Database Access

Most of our databases can be accessed from home using your GRPL card, but there are a few exceptions:

= Library use only

= Main Library use only

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Alphabetical | By Subject

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A

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Academic OneFile

• Premier source for peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world’s leading journals and reference sources
• Extensive coverage of the sciences, technology, medicine, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects
• Geared for college students

American Ancestors

• Search a wide range of databases including cemetery records, court and probate records, census lists, and more
• From the New England Historical Society and primarily searches the whole of the Northeastern United States and Eastern Canada
• Funding provided by Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation Western Michigan Genealogical Society Fund

American History in Video

• Online collection of streaming video that includes over 350 documentaries and 622 newsreels
• Collection spans from the early history of Native Americans to the late twentieth century
• Search and browse content by era, event, people, place and subject
• Includes content from the BBC, PBS, History Channel and more

Ancestry Library Edition 

• Census and voter lists
• Birth, marriage, and death certificates
• Military records
• Immigration and passenger lists

Associations Unlimited

• Directory of membership associations in the United States and worldwide

B

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 Biography and Genealogy Master Index

• Indexes biographies available in current reference sources
• Cover individuals, both living and deceased, from every field of activity and from all areas of the world

Gale Biography in Context

• Biographical articles and photographs of popular and historical figures from around the world

Books and Authors

• Read-a-Like wizard
• Author biographies
• Genre review and suggested books

Britannica for Kids

• Designed for students ages 8 to 15
• Britannica contains encyclopedia articles, an online dictionary, thesaurus and world atlas
• Thousands of images, videos and statistics as well as study guides

BusinessDecision

• Demographic and income profile for geographic areas
• Consumer household data
• Market profile
• Funding provided by Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation

Business Insights: Essentials

• Detailed company profiles, product and brand information
• Investment reports, rankings and market share data

C

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Chilton Library

• Online car repair manuals
• Scheduled maintenance intervals
• Detailed diagrams and instructions for interior and exterior repairs
• List of bulletins and recalls

Computer Database

• Over 3 million articles from journals, trade magazines and popular computing magazines
• Some content is full-text

Computer Skills Tutorials

• Self-paced instructional courses for popular software applications
• Introductory, intermediate and advanced level courses
• Courses available for Microsoft, Adobe, and Mac software

CultureGrams

• Contains cultural reports on over 200 countries, plus all the U.S. states and Canadian provinces
• Has a kids version and a version aimed at high school on up
• Information on government, religion, daily life, history, plus maps, flags, and both photographs and videos

E

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eLibrary

• Full text content from books and magazines
• Access to images, maps, websites, and video

eLibrary Elementary

• Access to more than 130 magazines, newspapers, books, and transcripts
• Colorful, graphical interface with images, weblinks as well as audio and video titles
• Includes articles from magazines, newspapers, reference books, and children’s publications
• Formats include print, photographs, and video

Encyclopedia Britannica

• Includes both the complete Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, and the Britannica Book of the Year
• Encyclopedia articles, illustrations, maps, definitions, videos, timelines, world atlas, and notable quotations

Expanded Academic ASAP

• Magazine, newspaper and journal articles appropriate to college and university-level research
• Combines indexing, abstracts, full text and images for every academic concentration

F

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 Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center

• Contains profiles on 3,400 jobs and 94 industries
• Job hunting and Workplace skills–guidance on getting a job and keeping it
• Tips on interviewing, writing resumes and cover letters
• School search allows users to find information on more than 4,000 schools that offer two- and four-year degrees

FirstSearch (ERIC)

• ERIC (Educations Resources Information Center) is a bibliographic database sponsored by U.S. Dept of Education
• Contains education related documents and journal articles
• Research reports, conference papers and proceedings, opinion papers, and legislative and regulatory materials

FirstSearch (Worldcat)

• Over 194 million bibliographic records that represent books and other materials held by libraries from around the world

Fold3 

• Revolutionary War, Civil War, and Naturalization Records
• Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940
• Passport Applications, 1795-1905
• City Directory Collection

Foundation Directory Professional 

• Search for grantmakers by name, location, field of interest, geographic focus, and more
• Search for companies giving grants by name, location, industry code, and more

Foundation Grants to Individuals 

• Foundation and public charity programs that fund students, artists, researchers, and other individual grantseekers
• Search by foundation name, state, city, field of interest, type of support, geographic focus, company name, and school name
• Includes articles from a wide range of publications such as Consumer Reports, Vanity Fair, Publishers Weekly, and many more
• Includes articles, book reviews, multimedia content, and more

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 Gale U.S. History in Context

• A comprehensive overview of U.S History covering the most studied events, issues and current information
• Search by person, subject, or U.S. History, or browse events chronologically
• Includes primary source material, reference sources, articles from scholarly journals, maps, and multimedia content

Gale World History in Context

• A comprehensive overview of World History covering the most studied events, issues and current information
• Search by person, subject, or World History, or browse events chronologically
• Includes primary source material, reference sources, articles from scholarly journals, maps, and multimedia content

Gale Virtual Reference Library

• Database of encyclopedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research

General BusinessFile ASAP

• Analyze company performance and activity, industry events and trends
• Access to a combination of broker research reports, trade publications, newspapers, journals and company directory listings with full text and images available
• Covers the latest information in management, economics and politics

General OneFile

• One-stop source for millions of full-text news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics

General Reference Center Gold

• Includes articles from a wide range of publications such as Consumer Reports, Vanity Fair, Publishers Weekly, and many more
• Includes articles, book reviews, multimedia content, and more

Grand Rapids Press 

• Provides access to the most current two weeks of the Grand Rapids Press

H

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Health and Wellness Resource Center

