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Articles and Online Resources

All online resources can be used in the library. Most can also be used from home, though many require you to sign in with your library card number.

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The newspapers, pamphlets, and books gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817) represent the largest and most comprehensive collection of early English news media. The present digital collection, that helps chart the development of the concept of ‘news’ and ‘newspapers’ and the “free press”, totals almost 1 million pages and contains approximately 1,270 titles.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Academic OneFile is a comprehensive periodical resource of full-text peer-reviewed content for over 10,000 manually indexed journals and reference works covering all subjects. It also includes the full-text of The New York Times back to 1995 and NPR, CNN & CBC transcripts and podcasts.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free In Library

American Ancestors (available in library)

American Ancestors is the research database of the New England Historical Genealogical Society.

Anyone can search the database, but you need to be logged in to see the text of the documents in your results. If you are in the library, please see a Reference Librarian for assistance — they can log you in on a library computer. Remote access is not possible, but our librarians can work with the database on your behalf.

Provided by Forbes Library and available for use in the library. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free In Library

Ancestry Library Edition (available in library)

For genealogy research. Includes coverage of the United States and the United Kingdom: census, vital, church, court, and immigration records, as well as record collections from Canada and other areas. This collection of more than 4,000 databases and two billion names is essential to having a broad genealogy collection, and its valuable content is a strong complement to HeritageQuest Online.

Provided by Forbes Library and available for use in the library. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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AtoZdatabases is a reference and marketing database that includes 30 million business profiles, 220 million residents, 1.1 Million Healthcare Professionals, and much more. It is ideal for sales leads, mailing lists, market research, employment opportunities, and tracking down hard to find phone numbers and addresses.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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biblio+ is a streaming service with a highly-curated selection of films and television, from award-winners and nominees to independent discoveries, thoughtful documentaries, and everything in between. With biblio+, library members have unlimited access to an ad-free catalog of video content on many devices.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Use this database for over 400,000 biographies covering literary figures, science, multicultural studies, business, entertainment, politics, sports, government, history, current events and the arts. Indexes all print volumes of the series.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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You can access many Boston Public Library online resources with a free eCard. eCards are available to anyone who lives, resides part-time to attend school, owns property, or works in Massachusetts.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Britannica Online School Edition lets you choose your level, with content geared to Elementary, Middle School, High School, and a PreSchool Learning Zone. Each level includes dictionary and thesaurus, atlases, timelines, and other features at the appropriate grade level.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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This site offers resources in Spanish for all ages in two unique interfaces, each with its own comprehensive encyclopedia: Enciclopedia Moderna for high school and college students and Britannica Escolar for elementary and middle school students.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Enjoy unlimited access to thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga — without worrying about holds, wait lists, or monthly limits. You can also use the Library Pass mobile app to download comics for offline reading.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Credo Reference covers every major subject, with easy access to trusted content from over 70 of the world’s leading academic publishers. This aggregate database includes 538 hundred highly-regarded reference titles, and seamless linking to other valuable and trusted information sources to speed your research.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free for Northampton Residents

The Daily Hampshire Gazette has covered Northampton area news since 1786. You can find full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and much more from current and archived issues of Daily Hampshire Gazette via Newsbank. Newsbank is a news database designed for researchers. Content is updated daily and includes editorials, announcements, and other local content from the Gazette going back to January 3, 1994.

Coverage for 2023 is currently incomplete due to changes at the Gazette.

Provided by Forbes Library and available remotely to Northampton residents with a CW MARS card. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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(formerly Kids InfoBits)

Targeting the research needs of grades K-5 students. This resources incudes Blackbirch Press curriculum support references, 100 full-text age appropriate magazines and 2 newswires. Graphs, charts, maps and over 2,500 searchable images.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Gale in Context: Environmental Studies offers over 400 short articles on environmental topics across the science, social studies, and humanities curriculum. Topics include Water Privatization, Ecotourism, Air Pollution, Green Economy, and more.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Going beyond textbooks and traditional science curriculum, Gale Interactive: Science is a highly visual online learning tool. It includes interactive 3D models and is designed for middle and high school students.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Use this general interest database for full-text and images from magazines, reference books, and newspapers for information on current events, popular culture, the arts and sciences, sports, etc.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Global Issues in Context offers international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics, and current events. Featured are hundreds of continuously updated issue and country portals that bring together a variety of sources for analysis of social, political, military, economic, environmental, health, and cultural issues. Each of these includes an overview, unique “perspectives” articles, reference, periodical, primary source and statistical information.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Health and Wellness Resource Center provides instant access to carefully compiled and trusted medical reference materials. Includes nearly 400 health/medical journals, hundreds of pamphlets, over 700 health-related videos from partner Healthology, Inc., and articles from 2,200 general interest publications in addition to a broad collection of Gale reference titles. Material contained in this Resource Center is intended for informational purposes only.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free for Northampton Residents

