Many of the InfoTrac databases, including OneFile, and the General Business File, are no longer available. (Expanded Academic Index, continues to be available!)

The good news is that we have started a subscription to several EBSCO databases, which are similar in content to the InfoTrac databases, but contain a significantly higher number of journals with full text content.

These resources are funded by the state of Minnesota, through a program called ELM: Electronic Library for Minnesota. ELM is supported by appropriations from the Minnesota Legislature to provide Minnesotans with access to electronic information. Funds were appropriated to the Minnesota Higher Education Services Office (HESO) and Minnesota Department Education for MINITEX and State Library Services & School Technology respectively to provide electronic access to general information databases. 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 home, businesses and classrooms, or computer laboratories.

The contract with InfoTrac/Gale was a 3-year contract, ending June 30, 2004. The state went through an RFP (Request for Proposal) process and evaluated many databases to determine which would most effectively meet the information needs of the people of Minnesota. The librarians on the selection committee determined that the EBSCO databases would be the best choice.

Which databases are new to ELM?

• Academic Search Premier (EBSCO) is a multi-disciplinary full text database containing full text for more than 4,600 scholarly publications, including more than 3,500 peer-reviewed publications. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for all 8,040 journals in the collection. This scholarly collection offers information in nearly every area of academic study including: social sciences, humanities, education, computer sciences, engineering, physics, chemistry, language and linguistics, arts & literature, medical sciences, ethnic studies, and many more. Academic Search Premier provides expanded indexing & abstract and PDF backfiles for more than 100 top scholarly academic journals, dating back as far as 1965 or the first issue published (whichever is more recent); many of the PDF's are native (searchable) or scanned-in-color.
• Business Source Premier (EBSCO) provides nearly 3,800 full text scholarly publications, including more than 1,100 peer-reviewed journals. In addition to the full text, this database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 4,600 journals. This database offers information in nearly every area of business including management, economics, finance, accounting, international business, and more. Business Source Premier contains full text from the world's top management and marketing journals including Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Industrial & Labor Relations Review, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), Journal of Marketing, Journal of International Marketing, etc. The database also includes other sources of full text information such as country economic reports from the EIU, DRI-WEFA, ICON Group and CountryWatch and detailed company profiles for the world's 10,000 largest companies. Business Source Premier provides expanded indexing and abstract backfiles for the top scholarly business journals, dating back to 1965 or the first issue published (whichever is more recent). In some cases, indexing, abstracting, and PDF coverage actually goes back further than 1965; for example, Academy of Management Journal is available back to 1958, Accounting Review to 1926, Administrative Science Quarterly to 1956, California Management Review to 1958, Industrial & Labor Relations Review to 1947, Journal of Accounting Research to 1963, Journal of Finance to 1946, Journal of Marketing to 1936, Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) to 1964, Management Science to 1954, Operations Research to 1956, etc. More than 200 of the journals have PDF full text back to 1965 or the first issue published. Business Source Premier contains PDF images for the great majority of journals; many of these PDF's are native (searchable) or scanned-in-color.
• Regional Business News (EBSCO) incorporates 75 business journals, newspapers and newswires covering all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States. Included in this database are Arizona Business, Business North Carolina, Crain's New York Business (and other Crain Communications editions), Des Moines Business Record, Enterprise Salt Lake City, Fort Worth Business Press, Orange County Business Journal, Westchester County Business Journal, etc.
• MasterFILE Premier, designed for public libraries, provides full text for more than 2,050 general periodicals covering a broad range of disciplines including general reference, business, education, health, general science, multi-cultural issues and much more. In addition to the full text, this database provides indexing and abstracts for more than 2,700 titles. This database features: 5,000 full text Magill Book Reviews, 362 reference and travel books including the World Almanac & Book of Facts 2001; full text from 84,074 biographies, 86,132 full text primary source documents, American Heritage Dictionary, 4th Edition and an Image Collection of 107,135 photos, maps and flags. MasterFILE Premier offers PDF backfiles as far back as 1975 for key publications including American Libraries, Foreign Affairs, History Today, Judaism, Library Journal, National Review and Natural History.
• Professional Collection (Gale) is a custom selection of more than 300 full-text journals for educators that is updated daily and provides 24-hour access from school or home. It offers balanced coverage for any professional educator in the following areas: arts and humanities; child and adolescent psychology and development; drug and alcohol abuse; health/nutrition/fitness; learning disabilities; literature; school law; science and technology; social sciences; and sports/athletic training.

What don't we have access to anymore through ELM?

• General Reference Center Gold: Replaced by MasterFILE Premier
• General Business File: Replaced by Business Source Premier
• Business and Company Resource Center
• Health Reference Center Academic: Similar content included in Academic Source Premier
• Health and Wellness Resource Center
• Computer Database: Similar content included in Academic Source Premier
• InfoTrac OneFile
• Contemporary Authors (Gale)
• OCLC ArticleFirst (OCLC)
• OCLC Union Lists of Periodicals (OCLC)
• OCLC Electronic Collections Online (ECO) (OCLC)