ELECTRONIC LIBRARY FOR MINNESOTA—A WORLD OF INFORMATION
Search ELM for magazine, newspaper, and journal articles, eBooks, and information from reference sources—available to all Minnesota residents at no charge!
ELM—online all the time from school, home, work, or @ your library!
Funded by the Minnesota Legislature
Frequently Asked Questions:
ELM is an online virtual library containing magazine, newspaper, and journal articles and information from encyclopedias, almanacs, directories, and other popular resources.
ELM is made up of 15 different online resources from EBSCO, Gale, NetLibrary, OCLC, and ProQuest.
Anybody. Any age. ELM is available to all Minnesota residents. ELM is available online all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from school, home, work, or @ your library.
ELM access is available via:
Login requirements may vary at your public library, K12 school media center, or college/university library. Please check with your librarian or school media specialist for the details.
www.elm4you.org
Library
MnLINK
State and federal tax dollars have paid for only Minnesota residents to use ELM, and the vendors from whom we license the ELM content need to know that you are a MN resident. Your current, valid library card authenticates your status as a Minnesota resident.
Full text is available for many articles in ELM. However, sometimes only a citation or abstract is available. If only the abstract of an article is available, a librarian or media specialist at your library may be able to help you find the full article through other library resources or interlibrary loan.
Ask your local librarian or school media specialist for assistance. They may be able to help refine your search and find what you need. They may also be able to show you resources (print or online resources, books, magazines, etc.) other than ELM to help you answer your question.
When accessing the ELM databases via the ELM portal (www.elm4you.org) there is a proxy server in place. Most likely, when accessing the ELM databases from any institutional Web site (public library, school library media center), there will also be a proxy server in place.
So, when creating a Search Alert via RSS from one of the ELM databases, you will need to make a small change to the feed's URL in order for it to work in your preferred RSS reader application. When you have created your Search Alert feed and copied the feed URL, you will need to remove ".proxy.elm4you.org" from it before it will work with Web-based RSS readers such as Bloglines, Google Reader, or My Yahoo!.
For example, if your feed URL starts "http://find.galegroup.com.proxy.elm4you.org/itx/generateRssFeed.do..." you would change it to "http://find.galegroup.com/itx/generateRssFeed.do..." This example is only an excerpt of a much longer URL, so be sure to include the Search Alert feed's complete URL.
Another example: "http://rss.ebscohost.com.proxy.elm4you.org/AlertSyndicationService/Syndication.asmx/GetFeed?guid=1234567" would be changed to "http://rss.ebscohost.com/AlertSyndicationService/Syndication.asmx/GetFeed?guid=1234567".
Using Web-based readers with EBSCO and Gale database RSS functions is problematic.
We have had mixed results subscribing to Search Alert feeds in Web-based RSS readers such as My Yahoo!, and Google Reader. When you add a feed subscription to these services, they will attempt to identify it as a valid RSS feed. We have found that this validation process may fail when the database resources are experiencing heavy Web traffic during peak hours.
Under these circumstances, your Web-based RSS reader won't be able to detect a valid feed from your Search Alert, and will show an error. In many cases, a subscription attempt which failed initially would succeed after a few more tries. This issue is limited to Web-based RSS readers and does not occur with RSS applications installed on your computer or integrated into your web browser.
In any case, it is always necessary to remove ".proxy.elm4you.org" from the RSS feed URL to prevent it passing through the ELM proxy server where authentication would fail.
Testing seems to point to slow response times by Gale and EBSCO during the feed discovery process from the Web-based readers as the culprit when feed discovery fails. They seem to work better during off-peak hours. Desktop (installed or browser-integrated) RSS applications don't have any issues that we have encountered. Remember always to remove the ".proxy.elm4you.org" from feed URLs to bypass proxy authentication to the feeds.
Your best source of help for the ELM resources is your local librarian or media specialist. These trained professionals can help you make the best use of ELM or direct you to other resources when appropriate. Excellent online help materials are available through the vendor's Web sites.
EBSCO Resources
Gale Resources
NetLibrary
ProQuest Newsstand Complete
OCLC WorldCat
Contact your local librarian or school media specialist with questions on how to search any of the resources in ELM.
For assistance with connecting to ELM via the elm4you.org Web site, please submit the contact form on this site.
For assistance with connecting to ELM via your library's Web site, contact your local librarian or school media specialist.
For assistance with connecting to ELM via MnLINK, contact the MnLINK staff.
ELM is brought to you by your local library or school media center, the MINITEX Library Information Network, and Library Development & Services, the MN State Library Agency with state appropriations to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Department of Education and federal LSTA funds under the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The Legislative intent for this appropriation is to provide the best possible access to information resources across the educational spectrum (including K-12, higher education, state government, and public libraries) on a statewide basis. Access is possible both in the library and remotely from homes, businesses and classrooms or computer laboratories.
The MINITEX Library Information Network is a publicly supported network of libraries in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota working cooperatively to improve library service. MINITEX's mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of participating libraries by expanding their access to local, state, regional, national, and international information resources through conventional and innovative means.
The MnLINK Gateway is a World Wide Web-based virtual library, providing access to multiple information resources, including open access to participating Minnesota library catalogs and secured access to available electronic databases.
Looking for more information? Try your public library or the MnLINK Gateway.
ELM is brought to you by your local library or school media center, the MINITEX Library Information Network, and State Library Services and School Technology, the MN state library agency with state appropriations to the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and the Minnesota Department of Education, and federal LSTA funds under the support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
