“It’s removed the barriers and the confusion of navigating through the different websites. It’s much quicker and more time efficient because it’s made it easier to find the full text PDF and to download the article.”
Advanced Library Technologies
AI-powered technology delivers the fastest, most reliable, and status-aware access
Help avoid broken links and paywall dead-ends to keep the library at the center of the research workflow
Find out more
Expert System Full-Text Linking
AI-powered linking saves valuable time, improves library services
- Information about article metadata, journal holdings, source availability, open access status, article retraction, and library authentication is used to calculate the best path to content
- Intelligently deliver one-click access to millions of PDFs and HTML articles
Better user experience
- Eliminate the confusing maze of clicks to deliver the experience users expect, save researchers valuable time, and reduce help desk and ILL requests
- Clearly labeled links, such as “Download PDF,” eliminate interface confusion and tell users in advance what will happen when the link is clicked
Fewer broken links, happier researchers
- Dynamic link construction dramatically improves reliability of linking to other aggregated sources, minimizing common linking errors such as In Press articles
- Availability of full text from EBSCO confirmed before link generation. No more “Article not Found” error messages!
Reliably linking to the most Open Access content expands library collections
- Multiple data sources are used to determine Open Access availability to link to as much OA content as possible
- OA links provided by third parties are vetted to minimize dead and broken links
- Library may select linking to only the Version of Record or also alternate versions such as manuscripts
- Not reliant on sources to report coverage information, increasing link accuracy
Enhance scholarly communication with retraction alerts
- Publisher and aggregated sources may not adequately indicate when an article has been retracted, leading researchers to unwittingly incorporate retracted articles into their work
- Data from Retraction Watch is integrated into the linking algorithm to alert researchers of retracted status before an article is viewed
Complete access and linking solution
- Fast, reliable links back to library resources from wherever researchers start their information journey, whether it be in library databases and discovery services or the open web
- LibKey is being adopted by a growing number of services to link users back to library full text, including Semantic Scholar, Trip Database, Citationsy, Scholarcy, Lens.org, and email alerts from Brill
AI-Powered Services
AI-Powered linking, now in your discovery service
Simplify and improve access to content from all your library databases
Intelligently connect to library content from open web searching
DOI and PMID resolution technology seamlessly connects researchers to library resources
Incorporate Third Iron data and links into your custom applications
LibKey Case Study
Seton Hall University
How Seton Hall University uses LibKey to simplify access and drive engagement with library resources
LibKey made a big difference in usability, making it easier for users to get the resources they wanted, and to do that faster and with less frustration.
“Wow, this sounds like something we’ve been dreaming of for a long time and it really has been pretty incredible.”
~ Chris Duffy, Associate Dean of the Health Sciences Library
Featured Case Study
The University of Manchester
HowThe University of Manchester Library Reduced Support Ticket Volume by 25%
The University of Manchester Library is one of the great libraries of the world. It sits at the heart of England’s first and most eminent civic university, welcoming millions of students, researchers and visits every year to its 11 sites, which include The John Rylands Library, home to one of the most remarkable university Special Collections in the world.
“It’s so much clearer and so much better that people are asking, ‘Why isn’t it this way to begin with?’”
~ Tim O’Neill
Reduced Support Ticket Volume by 25%
Improved usability to save 100 days of wasted researcher time per year
LibKey led to 75% fewer clicks
LibKey led to large time savings
Featured Conference Presentation
University of Wisconsin Stevens Point
How the library is using LibKey to reduce unnecessary Interlibrary loan requests
The University of Wisconsin Stevens Point is a four year, comprehensive regional public university located in the central portion of the US State of Wisconsin. in 2019, UWSP enrolled 7,251 students and employed 1,247 staff members. The library’s collection includes approximately one half million physical items, access to 130,000 print and online periodicals and maintains subscriptions to 280 databases. Library patrons are able to discover and explore the library’s collection using Ex Libris’ Primo interface.
“LibKey has dramatically improved my reference and instruction service.”
~ Troy Espe
33% reduction in unnecessary ILL requests
Reduced delay in patron access
Less wasted staff time
Improved linking reliability
Conference Presentation
The University of Manchester at IGELU 2020
How the University of Manchester provides seamless access to the most extensive digital library collection in the UK.
Using LibKey and other tools.
“The full text PDF is opened in a single click. That includes our authentication layer. So there’s no need for the academic or student to navigate complex publisher platforms.”
~ Tim O’Neill, Electronic Resources Coordinator
LibKey Case Study
St. Norbert College
How St. Norbert College Library uses LibKey to Simplify Access and Keep the Library at the Center of Research Workflow
“We want to be that valued and trusted source for our students and our faculty. One important way to do that is to do what we can to ensure that our users can easily find and access the information that we say we have within the library collection.”
~ Mitchell Scott, Collection Management Librarian
Case Study
Central Installation of
LibKey Nomad to Improve
Equity of Access at
Chesterfield Royal Hospital
Conference Presentation
University of Western Australia: Navigating the Maze of Article Discovery
“We knew that our users wanted less clicks. …users wanted to decrease the incidence of broken links, dead ends and loops…they wanted the library to be integrated into their preferred discovery spaces, to provide clear links to subscribe resources. And [they] wanted to be assured that they will find what they need in a wide variety of online situations in the simplest way possible.”
Case Study
Improving Access With LibKey:
Survey results from the Medical Library Mannheim at Heidelberg University
“With LibKey it’s not too complicated to see where the link to the full text is. People can save at least one click to get the full text with LibKey.”
Client Feedback
Scihub became popular not only because it provides access to paywalled articles, but because it’s EASY. Just one click! So much so that people who have institutional access still use Scihub. LibKey *finally* solved the one-click issue via library access.
Dan Quintana
Installed @third_iron‘s LibKey Nomad this morning so I can teach it to my students. It’s so great!
Keegan Sinski
I got this feedback today “OMG Michelle, Nomad is just the best thing ever! It is saving me hours of faffing about, thank you so much!” @CCCU_PH
Kate and Michelle
@Browzine is a nice place to manage publication notifs for fave journals. Available through many univ libraries. Links with your credentials for fast access to everything you get notifs for — great if you want to avoid the further steps of logging in and hunting things down.
Elizabeth Beese
@UCSCLibrary: thanks for adding a download PDF option & LibKey redirect to journal articles, which I see as a tremendous gift of TIME
Juan Manuel Pedroza