Browser Extension Offers Speedy Access to Full-Text Content

LibKey Nomad is a browser extension that delivers full-text scholarly content faster than typical library resource pathways. Nomad is free to install, and unaffiliated researchers can use it with selected open access content, but it works best for users who are affiliated with an institution that subscribes to scholarly content and the LibKey package. It is an excellent resource for many types of institutions that support research, including colleges, universities, hospitals, governments, and corporations.

Product Overview/Description

Nomad facilitates access to full-text scholarly content by customizing links within a web browser. It was released in 2019 by Third Iron, an information technology company that develops library software and services, including BrowZine and other LibKey products (Third Iron LLC, 2019). It belongs to a suite of content linking tools—including LibKey Discovery, LibKey Link, and LibKey.io—that check for a library’s entitlements before user authentication is required.

Broadly, the different LibKey services support the research process by connecting users to full text access whether the point of discovery occurs within the library or outside of the library. Both LibKey Discovery and LibKey Link are designed to be used as part of a library’s discovery systems and databases, while Libkey.io is a website that uses link resolving to connect users with a DOI or PubMed ID to the full-text PDF or HTML article.

Nomad works by modifying select websites with a button that leads to a full-text version of a resource listed on the page. Nomad uses the same underlying link building and resolving technology as the other LibKey discovery tools, but packages it as a browser extension. Individual users can install the extension, which connects them with their library’s subscription and open access content as they navigate thousands of publisher pages, PubMed, Google Scholar, Wikipedia, and more. If the institution has set up LibKey to autofill request information, they can also request non-subscribed items via interlibrary loan/document delivery with one click. An add-on product called Nomad++ integrates domain-specific messaging and chat features for an additional fee.

Nomad users without an institutional affiliation can use the free open access version of the tool, which they can install from their browser extension store or by downloading directly from the LibKey Nomad site. Currently, the only supported browsers for Nomad are Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Brave, Vivaldi, and Safari. The extension is not compatible with mobile devices.

For this review I used the Firefox version of Nomad with an institutional subscription, although I also discuss the OA-only version of the product.

LibKey Nomad is integrated with more than 5,000 publishers, including Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor and Francis, and Wiley. Nomad also fetches content from aggregators and EBSCO, JSTOR, and ProQuest, among other platforms. It also has unique integrations with several platforms and domains, including Google Scholar, PubMed, SciFinder-n, UpToDate, and Wikipedia (Third Iron LLC, 2024c). The Google Scholar integration communicates the user’s affiliation so that “library links” appear alongside the search results. This is a feature that can also be activated within Google Scholar settings, though the user must make the effort to do so. The Nomad integration for other websites, like PubMed and Wikipedia, alters the content of the page to include direct content links and, in some cases, a link to the full issue of the relevant journal.

Initially launched with a focus on article linking, LibKey Nomad has recently extended its linking service to select ebook platforms and publishers, including many university presses, Google Books, Amazon, Springer, and Wolters Kluwer. This feature is currently only available to libraries using either Ex Libris Alma or EBSCO FTF, although support for more systems is planned (Third Iron LLC, 2024b).

User Experience

For users, access to specific content is dependent on institutional subscriptions and purchases; Nomad facilitates access to scholarly content, but Third Iron does not host content. For Third Iron Complete or LibKey subscribing institutions, Nomad is activated automatically. Libraries can choose to register their link resolvers to provide more access options—such as interlibrary loan or document delivery services—for items they don’t own. Nomad also uses the Unpaywall database to provide links to open access content. Users who are only connected to the OA resource library will be able to access OA journals as well as individual OA articles within an otherwise paid journal, while affiliated users will have access to all OA content plus their institutional holdings.

Nomad presents these options with a system of customized buttons, including:

• Download PDF
• Article Link
• Manuscript PDF
• Manuscript Link
• Access Options

“Download PDF” delivers a PDF document directly from the publisher or the publisher’s version held in a repository (such as PubMed Central or a university repository), while “Article Link,” takes the user to the full text in HTML format. Both options require users to authenticate after clicking the button. Both “Manuscript PDF” and “Manuscript Link” deliver a manuscript version, typically a preprint from an institutional repository, and do not require authentication. Libraries can elect to set up the “Access Options” feature to provide interlibrary loan or document delivery services. Nomad users may also sometimes see non-clickable labels or additional links to a full issue of a journal, but typically only within specific integrated sites, such as PubMed, Embase, and Scopus.