• Health and medical information for consumers from magazines, reference books, and pamphlets
• Includes information on alternative health

Health Reference Center Academic

• Health and related subject information for a wide audience from general use to academic research
• Includes case studies, clinical reports, drug overviews, articles, book reviews, multimedia content, and more

HeritageQuest Online

• Online resource for census data, family records, and local histories
• Includes US federal census, banking, and military records, genealogies, local histories, primary source materials, and genealogical and local history periodicals
• Funding provided by Grand Rapids Public Library Foundation Western Michigan Genealogical Society Fund

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Informe

• Una coleccións revistas hispánicas con textos completos. Abarca negocios, salud, tecnología cultura, temas de actualidad y otras materiarias

InfoTrac Junior Edition

• Magazine, newspapers and reference books (most full-text) cover current events, the arts, science, history, sports and more

Infotrac Newsstand

• A collection of over 1000 full-text newspapers from around the country and the world.

InfoTrac Student Edition

• Grades 9-12
• Access to a variety of indexed and full-text magazines, newspapers, podcast, and reference books
• Includes information on current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more

K

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Kalamazoo Gazette 

• Provides access to the most current two weeks of the Kalamazoo Gazette

Kids InfoBits

• Grades 1-5
• Information about people, geography, language, culture, and history
• Easy to use graphical interface
• Lands and Peoples books online

L

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Learning Express Library

• Test preparation materials and interactive practice exams based on official tests
• Includes ASVAB, SAT, ACT, GED Preparation, Firefighter, Police Officer, Postal Worker, U.S. Citizenship, and improvement tests for students from elementary school through college

Legal Forms

• Thousands of downloadable, customizable legal forms
• Includes professionally drafted documents for bankruptcy, bill of sale, contracts, divorce, employment, incorporation of an LLC, landlord/tenant, living wills, power of attorney, real estate, last will and testament, and more

LegalTrac

• Indexing for more than 1,400 titles including major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals, as well as law-related articles from over 1,000 additional business and general interest titles

LexisNexis Library Express

• Library Express provides access to more than 6,000 news, business, and legal sources
• News and business coverage encompasses newspapers, periodicals, television and radio broadcasts, news wires, blogs, corporate directories, and financial information
• Features national and international news sources that date back to the 1970s, depending on the paper
• Business sources include financial information, market research, industry reports, and SEC filings
• Access to case law and other legal information is only available in the Library

Literature Resource Center

• Critical analysis of literature and in-depth author biographies from every age and literary discipline

M

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Mango Languages

• Online, interactive language-learning system
• Instruction in Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Greek, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, ESL for Polish speakers, ESL for Spanish speakers, and ESL for Brazilian Portuguese speakers
• Individual log-ins, condensed lessons, vocabulary review, and phrasebook review

Morningstar Investment Research Center

• Morningstar analyst reports on ratings on stocks, mutual funds and ETFs
• Screening tools for investments
• Articles and videos on investing and personal finance

N

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New York Times

• The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States <li>Browse or search full text from 1985 to current

NoveList

• Readers’ advisory guide for fiction
• Includes read-alikes, award winner lists, book discussion guides, feature articles, recommended reads, and more for adults, teens, and children

Nursing Resource Center

• Supports nursing programs at both colleges and community colleges
• Provides students with homework help as well as test preparation for clinical exams

O

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Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context

• Draws on acclaimed reference content to provide a complete one-stop source for information on social issues
• Access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles

R

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ReferenceUSA

• Provides detailed information on U.S. and Canadian Businesses
• Search by company name, size, geographic location, type of business, and more
• Residential database can be searched by name, phone number, or address

S

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Gale Science in Context

• Includes thousands of topic overviews, experiments, biographies, pictures and illustrations from over 300 magazines and academic journals

SIRS DISCOVERER

• Full-text articles from magazines, newspapers, and government documents. Articles by reading level and Lexile scores
• In addition to research, this database has activities, country facts, photo essays, pictures, maps of the world, and more
• Curriculum guides for educators and homeschoolers

SIRS Renaissance

• Full-text articles on the following topics: architecture and design, culture, literature, multimedia, music, performing arts, philosophy and religion, and visual arts

Small Business Resource Center

• Provides small business management resources
• Covers subjects from conducting industry research to financial planning, to marketing a product and franchising a business
• Offers access to content from a wide range of business journals and reference sources

T

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TumbleBook Library

• Animated, talking picture books for children
• Books which you can read OR can be read to you!
• Includes games and puzzles
• Books are available in English, Spanish and French

V

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Value Line Investment Survey

• Value Line provides valuable research and analysis of approximately 1,700 if the most actively traded U.S. stocks.
• Value helps investors conduct basis research, formulate investment strategies, and make sound investment decisions.

W

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WilsonWeb Core Collections

• Primarily a collection development tools for librarians
• Provides a detailed listing of the must-have resources for public and school libraries
• Search by title, author, reviews, copyright dates, and even reading levels. Complete with reviews, annotations, pricing, subject headings, and bibliographic data

World History in Video

• Online collection of streaming video that provides access to over 1700 documentaries
• Global scope covering Africa, the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Oceania
• Covers world history from 8000 BC to the late 1980s
• Includes documentaries from the BBC, PBS, History Channel and more

You may experience some problems connecting to online subscription databases due to the number of approved users at one time, due to server load, or down time of the provider. Should this occur, please try connecting later.

MeL

Access to many of these databases comes from the Michigan eLibrary which is made possible by grant funds from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) administered by the State of Michigan through the Library of Michigan. Additional funding is provided by the State of Michigan.