Our highlighted resource this month is LibKey Nomad. This fantastic browser extension identifies RGU subscribed content on any site that includes the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) as part of the article information. This includes PubMed, Google Scholar and Wikipedia.
Why should I use LibKey Nomad?
Imagine this scenario. You find information on a website about a journal article that sounds perfect for your studies. You go to the Library website and enter the information into LibrarySearch only to find that RGU Library doesn’t subscribe to that particular journal. Not only is this frustrating, you’ve also wasted precious research time.
By installing the browser extension you’ll get a visual prompt if the item is included in our collections and also, in most cases, a direct link to the resource.
How do I get it?
LibKey Nomad works with a variety of browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Brave and Vivaldi. (Sorry, but it doesn’t work with Safari.) Simply go to https://thirdiron.com/downloadnomad/ and follow the instructions. You can also find the link in our A-Z databases list. Depending on the browser you are using you may need to activate the extension before use.
I’ve downloaded the extension. What now?
Once you’ve downloaded the extension you’ll be asked to select your organisation. Start typing in Robert Gordon University and select from the list that appears. (Just like in the image at the top of this blogpost)
LibKey Nomad will remember this information and look for subscription material owned by RGU Library.
Will this work on any device?
Yes, LibKey Nomad should work on any internet enabled device as long as you are using one of the supported browsers.
Using your own device is easiest as it will remember your LibKey Nomad settings. Remember to re-enable the extension if you clear cookies.
LibKey Nomad will also work on campus PCs or if you are accessing the RGU network via Citrix, but it doesn’t remember your settings between sessions. You’ll need to re-enable the extension each time you want to use it.
How do I know if an item is contained with the RGU subscriptions?
LibKey Nomad uses a green raindrop icon to signify if an item is contained with the RGU Library collection. The following image uses Wikipedia as an example.
The large green raindrop icon indicates that there’s RGU subscribed content available on the page.
A smaller version of the icon appears next to individual articles that are contained within RGU Library collections. In many cases you also get the option to go directly to the article. If you’re asked for a username and password then it’s just your regular RGU details.
Will the article definitely be full-text?
Around 90% of the articles identified by LIbKey Nomad will be available as full-text. However, RGU collections also contain indexing and abstracting services and the identified item may be in one of these services. If you find an item that you’d like to read but RGU Library doesn’t have the full text, you could request it using our Inter-Library Loan service
Does it work on every website?
No, only those which include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) as part of the article information. You’ll still need to manually check LibrarySearch if you find information about an article on a website that doesn’t have the DOI. A DOI typically looks something like this – doi:10.1111/j.1365-2850.2004.00774.x. Each journal article has a unique DOI.
And finally…..
LibKey Nomad is a great research tool which complements the LibrarySearch tool available from RGU Library. If you have any questions about LibKey Nomad (or even if you just want to tell us that you’ve used it and you think it’s fab!) then get in touch.
Email: library@rgu.ac.uk; Twitter: @rgulibrary; Facebook: @RGULibraryTeam
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