[Eril-l] Managing asset links to proxied resources in LibGuides

[Electronic Resources in Libraries discussion list]

Hello Bee,

This truly is an exciting topic! Setting Proxy Info system-wide could have been a lifesaver for us when we migrated to a different proxy URL. Although we had our A-Z Database List on the system-wide proxy setting, most of our 1000’s of links throughout the system were not on the centralized proxy setting. Although I can say that we haven’t implemented a standard for asking libguide users to proxy their links centrally, we have been working on a long-term project to consolidate all of their duplicated links for resources that are already listed in the A-Z Database list. That way, both the resource URLs and the Proxy can all be managed centrally. Otherwise, a change to a database URL or the proxy means dozens (if not 100’s) of links to locate and change. When we migrated to our new Proxy, we were able to locate all of the proxied links by filtering through all the Assets, extracting into Excel for cleanup work, then we had to send the finished set of Assets to Springshare to update them for us in LibGuides. Through all of this link cleanup work, we also discovered quite a few variations on how the proxy url had been entered over the years (some technically correct but not ideal, many slightly incorrect, and a few wildly off-track). That was fun to see as well!

From our experience, centralizing proxy management, at the very least, and also centralizing duplicative Database link management (when possible) saves a lot of time and labor later on.

If you have any further questions about this, I’m happy to help off-list.

-Ian


Ian Scofield
E-Resources Team Manager
Resource Acquisition & Sharing Department (RAS)
OSU Libraries | Oregon State University
541-737-6953 (Voicemail Only)
ian.scofield at oregonstate.edu<mailto:ian.scofield at oregonstate.edu>





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Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2023 2:39 PM
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Subject: [Eril-l] Managing asset links to proxied resources in LibGuides


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Hello,
We are considering the functionality in LibGuides to set our proxy information at the system-wide level, so that anytime we enter new assets, we'd put in non-proxied links and then select "Yes" for "Use Proxy?"

We haven't used this method in the past - instead staff generally just copies and pastes URLs directly into Link URL. It's my impression that centralizing this might make it easier to manage links going forward if anything should change with our proxy.

I'm curious how other folks using LibGuides manage this option of either centralizing proxy info or just including proxied links in entering assets. One concern I have is how to train staff on "unproxying" links - like if they are linking to a proxied resource, will that be an annoying extra step to have to remember to take out the proxy info?

Welcome any feedback on this wildly exciting topic :)
Bee

--
Bee Bornheimer (she/hers)
Digital Resources and Cataloging Librarian
University of San Diego School of Law
bbornheimer at sandiego.edu<mailto:bbornheimer at sandiego.edu>
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