GO FAQ

GO is a custom OhioLINK service which rewrites URLs and forwards them to a proxy. Think of GO as a "proxy resolver".

GO isn't an acronym, but we use all capitals to disambiguate it from other common uses of the word "go".

GO has a 5-step workflow.

1. A user clicks a GO link.
2. The user selects their institution from a dropdown list.

• GO looks up the institution's authentication record in Member Portal.
• GO rewrites the link with the institution's proxy server URL.

3. GO forwards the rewritten link to an institution's proxy.
4. The user authenticates to their institution's proxy.
5. The user accesses an e-resource.

GO links have this syntax:

Let's break this down into 3 distinct components:

1. The GO domain prefix (https://go.ohiolink.edu)
2. A query string ( /goto?url= )
3. A resource URL ( https://www.oed.com  )

If we put these components together, here is the GO link for the Oxford English Dictionary (OED):

https://go.ohiolink.edu/goto?url=https://www.oed.com

The GO engine replaces the GO prefix and query string with its counterpart for your institution's proxy, then appends the resource URL.

Here is the GO link to the Oxford English Dictionary for "Imaginary University" which uses EZproxy:

BEFORE: https://go.ohiolink.edu/goto?url=https://www.oed.com

AFTER: https://proxy.imaginary.edu/login?url=https://www.oed.com

GO has these goals:

Simplify the user experience. Users authenticate to their own proxy using local authentication methods. As a result, they will no longer navigate different user interfaces (UI) and branding between their local proxy and the OhioLINK authentication system.
 

Improve e-resource usage metric granularity. Since GO directs users to their institution’s local proxy, resource traffic stays between a member’s proxy and the vendor. Usage stats can be properly attributed to an individual institution.

Remove administrative overhead for MARC record updates. Members will no longer need to replace the OhioLINK proxy prefix with their local proxy prefix in e-resource catalog records.

1. GO does not analyze incoming IPs. It cannot detect if a user is on-campus and whether the proxy should be bypassed. GO always sends users to a local proxy.
    
2. GO does not alter resource URLs. A single GO link may not work for all institutions under these conditions:
   • A resource URL embeds an institution-specific identifier.
   • A custom resource URL applies to a specific institution only.

GO links can be manually constructed with institution-specific values or custom resource URLs. Since GO by design leaves the resource URL unchanged, there may not be a single GO link usable by everyone for some resources.

Critically important! Links that call the OhioLINK authentication system directly (auth.ohiolink.edu) will no longer work. Here is an example (excerpted) of a bad link:

These broken links will throw ugly error messages such as:

or

If your site embeds these links, your users will not be able to login and access remote resources. Generally, these old-style links were used to connect students to EBSCO Academic Search Complete or an OhioLINK A-Z list.

Contact us and we will help you implement the best-fitting user experience for your students.

No, not directly. Our custom platforms (EBC, EJC, and Music Center) rely on the OhioLINK authentication system ("Institution Selection Form") to identify your institution and branch. These platforms don't use the OhioLINK proxy.

You may GO-ify links to e-books, e-journals, etc. In this case, you'll bypass the OhioLINK authentication system, and traffic will be routed to your proxy.

Yes. We will begin distributing e-resource catalog records which contain GO links instead of "proxy.ohiolink.edu" links in the 856 field. See this InfoHub article for instructions on updating older OhioLINK-provided records in your local catalog with GO links: Updating OhioLINK Proxy URLs to GO Links

Maybe. If you include a proxy definition for "proxy.ohiolink.edu" in EBSCOadmin, you should review its intended purpose. You might consider replacing it with either your own proxy or GO, or you might want to delete the definition altogether if it's no longer useful.

Contact OhioLINK Support with any questions.

Maybe. To ensure GO will work correctly for OhioLINK platforms like the EJC and EBC, please follow these instructions to add custom stanzas to your EZproxy:

OhioLINK Platform EZproxy Information

Yes. Please replace any "proxy.ohiolink.edu" links with GO links. Old proxy links might begin with either "http" or "https" protocols, so please check carefully.

See these FAQs below for more details:

• Will proxy.ohiolink.edu links continue to work?
• Do I need to cleanup and replace proxy.ohiolink.edu links?

Yes. There is a redirect in place to forward these links to GO. The redirect will remain in effect at least through the initial Alma rollout in Summer 2025. Your old "proxy.ohiolink.edu" should continue to work, but the traffic will be carried by your institution's proxy instead of the OhioLINK proxy.

Probably. Some resources embed institutional identifiers. For these resources, a single GO link syntax won't work for every institution. In this case, you may need to customize the GO link.

Known "fussy" resources:

• ProQuest Ebook Central - The OhioLINK collection uses the "ohiolink" site ID. Your institution may use its own site ID to access additional purchases.

This is optional. If you proxy RAVE links, you can GO-ify them instead.

Yes, but you won't have to do so immediately. You should plan now to begin replacing "proxy.ohiolink.edu" links in your A-Z lists, LibGuides, and library web pages with GO links. Changing these links should be a straightforward search and replace. Old proxy links may begin with either "http" or "https". See the previous FAQ on GO link syntax.

Email OhioLINK Support with the changes to your proxy. Maybe your proxy has a new IP or the proxy server URL is changing with a move to a hosted proxy service. Let us know when changes takes effect. We will update the GO service to ensure that GO links and authentication to OhioLINK platforms continue to work correctly.

Maybe. The GO institution selection list (called a "Discovery Service") displays OhioLINK member institutions only. If your regional campuses are OhioLINK members, they can be listed in the GO Discovery Service. Similarly, we can configure the Discovery Service to list only your main campus. Email OhioLINK Support and describe the change you need.

Use our General Support Form to report problems. Select GO - Proxy Redirect from the "Affected Service" list.

The General Support Form creates a ticket in our support queue. We generally work through tickets in the order received.

Screenshots can be very helpful, especially if you can include the URL where the error occurs.

Maybe. OhioLINK worked with some members to set up their institutional SSO in place of Sierra patron lookup for resource access. These institutions should consider cleaning up SAML connections to proxy.ohiolink.edu since you login now directly to your own proxy. Your IT team will be grateful if you let them know in advance, and there isn't any rush to complete this work.

Please contact OhioLINK Support with any questions.