We’re all familiar with the feeling. After long and fruitless Google or Wikipedia searches that feel uncannily akin to circling a drain, at last you stumble upon an article the precise size, shape, and density of a life raft. The abstract seems written by the stars, just for you: it floats there promising to unlock new pathways and finally unstick you from your molassesy research malaise.
How quickly hope can turn into despair! It’s behind a paywall.
Don’t hurl your laptop into the deep: for no longer are researchers in the UK community pinned by such vicissitudes of fate. The LibKey Nomad browser extension is here to unlock and enhance your research potential by providing direct access to content available in UK Libraries’ collections even when accessed outside of the Libraries’ website.
If scholarly or scientific articles discovered through Google, Wikipedia, ResearchGate, or other search engines outside of UK Libraries’ directory or electronic resources are available in our collections, the LibKey Nomad button will appear in the lower left hand corner of the screen. With one click you will be taken directly to the article. Eureka! Now you know how Archimedes must have felt!
Nomad also adds extra in-line enhancements to PubMed, Scopus, and other popular electronic resources, allowing one-click access to articles directly from the search results page.
In the event that an electronic version of the article is not available, Nomad will direct you to UK Libraries’ several Interlibrary Loan (ILL) and document delivery services.
Additionally, the browser extension provides each journal’s cover image to help you identify your favorite publications.
UK Libraries users can get LibKey Nomad through Third Iron, its developer’s website. When setting up the browser extension, you will be asked to select your institution. Your selection of University of Kentucky will be saved and all of the Nomad functionality will reflect UK's holdings when visiting the sites of participating publishers and certain databases.
Find out more about LibKey Nomad on our Third Iron Research Guide or by watching this video tutorial.
Questions? Contact refdesk@uky.edu to connect with a librarian who can help you download, install, and operate this time-saving browser extension.
Not all who wander are lost! With Nomad you will always be connected to the Libraries’ collections, no matter where you are on the Internet.
