Ohio University Libraries adds Perma.cc to combat link rot in research

The Ohio University community now has access to Perma.cc, a service that helps prevent link rot.

Link rot occurs when a web resource moves, disappears or changes, breaking the URL in a citation. Research relies on evidence, and link rot can compromise the ability to access critical sources. The Pew Research Center found that a quarter of all webpages that existed at one point between 2013 and 2023 are no longer accessible. 

Persistent identifiers refer to a suite of tools that unambiguously identify research materials, people and institutions by providing a unique digital code for them. For research materials, Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) are the gold standard for citing sources in a manner that is persistently accessible. However, DOIs are generally only consistently available for scholarly sources such as journal articles and book chapters, or for government reports.

Perma.cc fills this gap for webpages that don’t have a DOI by supplying a link to a webpage that captures its content exactly as it exists at that moment in time. Perma.cc provides not only a more thorough and accurate capture than the Internet Archive’s WaybackMachine, but also persistent shortlinks that are more convenient for citing, as well as the ability to manage the links with folders, annotations and visibility control.

Ohio University-affiliated users can create unlimited Perma.cc links by requesting an account. For more information, visit the University Libraries’ Identifiers for Research and Scholarship guide.