Online Reference Materials

Click to expand and see our entire list of databases for each subject.

Biography

  • Biography Resource Center
    Biographical information on more than 200,000 people throughout history. Search for people based on personal facts, nationality, ethnicity, occupation, or gender. Or combine criteria to create a customized search.

  • Credo Reference
    Credo Reference enables users to find authoritative answers fast. It features content from hundreds of reference books in a broad range of subjects. There are over 225 titles consisting of an aggregate of 2.9 million entries all interconnected by over 100,000,000 links.

  • Notable Sports Figures
    Features biographies on more than 600 people from around the world and throughout history who have had an impact not only on their sport, but also on the society and culture of their times.

  • Literature Resource Center
    Biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline. Includes information about literary movements and themes as well as literary-historical timelines and definitions.

Business

  • Business Plans Database
    Searchable database of quality sample business plans for a wide variety of businesses.

  • Demographics Now
    Fast and easy access to detailed demographic information for Maryland state, counties, and towns with customizable searches. Provides information helpful for marketing, business planning and advertising, as well as facts on population, income and more.

  • Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries
    Profiles of new and developing industries and business segments, such as biometrics and risk management services.

  • Encyclopedia of Small Business
    Explores resources for creating and growing a small business.

  • Everyday Finance
    Provides basic information on economic concepts and the ways they affect personal finance.
  • Business and Economics
    Provides magazine articles focusing on topics in economics, plus regular feeds of video from Forbes.com that contain business news coverage and interviews with CEOs.
  • Agricultural Collection
    Provides magazine articles focused on agriculture and its related fields: from practical aspects of farming to cutting edge scientific research in horticulture.

  • Reference USA
    Database of over 12 million company profiles including address and phone number, SIC codes, number of employees, sales volume, product lines and corporate structure. Also includes detailed information on over 120 million residential households.

  • Small Business Resource Center Database
    Offers a variety of small business information in a searchable format, such as industry research, financial planning, marketing, franchising and business plans.

College and Career

  • Learning Express Library
    This is a leading source for test preparation materials and interactive practice exams based on official tests such as GED, SAT, ACT, ASVAB, Praxis, occupational tests, middle and high school math tests, and more. Immediate scoring and analysis of test results.

  • Testing and Education Reference Center
    Career and college (including vocational) search all in one place. Tests include SAT, GED, GRE, State Assessment tests, college credit exams, nursing, military, civil service, U.S. Citizenship, and much more. Complementary eBooks are also provided.

Community Information
Cooking
  • Cooking Collection
    Includes 250 of the major cooking and nutrition magazines.  Coverage includes thousands of searchable recipes and restaurant reviews.

  • Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World
    This 4-volume set provides comprehensive coverage of the foods and recipes from 70 representative countries and culture groups worldwide -- from Algeria to Zimbabwe.

Current Events and Issues

  • Issues and Controversies (provided by Facts on File)
    In depth investigations of 800 current issues and controversies from politics to popular culture.

  • World News Digest (provided by Facts on File)
    Authoritative summaries of the day's news since 1940, plus special feature articles on historic events, key people, country profiles and an almanac.

  • Magazine Articles
    Access to full-text articles from magazines and reference sources, as well as primary source documents and images. Updated daily, articles range from 1975 to present day.

  • Newspapers
    Selected full-text coverage of U.S. and international newspapers and newswires. Includes full-text of the New York Times and Baltimore Sun, as well as newspapers ranging from Mexico to India and the United Kingdom.

DIY

  • Auto Repair Reference Center
    The step-by-step procedures are written specifically for the Do-It-Yourselfer, but comprehensive enough for professional technicians. Contains up to date information on most major manufacturers of domestic and imported vehicles, with repair information for most vintage makes starting as far back as 1954.

  • Home Improvement Collection
    This collection of more than 200 home improvement focused magazine titles covers topics such as achitectural techniques, tool and material selection, zoning requirements, and much more. For hobbyists and professionals.

  • Gardening, Landscape and Horticulture
    A collection of more than 100 magazines focused on key issues in gardening, landscaping and other areas of horticulture.

Education

  • Educator's Reference Complete
    Access to more than 1,100 periodicals and 200 reports, including full-text results for nearly half of the journal titles found in ERIC. All levels of education are covered, as well as educational issues such as technology, bilingual education, testing, funding and policy.

  • ERIC - Education Resources Information Center
    Access to citations and bibliographic records for journals, reports and research on topics related to the field of education. If full-text is not provided, contact us to determine availability.

Fast Facts

  • Credo Reference
    Credo Reference enables users to find authoritative answers fast. It features content from hundreds of reference books in a broad range of subjects. There are over 225 titles consisting of an aggregate of 2.9 million entries all interconnected by over 100,000,000 links.

  • Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia
    General encyclopedia covering a variety of subject areas.

Genealogy

  • Heritage Quest
    HeritageQuest includes federal census records, source documents, and indexes. Rich with demographic and genealogical detail, the collection contains personal data such as education, place of birth, language, occupation, veteran status. Includes images.

  • Western Maryland History Online
    A searchable website (search by person or location) that offers historical and genealogical information concerning Maryland Revolutionary War soldiers and "military lots" - maps/locations awarded to Maryland soldiers. This site includes historical information from Maryland's public libraries in three western counties.

Health

  • Health and Wellness Resource Center
    Quick and accurate medical information, including magazine articles, links to trusted medical websites, an Alternative Health Module, and a Disease Profiler module.

  • Nursing and Allied Health
    Including nearly 900 CINAHL journals in full-text, this collection's current and authoritative content will be of use to both nursing professionals and students.

  • Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs
    This free website is organized by medical condition and/or drug classification. Each category first lists the drugs that fall within it. Next, each drug is described in greater detail in a two page and/or a 15 to 20+ page survey. Each survey also contains comparative cost and dosage information for every listed drug. Spanish language versions are available for many of these drug surveys.

  • MedLinePlus

    Brings together authoritative information from the National Library of Medicine (NLM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations. MedlinePlus gives easy access to medical journal articles and includes extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news.

History

  • History Resource Center: U.S.
    Search by person, subject or time period for primary documents, reference titles, magazine articles, images and maps. Covers pre-Colonial times to the present.

  • History Resource Center: World
    Search by person, subject or time period for primary documents, reference titles, magazine articles, images and maps. Includes ancient Europe to Latin America and from the Far East to the Renaissance.

  • World News Digest (provided by Facts on File)
    Authoritative summaries of the day's news since 1940, plus special feature articles on historic events, key people, country profiles, world heads of state and an almanac.

  • American Civil War Reference Library
    Covers the events and people of the American Civil War period including biographical and primary source materials.

  • American Revolution Reference Library
    This complete 5 volume eBook covers the events and people of the Revolutionary War period in easy-to-understand language. Included in this set are biographies and primary source materials.

  • Ancient Civilizations Reference Library
    Information on the ancient civilizations of Iraq, Egypt, India, China, Central America and other regions are the focus of this 3 volume reference set.

  • Colonial America Reference Library
    Provides students with the comprehensive information on the Colonial American period they need to write reports and class assignments, including biographical profiles and primary source documents.

  • Early Civilizations in the Americas Reference Library
    A comprehensive overview of the history of the regions of the American continents in which two of the world's first civilizations developed.

  • Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion
    A three-volume survey of clothing, costume and fashion. Coverage includes the origins of clothing, the development of fabrics and technologies, representative costumes from a wide range of historical eras and more.

  • Great Depression and the New Deal Reference Library
    Covers the economic collapse and eventual recovery of the economy during the period of the Great Depression and New Deal period including its historical impact worldwide.

  • Korean War Reference Library
    Covers the events and people of the Korean War period, including biographical and primary source materials.

  • Middle Ages Reference Library
    A 5 volume eBook for students that covers medieval times and how those events continue to affect our world today.

  • Renaissance and Reformation Reference Library
    A 6 volume resource that covers the people and the events of the Renaissance and Reformation, from Luther's Revolt to the writings of Shakespeare and more.

  • Vietnam War Reference Library
    This complete 5 volume eBook covers the events and people of the Vietnam War period in easy-to-understand language. Included in this set are biographies and primary source materials.

  • Western Maryland History Online
    A searchable website (search by person or location) that offers historical and genealogical information concerning Maryland Revolutionary War soldiers and "military lots" - maps/locations awarded to Maryland soldiers. This site includes historical information from Maryland's public libraries in three western counties.

  • World War II Reference Library
    This complete 5 volume eBook covers the events and people of the World War II period in easy-to-understand language. Included in this set are biographies and primary source materials.


Homework Help

  • Credo Reference
    Credo Reference enables users to find authoritative answers fast. It features content from hundreds of reference books in a broad range of subjects. There are over 225 titles consisting of an aggregate of 2.9 million entries all interconnected by over 100,000,000 links.

  • Learning Express Library

    This is a leading source for test preparation materials and interactive practice exams includes middle and high school math tests, and more. Immediate scoring and analysis of test results.

  • Science Reference Center
    Full-text from science encyclopedias, reference books, and periodicals covering topics such as biology, earth and space science, environmental science, health and medicine, history of science, technology, wildlife and more.

  • Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia
    General encyclopedia covering a variety of subject areas.