Because Nomad is a browser extension that works by modifying content on specific websites, users can navigate sites (e.g., PubMed, Wikipedia, Springer Nature) exactly as they usually do; Nomad adds relevant buttons or contextual links when appropriate. After installation, the extension requires no further attention. Most of the enhancements are unobtrusively but clearly placed near the title of the article that Nomad has found as full text—for example, in a list of references in a Wikipedia article.

Nomad also inserts a large button in the bottom corner of any active site. For sites like Wikipedia, which includes many enhanced content items on a given page, the large button will say “Provided by” and supply the name of the user’s institution. On journal article pages, the button will provide an option to access the full text of the article (for example, “Download PDF”). For users who prefer to have many smaller browser windows open simultaneously, the button can partially obscure other content on the page. However, the obviousness of the button makes it very clear when a full text article or PDF copy is available. Moreover, the button will not appear on pages with no available linked content, so it is not a nuisance while browsing more generally.

Third Iron products, including LibKey Nomad, meet international accessibility standards and are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). LibKey Nomad is WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliant. All of Third Iron’s products have a VPAT available to download from their website, and the most recent VPAT was completed in March 2024 (Third Iron LLC, 2024a).

Contracting and Pricing Provisions

Third Iron makes their standard licenses available for download with a note that any needed changes can be submitted for approval via the Third Iron sales representative (Third Iron LLC, n.d.-a). Standard licenses are applicable based on geographic location—inside the United States, inside the European Union, and outside both the US and the EU. There is also a Data Processing Addendum (DPA) for libraries subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation. The contract includes standard provisions like limiting the product to authorized users and relying on the library’s credentialing system. Data related to the library’s and authorized users’ activity is collected and may be shared with contracted third parties for the purposes of study and managing the service. Both the standard US and EU contracts specify that reasonable safeguards are in place to protect user data from theft, loss, or unauthorized use. The DPA, which is included by default in the EU contract, itemizes steps that Third Iron will take in the event of a security breach, including notifying customers without undue delay, conducting an investigation, and developing measures to address the incident. All versions of the contract also stipulate that the software and services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis to limit liability if the product were ever withdrawn, restricted from a particular geographic area, or unavailable due to upgrades and maintenance.

Third Iron offers several pricing models, which depend on the suite of tools/services selected, the type of institution, and the full time equivalency (FTE) or bed count of the institution.

There are separate price sheets for three different packages, all of which include LibKey Nomad: Third Iron Complete, which includes all the features available for the LibKey suite and the BrowZine application; LibKey, which includes all the LibKey features and a less feature-rich version of BrowZine; and LibKey without Nomad++, which is similar to the LibKey suite but lacks the additional Nomad++ package. All price sheets differentiate between academic institutions, medical schools, stand-alone hospitals, large corporations, government organizations, and specific types of small colleges.

The free version of LibKey Nomad includes selected open access publications. For the LibKey without Nomad++ package, the cost for academic institutions ranges from $5,230 to $18,785 based on FTE up to 60,000. Other types of organizations, such as hospitals, have different fee structures, also based on size. Consortia discount pricing options are also available; interested institutions should seek a quote from Third Iron by telephone ((855) 649-7607) or email [email protected].

Authentication Models

LibKey is not an authentication mechanism, but it connects to the appropriate institutional authentication method. Upon downloading and installing the LibKey Nomad browser extension, affiliated users choose a library or institution; the extension stores that information for as long as it is enabled in the browser and displays the Nomad button on supported websites. After users click the Download PDF or Article Link button, LibKey Nomad will initiate any required authentication, prompting the user to sign in or turn on their VPN. Supported authentication mechanisms include proxy servers, VPN systems, IP, OpenAthens, and WAM and SAML for single sign-on technologies.

Competitive or Related Products

The three bowser extensions most similar to LibKey Nomad are Unpaywall, the Google Scholar button, and EndNote Click.

Unpaywall appends a small green button with an open lock to point users to available open access resources, typically manuscripts or author preprints hosted on university and government web servers. It is only compatible with Chrome and Firefox.

The Google Scholar utton appears on the browser toolbar. When it is clicked from any website, it opens a small pop-up that shows relevant full-text content available on Google Scholar as well as library links for users who have connected their Scholar account to their institution. This extension works with Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Opera.