Heritage Hub, formerly America’s Obituaries & Death Notices, is a large and comprehensive collection of newspaper obituaries and death notices. An easy-to-use interface allows searching by name, dates, or text keywords such as workplace, schools attended, towns lived in, social clubs, churches attended or charities.

Provided by Forbes Library and available remotely to Northampton residents with a CW MARS card. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

HeritageQuest Online combines digital, searchable images of U.S. federal census records with the digitized version of the popular UMI® Genealogy & Local History collection and other valuable content. This online database is an essential collection of unique material for both genealogical hobbyists and professionals.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Hoopla is a service that partners with your local public library to bring you thousands of movies, television, ebooks, comics, and music titles for free. There are no costs or hassles. All you need is a library card and a web browser, phone, or tablet.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

InfoTrac Newsstand provides access to more than 1,100 major U.S. regional, national and local newspapers as well as leading titles from around the world.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free In Library

JSTOR (available in library)

This treasure trove for researchers contains back issues of over 800 scholarly journals in the humanities and social sciences. The website also contains tutorials and help pages to orient new users.

Provided by Forbes Library and available for use in the library. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free for Northampton Residents

Watch over 26,000 films on Kanopy! Kanopy is a streaming movie service, like Netflix or Hulu. You can watch must-see classic films from The Criterion Collection, learn about every subject imaginable from The Great Courses and PBS or indulge in festival indie or world cinema sourced from award-winning filmmakers globally. Kanopy makes it easy to watch any time, to share and discuss films. Create a login, enter your CW MARS card number, and you are ready to watch!

Provided by Forbes Library and available remotely to Northampton residents with a CW MARS card. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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LawDepot for Libraries allows you to create your own personalized legal documents specific to your state/province and personal situation. (This resource requires you to create an account.)

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Focusing on skills development and professional development, Leadership and Management is updated daily and is useful for researchers and professionals interested in career development.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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This interactive online database features more than 300 practice tests based on official school and career exams, including ACT, SAT, GED, ASVAB, Firefighter, Police Officer, Paramedic, EMT Basic, U.S. Citizenship, Postal Worker, Cosmetology, and Real Estate Sales Agent & Broker Exams, among others. Includes math & reading practice for 4th grade through high school, school and college admission tests and Advance Placement tests.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Lynda.com is a leading online learning company that helps anyone learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. Through the library’s subscription, you have access to the lynda.com video library of engaging, top-quality courses taught by recognized industry experts.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Researchers at all levels will find the information they need on authors and their works in all genres and disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world. Includes biographical entries on more than 135,000 authors, more than 850,000 full-text articles, critical essays and reviews from scholarly journals, literary magazines, and other reference books.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Little Pim is an online language learning system for ages 0-6. It’s a fun way for kids to learn a foreign language!

  • Little Pim’s Entertainment Immersion Method makes it fun and easy to learn.
  • Kids love Little Pim, the animated panda who teaches each lesson.
  • It’s fun for the whole family.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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A valuable source of information on both privately held and public companies and their executives. Offers up to 35 searchable fields such as company size and sales, business type and age, and contact criteria. Includes specialty information such as executive name lists and president biographies.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Morningstar® Investment Research Center provides real-time access to comprehensive data and independent analysis on thousands of investments, spanning mutual funds, stocks, exchange-traded funds, and closed-end funds. They also provide analyst reports on many securities, offering in-depth background and analyst opinions on top investments.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Music & Performing Arts from Alexander Street Press combines audio and video that spans all time periods, hundreds of thousands of seminal artists, composers, choreographers, and ensembles to provide an unparalleled learning environment for the teaching of music. Collections include American Music, Classical Music, Jazz, World Music, Theatre, Dance and Opera in video, and classical music scores.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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A limited number of 72-hour passes are available daily for for up-to-the-moment access to nytimes.com with no limit on the number of articles viewed. This resource can also be used without restriction at the Boston Public Library.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free for Northampton Residents

The electronic editions of record for local, regional, and national U.S. newspapers as well as full-text content of key international sources. Each provides unique coverage of local and regional news, including companies, politics, sports, industries, cultural activities, and people in the community, as well as a distinctive focus offering a variety of viewpoints on local and world issues. Includes local news, editorials, announcements and other sections from over 2,000 sources.

