Resources Off Campus

Remote Access to licensed electronic resources is available.

Dialing directly to the MSU server provides full access to the licensed Internet databases listed on the MSU Library databases web page. NOTE: Students in the Residence Halls and persons using their own ISP

All others can  use the Virtual Private Network or Proxy Server*. (for general information, see Connecting via an ISP below).

Here are some useful documents to help you set up your connection to the MSU dialin server:

• Dial-in Server Information Guide for MSU (How to set up your computer to dial in to the MSU network, including phone numbers, and PPP setup information)
• User-ID Information Page (How to check your userid, change your password, alias, or preferred e-mail address)

---

Connecting via an Internet Service Provider (ISP) using the Proxy Server* or the Virtual Private Newwork (VPN)

To access many of the web databases available through the MSU Library website from outside the campus network (i.e., using your own Internet Service Provider or if you are in the MSU Residence Halls), you may use the Proxy Server* or you can setup your computer to use the Virtual Private Network.  Once connected to the  Proxy Server or VPN, there is full access to the databases listed on the MSU Library databases access page. However, access to licensed databases is limited to current MSU students, staff and faculty.

*Using the proxy server is the easiest and most preferred method.

---

Electronic Resources Availability

Some electronic resources on the MSU Library website are available to anyone without identification. Others are licensed and may only be used by current MSU students and faculty. Some that are available to everyone include:

Library Catalogs:

• MnPals The MnPals online catalog is freely available.
• Traverse des Sioux Library System(library catalog for the Public Libraries in the region): This is a regional library cooperative of 42 public libraries in the nine counties of southcentral Minnesota: Blue Earth , Brown, Faribault, LeSueur, Martin, Nicollet, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan.
• MnCAT (University of Minnesota catalog)
• Academic Libraries in Minnesota
• Public Libraries in Minnesota
• Library of Congress Catalog U.S. National Library
• Library of Congress Gateway to other Catalogs Many different research collections
• LibWeb Directory of library Web sites from more than 90 countries

Many other Databases:

Most databases available via the Library (such as FirstSearch, JSTOR, Lexis-Nexis, Encyclopedia Britannica, or the databases available via MnPALS) are licensed for use only by current MSU students and faculty. However, the following are available to any web user:

• MEDLINE (indexes/abstracts)
• NCJRS - National Criminal Justice Reference Service
• American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library (Library of Congress)