• Article Type: General
• Product: Aleph
• Product Version: 15.2

Description:
We would like to put links to the HOL/items screen for particular bib records in our finding aids. A URL string, for example:

http://aleph.xxxxx.edu:81/F/QQERJ9VLIRXVBGKXG67IEEK755UN9QIPDNJQ9I7JNUAGGD8NAM-00039?func=item-global&doc_library=ABC01&doc_number=000200000&year=&volume=?_library=DEFGHI

Is the above link, which is generated when the HOL/items screen is brought up, a fixed link? Could we put this URL into a finding aid and would it remain a viable link?

Resolution:
The link you sent is not quite a persistent link, but it is easy to construct a persistent link (a fixed URL) from it. You sent:

http://aleph.xxxxx.edu:81/F/QQERJ9VLIRXVBGKXG67IEEK755UN9QIPDNJQ9I7JNUAGGD8NAM-00039?func=item-global&doc_library=ABC01&doc_number=000200000&year=&volume=?_library=DEFGHI

This URL has a session ID built into it (that's the long, random looking string after the "F/". You need to remove that part. In addition, you can remove some of the other parts with no ill effects. The following URL works very effectively:

http://aleph.xxxxx.edu:81/F?func=item-global&doc_library=ABC01&doc_number=000200000

This one gives the four vital pieces you need to constuct a direct, persistent link:
1. The base URL (http://aleph.xxxxx.edu:81/F) -- this is the base URL that points to your Aleph catalog
2. The function or operation you want to perform (func=item-global) -- this gets you to the HOL/items screen
3. The library that the doc number refers to (doc_library=ABC01) -- this tells the system how to interpret the next part
4. The document number (doc_number=000200000) -- this identifies the right record

You should be able to construct a pointer to any record's HOL/item screen by just changing the document number, which you can get either from the URL of a successful search or from the SYS number of the MARC tags screen of a bib record.

• Article last edited: 10/8/2013