EndNote Click is marketed as a “one click” tool and works similarly to Nomad, allowing the user to choose their institution from a list. It also appends a “View PDF” button to the corner of pages where full text content is available, whether through OA or institutional subscriptions, and similar inline enhancements to PubMed, although not Wikipedia reference lists. EndNote Click includes citation generation and exporting, much like the features available with Nomad++.

Unlike Nomad, which makes privacy-consciousness a feature, Endnote Click requires the user to create an individual account using a name and email. EndNote Click is also only available for the Chrome and Opera browsers.

Critical Evaluation

For researchers who do not always start their searches within the context of a library, Nomad’s one-time setup offers continuous rewards. Faculty researchers and students in my own institution have found it to be invaluably helpful in providing quick access to full text articles. But from an institutional perspective, usefulness is dependent on getting the extension in as many users’ browsers as possible, and a researcher’s institution type and culture can heavily shape whether they are aware enough of the tool to install it.

Third Iron supports a number of methods for full institutional deployment. Institutions can install LibKey Nomad across networked computers and devices using Microsoft Group Policy, Microsoft InTune, JAMF, or Google Workspace Admin (Third Iron LLC, n.d.-b). For hospitals, corporations, and government organizations with IT departments, this is likely to be a highly successful approach. The task is more complicated for academic institutions. While it is possible for a university IT department to deploy Nomad across networked computers, this is unlikely to capture individual users with their own devices. For universities that provide Google Chromebooks or laptops to all incoming students, institutional deployment is a good option; for the rest, librarians will have to market the tool to potential users.

Third Iron collects and stores usage data; librarians can request one-off, monthly, quarterly, or annual reports. The metrics collected include full-text downloads, which are broken out by service (Discovery, Link, Nomad, LibKey.io, and BrowZine) so that librarians have data for the entire product line as well as a picture of how much an individual tool like Nomad is being used. Another available metric is the percentage of open access full text downloads, to differentiate between paid versus free content. Third Iron also provides a “researcher time saved” metric, which attempts to estimate how much time subscribing libraries are saving their research communities. This is an unusual metric: it assumes a standard 45-second time savings for LibKey and BrowZine users, then multiplies the sum of full text downloads by 45 seconds to come up with a total amount of time saved. Librarians can also calculate this for themselves using the breakout metric of downloads for each product/service.

One limitation of Nomad is that it is not available for mobile devices at all, although, according to the Third Iron feedback site, a mobile version is under consideration for development (Shah, n.d.). The feedback site, located within the knowledge base of the support site, is a useful resource for LibKey subscribers. In addition to providing general information and technical support, the feedback site allows users to make suggestions for future versions of tools or vote on other user-submitted suggestions. Third Iron staff respond and mark suggestions as under review, planned, etc. For example, based on user feedback, Third Iron has recently introduced LibKey Nomad++, which adds chat functionality, citation export, and customizable messaging and branding to the original Nomad extension.

Recommendation

Nomad is a great tool for researchers who want to connect to full text quickly, and it is particularly well-suited for researchers whose online searching often starts outside the library. Nomad is integrated with many medical databases and publishers, making it particularly valuable for hospitals and research centers, as well as academic institutions. Undergraduate colleges can also benefit from having access to this tool, considering how the entire LibKey suite streamlines article delivery within library systems and on the web. For researchers who are not affiliated with an institutional subscriber, Nomad won’t help with any paywalled research, but it is one of several similar, free tools that streamline the delivery of OA content.

References

Third Iron LLC. (n.d.-a). Download license agreement. https://thirdiron.com/download-licenses/

Third Iron LLC. (n.d.-b). LibKey Nomad for IT professionals. https://thirdiron.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/72000570000-libkey-nomad-for-it-professionals

Third Iron LLC. (2019, August 31). Third Iron releases LibKey Nomad [Press release]. https://thirdiron.com/press-releases/third-iron-releases-libkey-nomad/

Third Iron LLC. (2024, March 27). BrowZine Web and LibKey accessibility. https://support.thirdiron.com/support/solutions/articles/72000570019-browzine-web-libkey-accessibility

Third Iron LLC. (2024, August 9). LibKey Nomad e-books linking. https://support.thirdiron.com/support/solutions/articles/72000594927-libkey-nomad-e-books-linking

Third Iron LLC. (2024, January 15). What publishers do you support? https://support.thirdiron.com/support/solutions/articles/72000575799-what-publishers-do-you-support-

Shah, W. (n.d.). Implement LibKey Nomad on mobile devices. https://support.thirdiron.com/support/discussions/topics/72000788184