LibKey Nomad extends its access linking beyond scholarly articles to E-Books available through a user’s library. When Nomad detects an E-Book on a supported website, it checks the library’s configured holdings system and can provide a direct View E-Book link when access is available.
Examples of popular platforms where books may be detected include:
- Amazon
- Wikipedia
- Google Books
- WorldCat
Nomad also detects books on many publisher websites, including:
- Wiley
- Elsevier
- Cambridge University Press
- Springer Nature
- Springer Publishing Company
- Palgrave Macmillan
- Taylor & Francis
- Routledge
- SAGE
- Emerald
- McGraw Hill
- MIT Press
- Oxford University Press
- De Gruyter Brill
- Thieme
- Wolters Kluwer
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- American Psychiatric Association Publishing
- Jones & Bartlett Learning
- W.W. Norton
- Harvard University Press
- University of Chicago Press
- Columbia University Press
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Cornell University Press
- University of Toronto Press
- University of California Press
- Yale University Press
- Stanford University Press
- Princeton University Press
- Bloomsbury
- IOP Publishing
- Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)
- Duke University Press
- Rutgers University Press
- University of Illinois Press
- University of Georgia Press
This is not an exhaustive list of supported sites. If you have questions about whether E-Book detection is supported on a particular website, please contact Third Iron Support.
These publisher sites and platforms are discovery starting points; they do not limit which providers Nomad can link users to. When Nomad detects an ISBN/eISBN, it checks the library’s configured holdings system and displays a View E-Book link when an available access option is returned.
For example, a user may discover an E-Book on Springer’s website, while the library’s available copy is hosted by EBSCO. In that case, Nomad can direct the user from Springer to the copy available through EBSCO.
Which library systems support E-Book linking, and what setup is required?
- Ex Libris Alma libraries are eligible for this feature and automatically configured by Third Iron for libraries.
- EBSCO Full Text Finder customers are also eligible but they need to follow the instructions here to request that this feature be turned on for them by EBSCO.
Note for EBSCO Full Text Finder Libraries: Please ensure that if you offer an ILL service within Full Text Finder that you set the Category properly to "ILL". Setting this to "Full Text" may inadvertently cause the EBSCO E-Book feature to erroneously inform users that an E-Book is available only to then route them to an ILL form. - OCLC WorldShare customers are also eligible. Because these lookups use OCLC’s API, OCLC requires each library to authorize Third Iron to access the electronic holdings data needed for this feature. To enable E-Book linking, please download and complete the OCLC Mutual Customer Access Form and return it as directed in the document. Once OCLC processes the authorization, they will notify Third Iron directly, and we will complete the configuration.
How does LibKey Nomad determine whether an E-Book is available?
Nomad detects an ISBN/eISBN on the webpage and checks the library’s configured holdings system in real time. If the system returns an available access option, Nomad displays a View E-Book link.
The ISBN/eISBN must be associated with the title in the library’s knowledge base for a match to occur. Although individual book chapters may have DOIs, LibKey currently uses the book’s ISBN/eISBN rather than the chapter DOI for these lookups. If Nomad can detect the book’s ISBN from a chapter page, it may still connect the user to the full E-Book.
My library has access to an E-Book from multiple providers. What determines which provider Nomad links to?
When more than one access option is available, Nomad uses the first eligible link returned by the library’s configured holdings system. In most systems, this reflects the provider priority established in the library’s knowledge base or link resolver.
Why might a View E-Book link not appear?
A View E-Book link appears only when Nomad detects an ISBN/eISBN on the webpage and the library’s configured holdings system returns an available electronic access option. A link may not appear if the page does not contain a detectable ISBN, the ISBN is not associated with the title in the library’s knowledge base, or the library does not have electronic access to that edition.
This feature checks electronic book availability and does not report print holdings. If you believe a link should appear, please contact Third Iron Support and include the webpage URL, ISBN, and your library’s name.
Are usage statistics available for E-Book linking?
Yes. Clicks on View E-Book links in LibKey Nomad are included in standard usage reports and reported separately from article downloads.