Provided by Forbes Library and available remotely to Northampton residents with a CW MARS card. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free With CW MARS Card

Looking for a good book to read? NoveList can help! Contains lists, reviews, feature articles, and more. Search by authors, plot lines, series, reading level, etc.
NoveList Plus, the non-fiction counterpart to NoveList, is a guide to narrative non-fiction such as history, biography, adventure, travel, you name it. An easy interface with many search options makes this an excellent reader’s advisory tool.

Free with any CW MARS library card, and provided by the CW MARS library network. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Opposing Viewpoints covers timely issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. This cross-curricular resource supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Informed, differing views help learners develop critical-thinking skills and draw their own conclusions.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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An award-winning resource on every aspect of the visual arts from prehistory to the present day

  • Over 45,000 articles on fine arts, decorative arts, and architecture
  • Scholarship written by over 6,000 international contributors
  • Over 130,000 art images, with links to hundreds of museums and galleries around the world
  • A wide range of search and browse options to explore the full text, bibliographies, biographies, and image links

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. As a historical dictionary, the OED is very different from Dictionaries of current English, in which the focus is on present-day meanings. You’ll still find present-day meanings in the OED, but you’ll also find the history of individual words, and of the language.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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PebbleGo is a content hub specifically designed for K-2 students. Packed with informational articles, ready-made activities, and literacy supports for students of all abilities, it boosts engagement and fosters independent learning in core subject areas.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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PressReader lets you read colorful full-page reproductions of thousands of U.S. and international newspapers and magazines.

You can use PressReader in your web browser or in the iOS or Android app.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Designed for middle school students. Includes mainly full-text magazines, newspapers and reference books covering current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more. This resource has a highly visual design and navigation  combined with the authoritative content and user-focused tool set needed to support middle school assignments and coursework.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free With Forbes Card

Online access to a variety of reference works from Salem Press. These are essentially the website versions of the same Salem Press volumes we have in the library. Topics include history, science, health, and careers. A good starting point for elementary and high school research projects.

Provided by Forbes Library. Remote access requires a Forbes Library card. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Science Database is a growing resource of 7.3 million full text articles from over 1,600 sources. In full-text format, researchers have access to all the charts, diagrams, graphs, tables, photos, and other graphical elements so vital to scientific and engineering literature.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Gale Science in Context is an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information on hundreds of today’s most significant science topics. The new solution merges Gale’s authoritative reference content with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, experiments, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free for Northampton Residents

Offering a unique, interdisciplinary approach to U.S. and Global history and culture, Sharpe Online Reference (SOLR) explores the broad range of events, people, movements, and political, social, economic, and cultural issues that have shaped the nation and the world from earliest times to the present day.

Provided by Forbes Library and available remotely to Northampton residents with a CW MARS card. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Created by subject experts and a librarian advisory board, Small Business Resource Center brings together hundreds of sample business plans, journals, multimedia content, and more.

Small Business Resource Center covers all major areas of starting and operating a business: financing, management, marketing, human resources, franchising, accounting, taxes and more. Startups, established businesses, and business students alike can find answers from its mobile responsive experience.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Language learners can build vocabulary, practice skills, and maintain what they have learned with Transparent Language Online, available anytime, anywhere in 110+ languages.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Gale U.S. History in Context provides contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in U.S. History. Includes reference content with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

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Value Line provides a vast array of financial measures for over 6,000 stocks, 18,000 mutual funds, 200,000 options, and other securities. Delve into Value Line’s accurate estimates, projections and historical data to discover opportunities that fit your investment strategy.

Provided by the Boston Public Library and available for free with a BPL eCard. Individuals who live in, own property in, or commute to work in Massachusetts may register for an eCard. Want help using this resource? Contact us.

Free State Wide

Gale World History in Context provides contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in World History. It offers reference content with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites.

Free for all Massachusetts residents. Provided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and the Massachusetts Library System. Want help using this resource? Contact us.