Library Guide to Finding Articles

There are library tools that can enhance user research on the web, whether you're connecting to subscription-restricted resources or those openly accessible. This guide discusses LibKey Nomad, Google Scholar, and PubMed in greater detail.

There are free and legal open repositories and tools that can help you find articles and papers, including preprints deposited by authors. A few of them are:

• CORE Discovery Find open access versions of papers. Offers a browser extension.
• EndNote Click Formerly known as Kopernio.
• Open Access Button (OA Button) Browser plugin
• Unpaywall Search their database or install a browser extension.

Another option for obtaining an article or paper may be to contact the author by email or reach out via the following list of social networking sites where researchers share their work. The author’s name, institution, and sometimes their email address typically display on the first page of an article preview. 

• Academia.edu
• ResearchGate
• Mendeley
• HumanitiesCommons

LibKey Nomad is a browser plugin that will connect you to full text available from the library when you start your research on Google or websites like Wikipedia. It's quick to install and it ensures you are associated with the UM library to find full text in sources that we pay to license or available in open sources.

Steps

Step 1) Go to https://thirdiron.com/downloadnomad/

Choose the extension for the browser you wish to install it on.

Choose Add to install it.

Step 2) Under Select Organization, find University of Montana Missoula. Once selected, you should see a UM library logo.

Step 3) Start searching Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, Wikipedia, and thousands of scholarly publisher websites. Look for the Nomad green flame button to obtain full text from the library. Note: By default, the Nomad button displays in the lower left-hand corner of the screen. A user can modify the placement of this button through Options above the UM logo on the Nomad window.

Nomad will present one of three options shown in these examples.

Example 1) Download PDF - Directly provides a PDF. The example shows an article from the Wiley website. A user working off campus and not authenticated through library systems would get a paywall for this article. They would need to visit the library site and search the catalog to find the article. LibKey Nomad eliminates this step.

Example 2) Article Link - The user gets a paywall (purchase prompt) because the library does not have a subscription to the Journal of Genetics through Springer, the publisher. The LibKey Nomad bubble pops up with a link to download the article from a database licensed by the library.

Example 3) Access Options - This means the library does not have an existing full text source, but you will be able to submit an interlibrary request through a pre-populated form to receive a copy. Articles are supplied within 1-4 days. For Elsevier ScienceDirect articles, users will have the option of rapid article delivery through Article Galaxy Scholar (AGS). See Requesting articles directly through ScienceDirect.

LibKey Nomad enables in-line article access options in PubMed. PDFs and other article options will display in the brief results, reducing the clicks it takes to get an article.

LibKey Nomad enables in-line article access options in Wikipedia via the Citations section of articles. This feature can also direct you to ebooks from the library's collections. Example below: Wikipedia article on "Caffeine."

Google Scholar and PubMed are popular search engines for scholarly publications. While these resources are openly available on the web, the library has made customizations so each works with OneSearch to provide full text and interlibrary loan services from the library. Users may wish to access the UM customized versions to streamline their research experience.

Google Scholar

Use this customized link or install the LibKey Nomad browser extension to be recognized as a UM user.

“Link to Article @UM” displays on a record when a match to a library collection is found.

Note: The UM links in Google Scholar are updated once per week and are not live. As a result, the library system shows more current availability information.

Google Scholar is also available as an External Search from OneSearch. Clicking the link from the interface will transfer the keywords you entered in OneSearch and launch a search in Google Scholar.

Please refer to the guide Google Scholar at University of Montana for instructions on creating a Google Scholar profile if of interest.

PubMed

Use this customized link or install the LibKey Nomad browser extension to be recognized as a UM user.

The maroon and white “University of Montana” button displays on all records regardless of the availability status at the library.