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LibKey Nomad & Browzine

Discover tools to help find and connect to Carleton's subscriptions faster

What is LibKey Nomad?

LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that provides streamlined access to articles from journals that Gould library subscribes to, as well as Open Access sources, connecting you to literature discovered on the web with no need to start at the library website. Adding this extension to your browser enables one-click access to full text of articles from publisher pages, PubMed, Google, Wikipedia, and more. It does not keep any personal data.

Availability

LibKey Nomad is currently available for:

  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • and more!

Installation & Set-up

Installing LibKey Nomad is simple and does not require you to create an account

  1. Go to the Download LibKey Nomad website.
  2. Choose your preferred browser and follow the prompts to add the extension
  3. Once LibKey Nomad is added to your browser, choose Carleton College as your organization.

A screenshot showing how to select Carleton College as your organization in LibKey Nomad.

Using LibKey Nomad

When you land on a page for an article, LibKey Nomad automatically checks article citations with either a DOI or PMID against Gould Library's subscriptions and provides a link to a:

  • PDF of the article, if available
  • Manuscript version (via Unpaywall), if available

If you are off campus you will be directed to authenticate before being taken to the PDF of the article. LibKey Nomad does not store your credentials or require you to create an account.

 

What to look for

When you have LibKey Nomad browser extension installed, you will see the following image show up on compatible webpage:

This button changes its appearance to indicate what level of access is available:

 will bring you directly to the article online

 will provide the pdf to the article

will send you back to Catalyst, to check if it is available in either print format or another electronic database. If it is not available, you can easily request it via ILL.

When searching in Google Scholar, PubMed, Wikipedia, or other online sources, you may see the following icons show up alongside the article references. Here is an example from the Wikipedia entry for Neurodiversity:

 

LibKey.io

If you have a DOI or PMID for an article, you can quickly look up our access to it using LibKey.io. The LibKey.io URL is also a permalink that you can share. Using LibKey.io also allows you to view your desired article in the context it was originally published in through Browzine.

Lookup a journal article by DOI or PMID

Common questions

Does LibKey Nomad work for every site/database/article? No. LibKey Nomad uses an item's DOI to retrieve full text options. It cannot retrieve items with no DOI. Additionally, LibKey Nomad is currently configured to work only with selected scholarly websites, and not on the web in general.

Does LibKey Nomad work with all of Carleton's subscribed journals? No. LibKey Nomad is generally configured to work with online content only; you will either be redirected to Catalyst to view if a print option is available or in some cases it is not noted at all.

Does using LibKey Nomad mean I won't have to log in to access articles anymore? It will still prompt you to authenticate the first time you use it (each session), but after that it should authenticate automatically until you start a new browser session.

Does LibKey Nomad only work with Gould Library subscription materials? No, it also uses Unpaywall to find free versions of articles that are not part of the Gould Library's subscriptions.

Where does LibKey Nomad work? LibKey Nomad will recognize most academic publishers' pages, but does not currently work for JSTOR. Major publishers include:

  • AAAS (Science)
  • Cambridge University Press
  • Elsevier ScienceDirect
  • Nature
  • Oxford University Press
  • SpringerLink
  • Taylor & Francis
  • Wiley Online Library
  • The University of Chicago Press