Access electronic resources - Libkey Nomad

USC Library aims to provide secure and seamless access for researchers to electronic resources, ebooks and databases. LibKey Nomad is a browser add-on that facilitates access to articles available through Library subscriptions. It will automatically direct you from publisher websites to our proxy server for authentication and to point you to the full text of the article or ebook or other means of access including requests for Interlibrary Loans. And because it is a browser tool, you will know if an article is available before you have to log in. You could learn more details on functionality of LibKey Nomad in this video.

LibKey Nomad browser extension gives you fast, one-click access to scholarly articles. When you landed on a journal publisher's website either from a link another scholar shared with you or from sources like Google, Libkey Nomad would help you authenticated with the publisher and grant you access to the full text. 

Installing LibKey Nomad 

1. Download

Go to https://thirdiron.com/downloadnomad/. Read the privacy policy.

Download the LibKey nomad by selecting the browser(s) you would be using. Follow all the prompts from your browser.

2. Configure

Once installed, LibKey nomad will prompt you to select institution. Select University of Southern California from the drop-down menu.

Below is a video demonstration on LibKey Nomad installation. 

Libkey Nomad works with majority of publishers USC Libraries subscribed to, including Web of Science, PubMed, Google Scholar, Wikipedia as well as Library catalogs. LibKey Nomad will recognize many of the scholarly publishers’ content subscribed by USC Libraries, but currently does not work for JSTOR publications.

When using Libkey Nomad, you will find a few buttons showing up on supported publishers or databases' web pages.

Download PDF

In a single click, you should either see a PDF on their screen or be prompted to download a PDF immediately. You may be prompted to login with USC ID.

Article Link

The same as the above with the exception that the user will NOT see a PDF, they will see a web page which either has the full text in HTML or also has the PDF, but one more link is required to access it.

Search result enhancement

You may see Libkey Nomad buttons showing up on a few databases to help you obtain access to the full text for the articles, journals or ebooks. 

Click on the "Download PDF" or "Access Options" buttons will direct you to library subscriptions or services to obtain full text of these articles. 

If you need help with Libkey Nomad, feel free to email ils@usc.edu. For research help, visit Ask a Librarian pages for help.

The LibKey Nomad browser extension primarily processes your information locally on your device. The only data sent to content provider’s server would be a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), if present on the resource’s web page. This DOI is then used to determine if USC Libraries has full-text access to this resource. For further details, please refer to Third Iron’s privacy policy.