Linking to EPIC resources
Benefits of creating links to EPIC resources
Your school can set up links to EPIC content in:
- your school's Library Management System (LMS)
- topic and curriculum pages on your intranet or internet pages.
Adding links to your library system means staff and students can access EPIC resources from any device that has internet access, anywhere, using your EPIC school logins.
These links will also provide direct access to resources in your school as long as you are part of the Network for Learning (N4L) managed network.
Links to EPIC resources
Follow these instructions to set up a direct link to any of the resources.
Instructions — EPIC resources links
- Open or download the 'EPIC access URLs for New Zealand schools' spreadsheet.
- Open the 'EPIC e-resources' tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet.
- Copy the EPIC resource URL you are interested in from column C.
- Paste the url where you want it to appear.
- You can also add search button links with images. Use the URL in column D on the spreadsheet.
EPIC access urls for New Zealand schools (xlxs, 46KB)
Links to specific EPIC titles
You can create direct links to specific EPIC titles. The spreadsheet has tabs with urls for you to use. The titles available are:
- Gale Virtual Reference Library EPIC Collection ebook titles — 'GVRL Titles' tab
- New Zealand newspapers available in full text through the Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre — 'ANZ Ref NZ Newspapers' tab
- Treaty of Waitangi Collection ebook titles — 'Treaty of Waitangi Clln titles' tab
- a range of popular, full text magazine titles available through EPIC — 'Popular magazine titles' tab
Instructions — specific EPIC titles links
- Open or download the 'EPIC access URLs for New Zealand schools' spreadsheet.
- Look at the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet, choose the tab you are interested in and find the url of the title you want to use.
- Copy the EPIC resource URL you are interested in from column C tab of the spreadsheet.
- Paste the url where you want it to appear.
EPIC access urls for New Zealand schools (xlxs, 46KB)
Links to content within EPIC resources
It is very easy to create your own direct links to content within EPIC resources.
Some EPIC vendors provide direct linking tools that generate a URL you can use to create direct links to their content. You need to copy the url and paste it where you want it to appear.
Vendors call the tools by different names as set out below:
- EBSCO — Permalink
- Gale Cengage — Bookmark
- Britannica — Cite
Where possible the direct linking tools should be used in preference to copying and pasting the URL from the browser. This is because in most cases the URL in the browser will contain information that is specific to the session, which makes the URL less likely to work in the future.
Instructions — content within EPIC resources links
- Find the content that you want to bookmark or direct link to.
- If the resource has a direct linking tool, for example, ESBCO, Gale Cengage, Britannica resources use the direct linking tool to generate a URL to copy.
- If the resource doesn’t have a direct linking tool, for example, New Zealand Geographic, Treaty of Waitangi Collection), copy the URL from the browser.
- Paste the URL where you want it to appear.
Links from your catalogue to EPIC resources
You can link to EPIC resources from your catalogue records. There are a number of different ways to source EPIC resource catalogue records, these are described below. You will need to replace the access URL in the downloaded catalogue record with the applicable EPIC authenticated URL from the 'EPIC Access URL spreadsheet', except for the Gale Cengage records.
You can source EPIC resource catalogue records from:
Schools Catalogue Information Service (SICS) subscribers
Schools Catalogue Information Service (SCIS) subscribers can access EPIC resource catalogue records by logging in to Schools Catalogue Information Service website and going to the Special Orders page.
Under Special Collections, there is a link to the National Library of New Zealand EPIC resources.
Schools Catalogue Information Service website
Get catalogue records through Record Manager
Registered schools can access catalogue records for all EPIC resources, plus the individual ebook titles available in both the Treaty of Waitangi Collection and the Gale Virtual Reference Library for free through National Library of New Zealand’s Records Manager online cataloguing tool.
National Library of New Zealand’s Records Manager online cataloguing tool
Bridget Williams Books
Bridget Williams Books provide MARC records for download for the individual ebook titles available in the Treaty of Waitangi Collection.
To access these, go to the Treaty of Waitangi Collection Dropbox folder.
Treaty of Waitangi Collection Dropbox folder
Gale Cengage
Gale Cengage provides MARC records for download for individual Gale Cengage EPIC resources (including records for the topic pages in the Gale In Context resources) and the ebook titles available in the Gale Virtual Reference Library. These can be accessed by going to:
- Gale Support
- log in with the EPIC location ID — per_k12, and
- access the MARC Records
You don't need to copy and paste the applicable EPIC resource URL from the EPIC Access URL spreadsheet into the Gale MARC records. The appropriate Gale MARC records have already been added to these catalogue records.
Instructions — links from catalogue to EPIC resources
- Add a catalogue record for the EPIC resource (or content within an EPIC resource) to your Library Management System (LMS)
- Copy and paste the EPIC resource URL from the 'EPIC Access URL spreadsheet' in to the URL field of your catalogue record. You do not need to do this last step for Gale Cengage records.
EPIC access urls for New Zealand schools (xlxs, 46KB)
Embed search boxes/widgets onto your web pages
Some EPIC vendors provide instructions to set up search widgets for their resources. Embed these search boxes on your website so that people can start their EPIC search directly from the search box.
EPIC Discovery search boxes
EPIC Discovery and EPIC Discovery Publication Search let you search for across multiple EPIC resources in a single search. Use the html code in the documents below to add these search boxes to your website.
EPIC Discovery search box html (txt, 2.80KB)
EPIC Discovery search box html for your AccessIT web OPAC (txt, 5.40KB)
EPIC Discovery publication search box html (txt, 2.80KB)
Britannica School search boxes
You can add search boxes to your website for any of the three levels of Britannica School. Follow the instructions in the link below.
Add Britannica School search boxes to your website (pdf, 182KB)
EBSCO search boxes
Use the Search Box Builder to embed EBSCO search boxes on to your website.
Additional instructions:
- In step 2: Select Authentication Parameters:
- Insert the following Proxy prefix: http://ezproxy.kotui.ac.nz/login?url=
- Under Methods, select IP Address
EPIC power search — LINK
Gale Cengage search boxes
Use the Gale Cengage widgets instructions to embed Gale Cengage search boxes on your website.
Additional instructions:
• Go to Gale Support
• Login with the EPIC location ID — per_k12
• Go to the Product Support tab and select Widgets.
Contact EPIC
Got a question about EPIC?
Get in touch epic@epic.org.nz.
Terms and conditions for schools using EPIC
The EPIC resources available through the Ministry of Education funded subscription on behalf of New Zealand schools are the intellectual property of The Department of Internal Affairs (acting through the National Library of New Zealand) and its licensors.
The EPIC resources are provided to schools accessing this site (including their students, employees, and staff) strictly for personal use or educational purposes in connection with the educational activities of the school.
The Ministry of Education, The Department of Internal Affairs, and its licensors are not responsible to schools for the content, format, accuracy, or availability of the EPIC resources through this site.