... finally a tool that makes UW Library Resources directly available to you regardless where
you're wandering around the web!
You're reading a PDF and find a reference to an article you'd love to read. Select it
and right click on it and search it through Google Scholar. When the results are returned,
click on the 'GetIt!@Waterloo' link or the UW 
icon.
It gets even easier if you have 'Autolink' turned on. If your browser finds
an ISBN/ISSN, DOI or PubMed ID on the page it will create a link that will take you to the item,
including the electronic version if it is available.
You come across the name of an author in an article you are reading. Select it, right click
on it and find out what books by the author are available in the Library.
These are just a few senarios that the UW LibX browser plugin faciliates.
LibX Features
-
Right-click Context Menu or Toolbar
Direct access to the Library's catalog
(TRELLIS) via a
Right Click Context Menu
or the
LibX UW toolbar. Simple or advanced searches are available by entering terms,
selecting and right-click your mouse, or selecting and draging-and-droping the selection into the search
box or onto the Google 'Scholar' icon. In the toolbar you can perform advance searches by entering terms and
searching multiple fields.
-
Adaptive and user-configurable context menus
The
Context Menu changes automatically depending on what is selected.
For instance, if an ISBN or ISSN is selected, the context menu will offer the option to search the catalogue
directly or via the SFX link resolver. Currently recognized are CrossRef DOIs, ISBNs, ISSNs, and
PubMed IDs. Options for the
Context Menu are fully configurable.
The recommended
Context Menu settings are :
| General | Catalogs | TRELLIS | Keyword
Title
Author |
| General | Catalogs | Primo | Keyword |
| General | Catalogs | Scholars Portal | Keyword |
| General | Scholar | Google Scholar | Magic Search (See Below) |
| ISBN | Open Url Resolvers | find [via SFX] | ISBN/ISSN |
| ISSN | Open Url Resolvers | find [via SFX] | ISBN/ISSN |
| PMID | Open Url Resolvers | find [via SFX] | PubMed ID |
| *DOI | Open Url Resolvers | find [via SFX] | DOI |
If selected the option will appear in the
Context Menu when appropriate.
*
DOI - Digital Object Identifier - a permanent digital identifier given to an object (i.e. article).
-
OpenURL support
OpenURL is a standard that helps you get to the library resources, including
the full text of journals to which the UW Library subscribes.
LibX UW
can point you directly to the full text of an article you are looking for.
OpenURL resolvers are often accessed through
GetIt@Waterloo
links or through
(
UW icons) that appear with relevant references on a web pages (see embedded cues below).)
OpenURLs work well Google Scholar.
-
Google Scholar Support (The 'Magic Button')
Select text and search for the selected text on Google Scholar.
In addition, LibX UW will read Scholar's results, determine whether the paper
was found and if so, ask the OpenURL resolver for a copy that the UW Library has paid-for.
You can use this feature even from inside a PDF, which makes retrieving papers referenced in a PDF
file a snap.
-
Web Localization via Embedded Cues
LibX UW places localized cues
in web pages you visit if the library has resources related to that page. Whenever you see the cue,
click on the link to look at what the library has to offer.
For instance, book pages at Amazon or Barnes & Noble contain
cues that can check whether the library has the book you are looking to buy.
Other pages that contain cues are Google, Yahoo! Search, the
NY Times Book Review, and many others.
-
Autolinking
LibX UW, if the
Autolinking option is turned on, will automatically create links for ISBNs,
ISSNs, DOIs, and other identifiers to the Library's OpenURL resolver. This can take you to
an electronic copy of a resource if available or the printed copy in the Library. Once you've installed LibX UW,
test this feature on:
nature.com.
-
Off-campus access via EZProxy
You find yourself at a commercial resource to which the Library subscribes but you are at home and
forgot to "Connect from Home" (i.e Login via EZProxy). No problem, right click anywhere on the page
and select Reload thepage via EZProxy, which will take you to the EZProxy logon page
and after you have logged in, directly to the page you were on.
-
Support for xISBN
Support for OCLC's
xISBN:
find a book, given an ISBN, even if the library holds this book under a different ISBN. There can be many
editions of a work and each edtion has a unique ISBN. If the Library has a different edition than the ISBN you've located
with OCLC's xISBN service, it doesn't matter. You will be taken to the Library's copy regardless of edition.
-
Show/Hide Hotkey
You feel that the LibX toolbar takes too much screen re-estate on your browser, no problem.
Turn the toolbar off with the F9 hotkey and turn it on again when you need it.
Virginia Tech, the creators of the LibX plugin, have prepared a few demos to help you
explore the potential of LibX.
Toolbar demo
Context searches and xISBN demo
OpenURL demo
Cues demo
Installation:
(TRELLIS Version) Click here to install LibX UW Revision #1.5.5 for Firefox
(TRELLIS Version) Click here to install LibX UW Revision #1.5.5 for IE
http://libx.org/editions/4D/93/4D930010.3/libx-4D930010.exe
If Firefox displays a message "To protect your computer, Firefox prevented this site... from installing software on your
computer.", press the button labelled "Edit Options..." and click "Allow" add libx.org to the list of websites
from which extensions may be installed. Then click "Ok" and visit the "Install" link again.
These extensions work with Firefox and IE. The current LibX UW Firefox edition is compatible with Firefox 3.0. The IE version is compatable with
IE version 7.
When new versions of the LibX UW plugin are issued your copy will be automatically updated.
UWLibX Usage Statistics
Copyright:
LibX is distributed under the Mozilla Public License. The copyright is held jointly by Annette Bailey and Virginia Tech.
March 31, 2009