  • Kids InfoBits
    Provides students in kindergarten through grade 5 access to magazine and book articles through both text searching and a picture topic tree.

  • Student Resource Center
    Start your research by accessing primary sources, magazine and multimedia updated daily to include a popular topics list.

Legal
Literature

  • Books and Authors
    Looking for a good book, but not sure where to start? Try Books and Authors!

  • Literature Resource Center
    Biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of authors from every age and literary discipline. Includes information about literary movements and themes as well as literary-historical timelines and definitions.

  • Novelist
    Contains book reviews and book lists for all ages: children, teens and adults. Locate books to read by describing a plot or find similar titles and authors for books already enjoyed. Users can also search a series name to get a list of titles in the series.

  • Novelist (K-8)
    Designed for students and teachers in grades K - 8 to find appropriate and interesting books to read and discuss. Picture books, children's "chapter" books, and young adult titles are all searchable by subject/theme and plot summaries. Also includes teaching aides such as review questions and Lexile rankings.

  • Catalog Features (provided through the Cecil County Public Library)
    The Catalog's home page has links to the current bestseller lists, including the New York Times Bestsellers, the Pulitzer Prize Award winners, Oprah Winfrey, and the Today Show recommendations.

Magazines and Newspapers
  • Magazine Articles
    Access to full-text articles from magazines and reference sources, as well as primary source documents and images. Updated daily, articles range from 1975 to present day.

  • Newspapers
    Selected full-text coverage of U.S. and international newspapers and newswires. Includes full-text of the New York Times and Baltimore Sun, as well as newspapers ranging from Mexico to India and the United Kingdom.

  • Educator's Reference Complete

    Access to more than 1,100 periodicals and 200 reports, including full-text results for nearly half of the journal titles found in ERIC. All levels of education are covered, as well as educational issues such as technology, bilingual education, testing, funding and policy.

  • Student Resource Center
    Start your research by accessing primary sources, magazine and multimedia updated daily to include a popular topics list.

  • Kids InfoBits
    Provides students in kindergarten through grade 5 access to magazine and book articles through both text searching and a picture topic tree.

Practice Tests

  • Learning Express Library
    This is a leading source for test preparation materials and interactive practice exams based on official tests such as GED, SAT, ACT, ASVAB, Praxis, occupational tests, middle and high school math tests, and more. Immediate scoring and analysis of test results.

  • Testing and Education Resource Center
    Career and college (including vocational) search all in one place. Tests include SAT, GED, GRE, State Assessment tests, college credit exams, nursing, military, civil service, U.S. Citizenship, and much more. Complementary eBooks are also provided.

  • Maryland MVA
    Online Driver Tutorial Online tutorial to help new drivers prepare for the written driving tests in Maryland.

Reading Recommendations

  • Books and Authors
    Looking for a good book, but not sure where to start? Try Books and Authors!

  • Novelist
    Contains book reviews and book lists for all ages: children, teens and adults. Locate books to read by describing a plot or find similar titles and authors for books already enjoyed. Users can also search a series name to get a list of titles in the series.

  • Novelist (K-8)
    Designed for students and teachers in grades K - 8 to find appropriate and interesting books to read and discuss. Picture books, children's "chapter" books, and young adult titles are all searchable by subject/theme and plot summaries. Also includes teaching aides such as review questions and Lexile rankings.

  • Catalog Features (provided through the Cecil County Public Library)
    The Catalog's home page has links to the current bestseller lists, including the New York Times Bestsellers, the Pulitzer Prize Award winners, Oprah Winfrey, and the Today Show recommendations.

Religion

  • Encyclopedia of Religion
    Presents a cross-cultural approach that emphasizes religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture.  Written by an international team of scholars and contributors.

Science and Math

  • Science Reference Center
    Full-text from science encyclopedias, reference books, and periodicals covering topics such as biology, earth and space science, environmental science, health and medicine, history of science, technology, wildlife and more.

  • Chemical Elements: From Carbon to Krypton
    Provides in-depth information on 112 known chemical elements. For younger and middle school students, but also appropriate for high school students.

  • Encyclopedia of Biomes
    Information on land biomes and water biomes and covers climate, elevation, soil, water bodies, vegetation, animal life, food web, plant and animal adaptations, endangered species, human effects on the biome and the effects of the environment on humans' culture and economy.

  • How Everyday Products Are Made
    Explores the creation of products from super glue to salsa.

  • Real-Life Math
    Reviews the mathematical concepts that apply to everyday life.

  • Today's Science
    Science news written especially for students.

Travel

  • Travel Collection
    A searchable collection of magazine articles on travel, as well as travel handbooks from Fodor's.