The A-link service generally appears as a "button" in Google Scholar, bibliographic databases, library or publishers' catalogues and many other sources displaying bibliographic data.

The tool allows users to check whether the content has been subscribed to by the University or whether it is available in Open Access and, therefore, to access its full text. If, on the contrary, the document is not accessible free of charge even for authorized users of the University of Bologna, A-link will direct the users to the service that will enable them to obtain the content in an alternative way, such as by carrying out a search in the hard copy catalogue or by contacting the document delivery service.

The old version of the link resolver provided a specific catalogue, the A-link catalogue, which is now fully integrated within the new version of the AlmaStart discovery tool, where it is possible to perform an integrated search on the catalogues and on most of the resources subscribed by the University. Users can also search through e-journals.