What is ELM?

ELM stands for Electronic Library for Minnesota. ELM is a collection of electronic resources licensed by the MINITEX Library Information Network with state appropriations to the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office (MHESO) and the Minnesota Department of Children, Families & Learning. These resources include four EBSCOhost databases (Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, MasterFILE Premier, and Regional Business News), the WorldCat database in the FirstSearch service, ProQuest Newspapers, certain InfoTrac databases, and more than 8,000 e-books available through NetLibrary. For more information see the MINITEX website, or read the press release reproduced below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2002 BILL DEJOHN (MINITEX) 612-624-2839
PHIL LEWENSTEIN (MHESO) 651-642-0554

MINNESOTA EXPANDS ACCESS TO ELECTRONIC LIBRARY RESOURCES FOR ALL RESIDENTS THROUGH ELM

ST. PAUL Remember when, at 8:30 p.m., your child told you that he or she needed information for a homework assignment due the next morning. You searched for the information through a general Internet search, but got 250,000 hits.

Now, however, you can find the specific information you and your children need through the Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM), a one-stop reference and information resource. ELM is available through multiple websites, including the MnLINK Gateway, a web-based virtual library (www.mnlink.org). Residents also can access ELM through the websites of Minnesota public, academic, and school media centers, although not all sites identify the resources under the ELM label (see fact sheet, www.mheso.state.mn.us).

In an effort to provide the best possible statewide access to the rapidly growing volume of information and knowledge, the Minnesota Legislature in 1999 and 2001 appropriated funds to make possible statewide access to electronic resources from a variety of commercial sources.

ELM includes more than 6,000 indexed magazines with full-text articles for over 3,000 of those magazines. It contains more than 8,000 electronic books on a variety of subjects and a worldwide catalog of over 49 million records, tables of contents, and citations from more than 13,000 magazines. Resource topics include medical, health, and wellness information; history, literature, biography, social studies, and business.

ELM helps provide equal access to information for all Minnesotans -- in Greater Minnesota or the Twin Cities, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, said Robert K. Poch, Director of the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office. Although electronic resources have been available through ELM for two years, most Minnesotans may not be aware of the wide spectrum of resources available to them at their home, office, or nearest library.

During 2001-2002, Minnesotans made more than 5 million searches and retrieved over 3.5 million full-text articles from these sources, Poch said. But, that's only a small portion of the potential for use by students at all education levels, educators, business people, senior citizens, and people working in a variety of occupations, he said.

ELM is administered by the MINITEX Library Information Network with state appropriations to the Services Office and the Minnesota Department of Children, Families & Learning. Located at the University of Minnesota, MINITEX is a publicly supported network of libraries in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota working cooperatively to improve library service.