What does "WebBridge" mean?

When you search a journals database, you will spot this little WebBridge icon on your results pages.

 

If you are searching a database like Education Research Complete your results can include links to the full text of the article (usually as a PDF).  This is a simple and quick way to read the article.  But two education databases - British Education Index or ERIC - search results only have citations; a citation tells you who wrote it (the Author), the article title and the details of where it was published ie the journal's name, date (this might include the volume and issue number) and the page numbers.  

 

So, WebBridge is a quick way of checking the journal title in the citation against the University's subscriptions. Clicking the icon opens a small WebBridge window.  You then have the option to check the catalogue for a matching journal.  Sometimes there will also be the option to match the citation against our main journals provider, EBSCO.  (EBSCO is simply a big journals supplier we use - think of it like checking your Sky TV for the History Channel).

 

Lots of people find it helpful to duplicate their search results before they start using WebBridge.  This means you will always have a window open with your results list.  You can duplicate your window by 

• clicking CTRL/N to open a new window, or, 
• right-clicking on the tab where your results are displayed and selecting Duplicate Tab.

 This flowchart describes another way of working from a citation to getting a copy of the original journal article.