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Perma.cc

How and why to use Perma.cc in your scholarship

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What is Perma.cc

Perma.cc is a service that helps prevent link rot. Use it to preserve the online sources you cite and to make those records accessible to your readers.

perma.cc logo

Forever.

Preserving Records

How to Create a Perma Link

Step 1:  Login to your account

Step 2:  Paste or type the URL of the page you want to preserve

Step 3:  Select the appropriate organization or folder to affiliate your link to

Step 4:  Click the "Create Perma Link" button

 

Example

Private Links

Generally, all Perma links are public, but you can make yours private if necessary. Sometimes links are automatically marked private. This is usually because the website owner has coded the HTML as <no archive> or the site is behind a paywall or subscription. You will still be able to access the link in your Perma account, and you can still cite to it. However, people outside of your organization may not be able to see it. They will be shown a page indicating the cite is private and will need to contact you for more information.

For more information on Private Records, see the Perma.cc User Guide.

Using and Citing Links

It's Up To You!

How you use a Perma Link in a citation is up to you. One common method, encouraged by The Bluebook*, is to include both the Perma Link and the original URL in the citation, like this:

* The Bluebook, 20th ed., Rule 18.2.1(d).

Managing and Organizing Links

Managing

You can create folders, move, and search your Perma links.  Try clicking on a link and dragging it to a specific folder -- that works, too!

managing links with folders

Remember: you can only save 10 links per month to your Personal Links folders, but you can save unlimited links to your organization folders.

Annotating your links

You can annotate any link accessible to you. Click on the item you want to annotate and it will expand to display more detail. You can edit the display title, add notes, move the link to another folder and view other metadata about the link.  

link annotation page

FYI-- annotations are private and only accessible to you and people in your organization.

For Registrars

Registrar Responsibilities and Authorities

Congratulations!  You are a registrar for your university.  You will want to become familiar with the User Guide and FAQ.

Registrars can create new archiving organizations and affiliate users with those organizations. Typically this means acting as the hub of a network of archiving organizations (such as journals) and their users.

As a registrar, you'll help train and support Perma.cc users within your network and you'll be the main point of contact between your network and the Perma team.

You'll also be responsible for ensuring that those in your network do not abuse their accounts. Every Perma Record created by anyone within your network becomes automatically associated with you, as the relevant registrar, so it's important that you exercise judgment in approving archiving organizations. If you like, you can adopt policies and best practices for Perma.cc usage by those in your network.

Supporting your orgs and users

Each library is free to develop its own Perma policies and practices for those in its network. As a registrar, you can support as many or as few users associated with your institution as you like. To get you started, here are a few approaches you might adopt for helping journals and faculty use Perma.cc.

  • For journals, many libraries set up each journal as an archiving org and then let the journal manage its own internal usage. Many libraries help journals by training new members and serving as a resource for questions about how to use Perma.cc.
  • For faculty, many libraries create separate archiving orgs for each faculty member. These faculty archiving orgs can include the faculty member herself, as well as any secretaries, research assistants or interns who might be involved in creating or using Perma Links. Remember that if you combine multiple faculty members into a single archiving org, they will be able to observe - and potentially move - each other's links.

Creating new orgs

Creating new archiving organizations is easy!

  1. Select "Organizations" in the main dropdown menu.
  2. Click "add new organization."
  3. Enter the name of the organization in the form and submit.

 

Screenshot of new org form.

Adding and removing users

Every user within an archiving org has the ability to add or remove users on behalf of the organization. Each organization should decide for itself, in consultation with its registrar, how it wants to manage the addition and removal of users.

To assign users to the organization, just select "Manage users" in the main dropdown menu. Then click "add organization user," enter the user's email address and submit. If the user already has a Perma account, you'll be asked to confirm her addition to your organization. If the person doesn't have a Perma account, you'll be asked to create one for her, and we'll send her a verification email so she can get up and running with Perma.

To remove a user from an archiving org, click on "Manage users" in the main dropdown menu and enter the user's email address. Find the user's account and click the "remove" button.

Getting Help

HELP!

Contact your Library’s Perma Registrar.

See the Perma User Guide and FAQ.

This form is the easiest way to start a dialog with Perma.cc. If you prefer email, you can write to us at info@perma.cc.