A Persistent Link, or Persistent URL (PURL), is a constant, stable link to a document in a database that will not change over time. A PURL is also referred to as a Permalink.
PURLs allow you to provide an item to your students, such as a full-text article located within a database, by copying the Permalink and posting it in Canvas. This specific link to the article will work reliably and will work off campus. Students can also use it at the end of their citations to make sure they can go back to the full article, and so their instructors can see where they got the material in their papers from.
FACULTY NOTE: Articles in online databases are provided by licensing agreements and utilizing the PURLs (persistent links) is the recommended method for sharing this type of content. Posting articles in an open access environment can be copyright infringement unless you secure permission from the publisher and/or author. Because of this, please keep the content within Canvas, and use the Permalinks from our subscribed resources, which do not require such authorization.
EXAMPLE: Find a PURL/Permanent Link in ProQuest
ProQuest - Once you click on the title of an individual article, look to the top, right side for the Link icon, and click on Copy URL. The Permalink will be copied to your clipboard, and you can paste it into Canvas as a link, or add it to the end of a citation so you can get back to the article any time:
