Template talk:EBSCOhost

Identifier-specific template EBSCOhost

(Moved from Help_talk:Citation_Style_1#Identifier-specific_template_EBSCOhost on 2021-08-01)

Today I encountered two cases where {{EBSCOhost}} (input as |id={{EBSCOhost|accession number}}) landed on the wrong document. This may be a problem with EBSCO. In one of the cases a Humanities International Database document id was the same as an unrelated MedLine id (PMID). In the other case an ATLA Serials document id lead to another MedLine document with a completely different PMID. However it may also be the case that {{EBSCOhost}} could be edited with a new |link-prefix=. Or perhaps |link-suffix= can be ported from {{Catalog lookup link}} so a specific database can be specified (via the EBSCO query attribute &db=).

I realize this may not be the proper forum, but there is the tentative connection through |id=. 65.88.88.57 (talk) 20:12, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

I have added a |dbcode= parameter to optionally specify the database using the corresponding short database name or code. Is this what you want?

--Matthiaspaul (talk) 23:47, 30 July 2021 (UTC)

Thank you, yes that was the idea. I cannot verify now but I believe your addition is helpful. There are sometimes problems with aggregators like EBSCO & ProQuest because of the complexity of the retrieval processes, notwithstanding nonstop maintenance. 64.18.9.208 (talk) 00:00, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

Just tested the edited template, and I am afraid that it drops into the EBSCO Login screen. I believe this is because of the way the EBSCO URI is formatted. The EBSCOhost query with the accession number (&AN=) is expanded into this long http location, where the accession number becomes a URI fragment (#AN=) followed by the database code (&db=). I believe the problem may be because the {{EBSCOhost}} formats the query with the database code before the AN, so EBSCO asks for login to the specific database first. It may be worth editing the if dbcode statement in the template to appear after the AN.

Real-world examples follow

{{EBSCOhost|ATLA0001893630|dbcode=rfh}} returns: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rfh&AN=ATLA0001893630

Accessing the document after search (New York Public Library insitutional access), the expanded URI is: https://web-b-ebscohost-com.i.ezproxy.nypl.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=5&sid=a1d9bd01-b5f9-43d3-8dd4-d1e2c6279001%40pdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=ATLA0001893630&db=rfh

Notice the &db= attribute is after the fragment #AN=.

Thank you for your efforts anyway, this is not an urgent priority. 65.88.88.71 (talk) 15:36, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

For completeness, this is the same document queried without |dbcode=:

{{EBSCOhost|ATLA0001893630}} returns: http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=1570bf8d-dad8-4293-9e69-2d1c6973d3ca%40sessionmgr4007&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCx1cmwsY3BpZCZjdXN0aWQ9bnlwbCZzaXRlPWVob3N0LWxpdmU%3d#AN=19380784&db=cmedm

Different AN in a different database (MedLine). Weird. 65.88.88.71 (talk) 15:45, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

Swapping the order of arguments does not seem to solve the problem. Also, I have seen URLs with db= before AN=.

Perhaps this is not a public service? Or the argument name db= is wrong?

• https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/How-do-I-update-my-existing-URLs-for-Full-Text-Finder?language=en_US
• https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/What-fields-and-parameters-can-my-link-resolver-use?language=en_US
• https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/How-do-I-set-up-direct-links-to-EBSCOhost-profiles-and-or-databases?language=en_US
• https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/What-is-the-direct-URL-syntax-to-link-to-an-ebook-or-audiobook?language=en_US
• https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/EBSCOhost-Database-Short-Names-List?language=en_US
• https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/EBSCOhost-Persistent-Links-Frequently-Asked-Questions?language=en_US

--Matthiaspaul (talk) 18:51, 31 July 2021 (UTC) (updated 10:06, 1 August 2021 (UTC))

Thanks, but I wouldn't overwork myself about this. EBSCO support site has several tools to build custom URLs and EBSCO search boxes, and if you drill down their syntax is fairly extensively explained. The argument db= is certainly valid. They seem to insist on defaultdb= when building a custom URI from scratch, which doesn't make too much sense to me, but anyway. There's also a profile= argument that could be useful, but this is getting too complicated. Well, thanks again. 69.200.248.113 (talk) 20:46, 31 July 2021 (UTC)

How to validate bibliographic data when all you get is a login screen

Maybe this template is actually good for something. I can't see anything except the same login screen whenever I click on any of these ebscohost identifiers. Is there any way to even validate bibliographic data in a citation related to an ebscohost number? This seems completely different from every other kind of identifier I've seen where you at least get the author, title, date, etc and often an abstract even if the item is only available by subscription.  — Chris Capoccia 💬 01:16, 29 November 2022 (UTC)

Documentation improvements needed

The documentation says that "Up to 9 parameters and a user-definable |leadout= are supported", but doesn't say what those nine are or how to use them. See also this discussion. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 16:46, 18 September 2023 (UTC)