The Kathryn A. Martin Library offers a large number of online research databases, some of which have licensing restricted to current UMD students, faculty, and staff. When you use these resources, the proxy server (also called EZproxy) will detect that you are not in the library and will serve you the standard University of Minnesota sign-in screen. From there, you just need to login as usual for access.
Links on the library's website and in the library catalog should already have the proxy enabled, but it's pretty easy to enable it yourself if it's missing! Just add the proxy prefix url to the front of the resource's URL to gain access.
Paste this in front:
https://login.libpdb.d.umn.edu:2443/login?url=
The result might look something like this:
https://login.libpdb.d.umn.edu:2443/login?url=https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hastings_center_report/v036/36.4london.pdf
A permalink (or permanent link) is a URL that is intended to remain unchanged for many years into the future, yielding a hyperlink that is less susceptible to link rot. The URL that appears in the browser bar when you search many library databases can actually be a temporary link intended to expire when your session expires. It is always best to look for an article or book's permalink to save rather than assuming your bookmark will work later.
Many vendors actually include the library's proxy in their URL or include a bit of code that otherwise let's them know what library you belong to. For example:
EBSCO databases provide permalinks as the "Permalink" under the Tools section.
https://login.libpdb.d.umn.edu:2443/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=18367451&site=ehost-live
Gale databases provide permalinks with a special code that triggers the proxy rather than the usual prefix URL. However, including the prefix URL anyway will not prevent proper authentication!
https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A726429054/AONE?u=mnauduluth&sid=bookmark-AONE&xid=88c67b00
ProQuest databases provide permalinks as the "Document URL" under the article's Abstract/Details section.
https://login.libpdb.d.umn.edu:2443/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/lecture-capture-practical-recommendations/docview/2425989021/se-2?accountid=8111
Many users like to start their research using Google and/or Google Scholar rather than accessing materials directly through the library. That's 100% okay! To get your browser to route you through the library proxy server, you can simply try the following:
Drag this button up to your bookmarks toolbar in your browser: (or right-click to save it to your favorites toolbar)
Now, when you're on a web page that you'd like to redirect through the library's proxy server, clicking this button in your bookmarks toolbar will automatically reload the web page.
Both the bookmarklet and the URL should work whether you are on-campus or off. The proxy server will recognize if you're on campus and, if so, will send you directly to the resource. If you are off campus, the proxy server with initiate authentication with the resource. This can be useful for bookmarking URL's on a laptop you may use both on and off campus, or if you want to share an article with a colleague or student.
Some sites, like JSTOR, may require you to locate a 'Stable URL' on the page. If you click on this link after applying the bookmarklet, you will be redirected to the full article, rather than a sample page.
While this will work for the vast majority of e-journals and e-books, there are a few resources that require a more intricate set-up to enable proxy access. Let us know if you have questions or any difficulties with this!
