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If you’re a faculty member in the midst of fall semester preparations, consider using Himmelfarb’s Durable Link Service and let us create durable links your students can use to access their course readings on and off campus. 

What is a durable link?

A durable link is a link that will provide reliable access to electronic reading materials, i.e. e-books, e-journals, articles, etc. Whether students access the resource while connected to GW’s network, via their home network, in a coffee shop, at the airport or any other location with internet, they’ll be able to open and read the material. If you’re worried about copyright issues when adding course materials as PDFs to your syllabus, then consider using the Durable Link Service 

The Linking to Electronic Resources: Creating Durable Links libguide offers tips and quick tutorials on how to create your own durable links. If you know the article’s PMID, DOI, or an e-book’s ISBN or ISSN, then you can easily create a durable link for your course material. Or check out our Quick Tool where you can input the URL and create a proxy link that can be added to your syllabus or reading list. Worried that the link may be broken? Use the ‘Test Link’ button to ensure that the link works. 

This quick tool allows you to create a new durable link from an existing URL.

The Durable Link Service is available throughout the year. Once you have your reading list or syllabus for your courses, feel free to use the libguide to create your durable links. If you’ve created your own links, but want someone to check that they’re not broken or if you’d like someone to create and add links to your syllabus, please contact a staff member at Himmelfarb library by sending an email to himmelfarb@gwu.edu. We’ll be happy to check any links you’ve already created or add new durable links to your syllabus! 

Crumpled paper and a paper airplane on a dark blue background
Photo by Matt Ridley on Unsplash

As Himmelfarb Library begins the transition into Our New Normal, you may have questions about where to access certain services and resources we provide. Here’s a guide on what you’ll find available online and in-person.

Online

All of our e-journals, e-databases, and e-books remain available online. We also provide our Documents2Go service entirely online, where you can request articles unavailable in our collection.

We offer instructions on downloading and installing our mobile apps to your device.

There is a host of information available on our Research Guides, everything from question banks to anatomy images, and much more!

Himmelfarb’s Reference team is also available online. Our chat service is monitored by reference staff 8:30AM-8PM EST Monday through Thursday and 8:30AM-5PM EST Friday. Have a question a little too involved for chat? We can also schedule individual meetings with a reference librarian via WebEx. Email us at himmelfarb@gwu.edu to start the process!

In-Person

In addition to our print collection available in our book stacks, you can also find our multimedia collection, audiovisual collection, and software resources on the third floor, in the Bloedorn Technology Center.

Our special collections, the Humanities & Health collection, Historical collection, and Healthy Living collection, are all accessible in-person.

Some of our older journals are kept in on-site storage as bound volumes. You can request a specific volume for perusal by following the instructions on our Borrowing and Requesting page.

Anatomy models are available in various places throughout the library. Our skeletal models and bone boxes are up on the third floor. Heart and brain models can be checked out at the Circulation desk.

If you have any questions about access as we move forward with Our New Normal, reach out to us at himmelfarb@gwu.edu or call the Circulation Desk at 202-994-2962.