Use LibKey Nomad to find full text articles online

LibKey Nomad is a very simple-to-use free browser extension that links to academic articles and research materials available open access or through our library subscriptions. This tool works in the background, automatically detecting when you're on a page with open access materials or with a library-subscribed journal article, and flagging available links to full-text PDFs. 

Getting started with LibKey Nomad 

Installation

LibKey Nomad is easy to install and is available for major browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. This is a University approved browser extension, and safe to use. 

  1. Visit ThirdIron's LibKey Nomad Download Page
  2. Select your preferred browser and click the download/install button
  3. Follow the prompts: type 'York' in the box to get a short list and then click on 'University of York' to complete the installation 

LibKey Nomad will then configure itself to provide access based on the library subscriptions at the University of York. 

How does it work? 

Once installed, you don't have to do anything else to activate the tool. LibKey Nomad scans the pages you visit, and when you land on one with a relevant publisher URL you get a 'Provided by University of York' alert on the page, as shown in the bottom left corner of this screenshot.

Screenshot of Wikipedia, showing the 'References' section of the article on Open Access. Several articles have University of York branded 'Download PDF' buttons beneath them.

On certain sites, such as Web of Science and even Wikipedia (as shown above), you'll see 'Download PDF' or 'View E-Book' icons which will take you seamlessly to the library's subscription access to these resources, which would otherwise be inaccessible behind a paywall. It also links to open access publications where available, or alternatives such as author-deposited manuscript versions in institutional repositories.

If you're working off campus you'll initially need to use the University's Single Sign On (signing in using your university username and password) to authenticate as a York user: note that LibKey Nomad doesn't store your credentials.