Responding to Broken Link Reports

Owned by Kara Young
Last updated: Aug 30, 2020 by Ronnie Broadfoot
9 min read

Broken link reports occur as a result of a user reporting in Leganto that they can’t get access to electronic content in a citation in a reading list. Because these occur when a patron is trying to do their homework, it is always urgent and we need to respond as soon as possible. While any of us who have been trained in Alma course reserves and Leganto can work on these, regardless of the library (‘Processing Department’ in Alma) to which a given course is assigned, it would be a good idea to include the library staff member to whom the particular reading list is assigned when communicating with the patron who reported the problem. All library staff members who are involved in course reserves need to check for this regularly from the time reading lists are being added for a new semester until the semester ends.

On the Alma main page, go to the window labeled Tasks and click Citations to see if the menu that opens includes ‘Marked as broken.’ When you click ‘Marked as broken,’ that opens to the list of citations with reported broken links that are waiting to be addressed. If there is more than one, look at the dates and times of the Alerts and start with the first (oldest) one. When you choose one, here is what to do:

  1. In the Alert for the citation with the report of the broken link, highlight and copy the ID number of the person who reported the problem, then look up their email address in Alma using the patron search on the Manage Patron Services page under Fulfillment.
  2. Also, if one is present, take note of the name of the library staff member who created or edited the citation or the reading list, as you will need to include them in that email. If no library staff member is named, click on the link to the reading list to see if one is listed among the instructors or the name of the library listed as the Processing Department
  3. Go to your email account and enter the email address of the patron and add the email address of the staff member as a ‘Cc.’
  4. Return to the ‘Marked as broken’ list and the citation. In the menu of actions, choose View in Leganto. This will open to the expanded view of the citation that patrons and instructors see.
  5. Click the link to electronic content described. If more than one link is present, click the link at the top of the list, as that is the one that shows in Leganto in the list view of citations. 
  6. If the link works, check the terms of use to see if the content is restricted to a limited number of users at once time, in case that may have been the problem. If use restrictions are not an issue, skip down this set of instructions to the part about contacting the person who reported the broken link and the staff member involved in the citation and/or reading list.
  7. If it does not work, consider what kind of content it is; is it licensed content available via HOLLIS with and HarvardKey login, a document uploaded by the instructor, or a website?

Licensed Content

  1. If the citation shows multiple links in its expanded view, try the rest of them and, if one of them works, click Hide Link in the space to the right of the link, contact LTS about the problem link, and skip to step 11.
  2. If it is electronic content licensed by Harvard, look it up in HOLLIS by the title of the citation. Choose the record with the ‘View Online’ option and try the link to see if it works. 
  3. If the search or the link fails, look up the serial or book where the article or chapter is found, then look for that article or chapter. You may need to consult the syllabus in Canvas to find a more accurate citation.
  4. If, after consulting the syllabus to verify the citation and determining that Harvard does not have a license for the article, book, or chapter, in the citation, email the staff member to whom the reading list is assigned. Include the name of the patron who reported the problem and the instructor so that they may be contacted.
  5. When you find the link that works, use Cite It to add the article, book, or chapter to the reading list. 
  6. If the link or links found in HOLLIS fail to work, report them to LTS and skip to step 12.
  7. Return to Leganto and scroll to the bottom of the reading list to the citation you just added. Click and hold the gray bar to the right side of the citation and drag it up to either just below or just above the citation it parallels. 
  8. Look at the new citation and consider editing it to add helpful descriptive information, since what information carries over may vary and may be somewhat sparse. 
  9. Check the link in your new citation to verify that it works and, if it does, mark the citation as Complete and delete the other citation.
  10. If there are multiple links in the citation, check each of them to make sure they work. For any that do not, click Hide Link in the space to the right of the link and report the problem to LTS.
  11. Go to the top of the reading list in Leganto and click the Library Review button. This will delete the Broken Link Report in Alma; that’s why the patron and library staff information needs to be gathered before proceeding.
  12. Email the patron and the library staff member who has worked on the Reading List and/or the citation that was replaced or reported to LTS. (See below.) If emailing the patron is up to you and they are still having problems, encourage them to seek technical assistance from IT.
  13. In Alma, find the reading list that includes the citation, select Work On from the action menu, and mark the list as Complete unless there are other citations in the list that are not marked as Complete.
  14. Save the change to the reading list and reassign it to the staff member to whom it was assigned.

Uploaded Document

  1. If you tried to download the document and succeeded, save it to your desktop in case the best solution turns out to be attaching it to an email to the patron.
  2. If you could not download the document, search for it in HOLLIS and in Google Scholar to see if it is available electronically, whether licensed or free.
  3. Email the staff member to whom the reading list is assigned to let them know about the problem. Include the name of the patron and the name of the person who created the citation and/or the instructor who provided the document, as well as alternative methods of obtaining the same content if any were found.
  4. It will be up to the staff member to work with the instructor to resolve problems with the document, to contact the patron, and delete the Broken Link Report when the problem is solved, unless they ask you to do so.
  5. As an alternative to steps 3 and 4, consider emailing the patron to let them know that library staff is working on the problem and include the staff member to whom the reading list is assigned so that they will know that they need to look into the problem. This approach is better for the patron because they find out sooner that someone is working on the problem, but it is best to use steps 3 and 4 if you do not know the staff member well enough to know that they will not find this intrusive. 
  6. If contacting the patron is up to you and, after you contact them, they respond that they are still having trouble, send them the downloaded document as an attachment and encourage them to seek technical assistance from IT. 
  1. Perform a search for what content is represented in the citation about which the Broken Link Report was made
  2. If you succeed in finding the content represented in the citation, email the staff member to whom the reading list is assigned to verify. Include the name of the patron and the name of the person who created the citation and/or the instructor who provided the document.
  3. It will be up to the staff member to work with the instructor to resolve problems with the document, to contact the patron, and delete the Broken Link Report when the problem is solved, unless they ask you to do so.
  4. Alternately, or if you are the staff member to whom the reading list is assigned, consult the syllabus in Canvas for more information about the content represented in the citation and use that to verify what you found, then proceed.




