Faculty Services

There are several different types of content that can be linked to or embedded into Talon, each with its own method. Check the table below to find the type of content you want to embed, then follow the link to the corresponding directions for how to do it. **Please note, if you have content you would like to embed but don't see here, please contact us!

Library Services has created a Talon-based tutorial for faculty to use in your own courses. It is a tutorial on plagiarism, that includes interactive videos, text-based instruction, and short quizzes to check understanding. If you have any questions about this tutorial, or need any help copying it into your own Talon courses, please contact librarian Kate Cameron.

DIRECTIONS

1. First, request access to the Talon course “Library Tutorials” by sending an email to librarian Kate Cameron.
2. Once you have access, the Library Tutorials course will show up in your list of Talon courses, and you may preview the plagiarism tutorial content. To copy content in your own course, continue with the following steps:
3. From your own course where you want to assign a Library Tutorial module, go to “Course Admin.”
4. Click on “Import/Export/Copy Components.”
5. Select “copy components from another course/org unit” and click “search for offering.”
6. Search for “library tutorials”, then select course and click “add selected.”
7. Click the button “Select Components.”
   On this page you’ll select:
   • “Content” and “Select individual items to copy”
   • External Learning Tools
   • Question Library
   • Quizzes
   • Surveys

Then “Continue."

8. Select “Plagiarism”, then “continue.”
9. Click “Finish.”

Please note: Because you have made a copy of the content and put it in your course, you are now free to edit or delete any portions of each tutorial, customizing to the needs of your students. Also, we may occasionally make updates to the tutorial, and will email you a notification in that case.

Directions for linking to Library resources within Talon

To place a direct link to a database article, ebook, chapter, or video into Talon (or any other website, PowerPoint, etc.), you must use the persistent URL or "permalink" to that article, which each database will provide you with. This permalink can then be copy and pasted just like any other link. Do not copy and paste from the browser's address box. If you have any trouble finding the permalink for an article, see the examples below for several of our most used databases, or contact the Library for help.

1. In your Talon course content, select the "Upload/Create" button, then "Create a Link".

2. Find the persistent URL for the resource you want to link to (see directions for specific databases below).

3. Copy and paste.

4. Test your link!

1. Find the persistent URL

To point your students directly to an article, e-book or e-book chapter, or video in a database, always look for the persistent URL or "permalink" provided by the database. Do not copy and paste from your browser's address box (with exceptions noted below). Listed below are directions of linking articles from major databases.

2. Check for the Off-Campus Access Prefix ( https://resources.kirkwood.edu/login?url= )

Many databases, such as EBSCOhost and ProQuest, automatically add the proxy prefix ( https://resources.kirkwood.edu/login?url= ) in their persistent URLs.  If you do not see the proxy information, you need to manually add it. See the example below.

• Article Citation:Boeckler, Annette M. "Miriam's cup: the story of a new ritual." European Judaism, vol. 45, no. 2, 2012, p. 147+. Literature Resource Center, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A305453423/LitRC?u=kirkwood_main&sid=LitRC&xid=249f1921. Accessed 14 Aug. 2019.

• URL from the citation: https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A305453423/LitRC?u=kirkwood_main&sid=LitRC&xid=249f1921

• Complete URL with off-campus prefix added: https://resources.kirkwood.edu/login?url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A305453423/LitRC?u=kirkwood_main&sid=LitRC&xid=249f1921

3. Copy and paste the URL into Talon

Create a new item in Talon using the "Upload/Create", "Create a Link" function. Links created as "Quick Links" or inserted as text within a file, can sometimes break.

4. Always test your link before making it available to students

If you have any problems with links, contact Kate Cameron for assistance.

You can link an ebook in EBSCOhost directly into your website, Powerpoint presentation, email, or Talon.

Linking to an entire book:

• Click on the "Permalink" link along the right side of the book's detailed record screen then copy and paste the URL.
  
  

Linking to a chapter or a page of an ebook:

• Go to the first page of the chapter or section you want to link to.

• Click the Permalink button along the right side of the page (the icon of chain links)
  

• Copy and paste the URL to share.

To embed homepage widgets in your course, you must use the “Custom Home Page” option in Talon, which gives you access to many widgets, only a few of which are related to Library resources:

1. If you don't already use the Custom Home Page option for your course(s), follow the directions in the Talon Instructor Training course in Talon, Module 3: Course Homepage and Widgets, and see both “Customizing your Homepage” and “System and Custom Widgets.” You must repeat this process for each course where you want to use homepage widgets.
2. As of this writing, there are 5 widgets for Library resources:
   1. “Library Contact,” which adds an “Ask a Librarian” live chat box, along with contact phone numbers and emails for Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Campus Libraries.
   2.  “Library Search,” which adds the WorldCat search box, just as it appears on the Library Homepage.
   3. Two different versions of links to Library subscription databases: “A to Z List” (alphabetical list of all databases) and “Library Databases” (a link to the list of all databases plus direct links to the 7 most popular databases).
   4. “Library Guides,” a box with links to our most used LibGuides pages, as well as a link to the LibGuides search page.

This method of embedding widgets into your Talon courses has you copy and paste the embed code for the widgets you want to use into a module or sub-module description.

1. On Talon, create a module or sub-module where you want a widget to show up. In order for the widget to show up on the Course Content page (and not require students to follow a link to see it) only one widget per module or sub-module may be embedded. 

2. In the Course Content table of contents along the left side of the screen, click on the name of the module or sub-module you just created, then click below the title of the module, on "Add a description..." Now click on the "Insert stuff" button that looks like this: 

and click on "Enter Embed Code."

3. Now come back to this Faculty Servcies LibGuide page, and select, then copy, the embed code for the widget you want to embed. The sample images below show what the widget will look like, and the embed code is what you copy and paste.

4. Now go back to your Talon page and paste into the "Enter Embed Code" box. Click "Next," then "Insert," then "Update." 

Available Widgets

Please note: You can create a widget from any box or page of content anywhere within the Library's LibGuides pages. Just email Kate Cameron or Ryan Strempke-Durgin in the Library and let us know what box you want embedded in your Talon, and we'll send you the embed code.