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Free Student Software and Accessibility Tools

Check out this list complied by librarians of free software that can help you organise your notes, help with referencing, accessibility and more!

Lean Library

 

Lean Library is a browser extension that delivers full-text content to you, regardless of where you are linking from, and without the need to visit the Library Hub website first. It is just like having a librarian over your shoulder!

Lean Library will automatically detect when you are on a website that contains content that the Library Hub subscribes to. It will also automatically deliver you open access versions (if one is available), when the Library Hub does not provide subscription access.

The benefit of having Lean Library in your browser means that you are less likely to miss a resource as it puts the Library right into your research workflow no matter where you start your search (e.g. Google, Google Scholar, JSTOR, academia.edu), reducing the chance that you hit a paywall and get asked to pay for access to an article.

 

Downloading Lean Library

 

  1. Clicking the Download Lean Library button will take you to the Lean Library download page. Select the browser you wish to install the extension into. 

  2. A pop-up will prompt you to install the extension. Depending on your browser, you may see a further prompt that asks your permission to add the extension.

  3. Click Add to accept the permission request (you can remove or delete the extension at any time by visiting the plug-ins area of your browser).

  4. When prompted to select your library, enter University of Divinity. Lean Library works with the Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Opera browsers. 


     Once installed, continue to use your browser as normal. When you next visit a website that has access to an article via University of Divinity Library Hub subscriptions, Lean Library will automatically kick-in by passing the URL to the University of Divinity Library Hub’s proxy server for off campus users. The first time this happens you will be prompted to authenticate with your usual username and password, but it is only once in a browser session and you won't have to go hunting for any publisher logins. The Lean Library icon in your browser will flash green (a sign as on traffic-lights that you're good to go). If we don't have subscription access, Lean Library will offer you an open access version as an alternative if one is available. Step-by-step information is available here.

Privacy Policy

        When installed on your browser, the Lean Library plugin works by analysing the website URLs you visit. If you want to know more about your data and privacy see the Lean Library Privacy Policy.

The team over at Lean Library have created useful guides to help answer your questions