Contacting the Patron and the Reserves Staff Member

Once you have established that the link works and/or that you have a good idea as to what was the problem, or reported the problem to LTS, email the person who reported the problem and, if you are not the staff member to whom the reading list is assigned or the creator of the citation, Cc the staff member who is, both as a professional courtesy and in case there is a need for follow-up or further explanation. Include an explanation if there is one, ask them to try it again as soon as they are able, and ask them to reply if there is still a problem. Be sure to thank the patron for reporting the issue and offer an apology for the trouble. As a further way to let the patron know they are not getting an automated message, make reference to when you are replying and when they reported the link at the beginning of the message. Here are some examples for various situations described above--you may note minor variations which are included for the purpose of illustration:

If the Link Is Working

Good morning, Xxxxxx,

Wednesday night, you reported that the link to the following item on the reading list for EDU H311 was broken:

 

Ethnicity and Family Therapy

ISBN:

9781593850203

 

I just checked this link and it appears to be working; please try it again. Make sure that you are logged in with your HarvardKey, that your browser allows cookies, and, if you are still having problems consider clearing your cache of cookies from your current session. I have cc'd Xxxxx Xxxxxx, who handles reserves for this course, in case there are further questions or issues. I have removed the broken link report for now. Apologies for the delay in response; thank you for reporting the problem and for your patience in this matter.

Yours,

Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx

Harvard Library

 

If the Link Works, but Access is Restricted to a Limited Number of Viewers at a Time

 

Good morning, Xxxxx,

A little earlier this afternoon, you reported the link to the following e-book, from the reading list for COMP S-120, as broken:

When breath becomes air

Author: Kalanithi, Paul,

Additional Person Name: Verghese, A.

Pages: xix, 228 pages :

Publication Date: ©2016.; [2016]

Edition: First edition.

 

I just tried the link and it worked, but I noticed that use is restricted to one viewer at a time. Hopefully it will work for you next time you try it, but if it doesn't, wait a while and try again later. Also, make sure that you are logged in with your HarvardKey, that your browser allows cookies, and, if you are still having problems consider clearing your cache of cookies from your current session. I've cc'd my colleague, Xxxxx Xxxxxxx, who handles reserves for this course, in case there are further questions. 

I have removed the broken link report for now. Apologies for the delay in response; thank you for reporting the problem and for your patience in this matter.

 

Yours,

Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxx

Harvard Library

 

 

If the Link Was Replaced

Good morning,

I checked the link that you reported as broken for the following article assigned for HDS 3014:

English Translation of the Quran by Women: The Challenges of "Gender Balance" in and through Language.

The link still wasn't working, so I looked up the journal in which it was published and, upon finding it available online through HOLLIS, replaced the link in the reading list with the one that I found. It doesn't open directly to the article, but opens to a page with a link to the pdf, which I tested and found to be functioning properly. If you have any further problems, please contact me or Xxxx Xxxxxxx, who handles reserves for this course and is cc'd on this message.

Thank you for reporting the problem and for your patience in this matter.

Yours,

Xxxxxx Xxxxxxx

Harvard Library

Content Not Licensed by Harvard

Good morning, Xxxxx,

There is a broken link report this morning for the following citation for EDU T543:

Kolodner, J. (1992). An introduction to case-based reasoning.

Artificial Intelligence Review, 6, 3-34.

In the list it says this citation is Being Prepared, but Harvard does not have online access to it. Xxxxx Xxxxxx is the student who reported; the instructor is Xxxxx Xxxxxx and the citation was added by Xxxxx Xxxx. The article does appear as a result in a HOLLIS search, but an attempt to access it online runs into a paywall. 

Yours,

Xxxxx Xxxxx

Harvard Libary


Uploaded Document Not Working (Message to Patron and Staff Member)

Good morning, Xxxxx,

Apologies for the delay in responding to your report of this broken link from the reading list for EDU H608:

Socially just, culturally sustaining pedagogy for diverse immigrant youth: Possibilities, challenges, and directions.

from the book: Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World

Chapter  Author: Lee, S. & Walsh, D.

Editor: D. Paris & H. S. Alim

Start page: 191

End page: 206

Something went wrong with the upload of the chapter and it is being dealt with now. I've cc'd Xxxxx Xxxxxx, who works on reserves at the Gutman Library and will be able to update you when the chapter becomes available. Thank you for reporting the problem and thank you for your patience.

Yours,

Ronnie Broadfoot

Harvard Library