot

3. A box with an off-campus access URL will appear at the top of the page. Copy the URL to share with students.

Ebsco permalink screenshot

Off-Campus Access URLs in ProQuest

Off-Campus Access URLs in ProQuest

1. Click on the title of a source in your search results to open the item record.

2. Click on the Copy URL icon in the upper right of the page. This will copy the off-campus URL to share with your students.

ProQuest database landing page for an article with the copy link icon highlighted with a black square

Off-Campus Access URLs in JSTOR

Off-Campus Access URLs in JSTOR

1. First, click on the title of a source in your search results to open the item record.

2. Copy the Remote Access URL on the left side of the page.

JSTOR article landing page with the Remote Access URL pane open on the left side of the page

3. Click on the copy icon a small square overlayed on top of another squareat the end of the URL to share this off-campus URL with students.