MENLO PARK LIBRARY DATABASE DETAILS


Magazine & Newspaper articles

Infotrac (General Reference Center) is a general interest database that integrates a variety of sources in one easy-to-use interface.  Use General Reference Center to find articles from magazines, reference books, and newspapers, many with full-text and images. Find the latest current events, popular culture, the arts and sciences, sports, hobbies, and more.

Informe  Una colección de revistas hispánicas con textos completos. Abarca negocios, salud, tecnología, cultura, temas de actualidad y otras materias.

eLibrary contains full-text magazine and newspaper articles (including SF Chronicle, NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post), as well as TV and radio transcripts. You can also find photographs, pictures, maps and other reference materials.

Newspapers provides access to complete articles in over 100 US and International newspapers.


Reference essays & articles
Resource Ctr. (Student Resource Center) is a fully integrated database containing thousands of curriculum-targeted primary documents, biographies, topical essays, background information, critical analyses, full-text coverage of over 1,000 magazines, newspapers, over 20,000 photographs and illustrations, and more than 8 hours of audio and video clips. Includes Student Resource Center-Health Module.

Opposing Viewpoints draws on the acclaimed social issues series published by Greenhaven Press, as well as core reference content from other Gale and Macmillan Reference USA sources to provide:
U.S. History provides integrated access to over 4,000 historical (primary) documents, articles from more than 30 reference titles, and over 110 full-text journal covering themes, events, individuals and periods in U.S. history from pre-Colonial times to the present. The material also includes citations from over 180 additional history journals from the Institute for Scientific Information's Arts and Humanities Citation Index, as well as the entire "American Journey Online" series.

World History is a comprehensive collection of award-winning reference, full-text articles from leading scholarly publications, an array of primary sources, and images, maps and charts which provide expansive geographic and chronlogic research materials for the study of world history. From ancient Europe to Latin America and from the Far East to the Renaissance, world history curricula is supported with over 1,800 primary sources, over 27 reference titles and more than 110 journals.

American Decades (an 11-volume reference book in electronic form) covers 20th-century events and social history beginning in 1900 and ending in 1999. Each decade is covered in a single comprehensive volume. Chapters begin with a chronology of world events and a general overview of the decade. Within each topic, alphabetically arranged entries discuss historically important events, issues, definitions of difficult concepts or terms, and other interesting trivia and sideline stories.

Renaissance (Renaissance and Reformation Reference Library, a 6-volume reference book in electronic form) Covering everything from Luther's Revolt to the writings of Shakespeare, this set provides comprehensive coverage of this amazing time. Includes extensive background information on the period, approximately 50 biographies of people of the era, and includes full or excerpted speeches, diary entries, newspaper and magazine articles, poems, and documents.

Biographies (Biography Resource Center) combines award-winning biographies from respected Gale Group sources.  Biography Resource Center also includes full-text articles from hundreds of periodicals. Search for people based on one or more personal facts such as birth and death year, nationality, ethnicity, occupation or gender, or combine criteria to create a highly-targeted custom search.

Countries and Their Cultures (a 4-volume reference book in electronic form) focuses on cultures and countries around the world, specifically what is and is not shared culturally by the people who live in a particular country. Entries contain descriptive summaries of the country in question, including demographic, historical, cultural, economic, religious, and political information.

Fashion & Costume (a 5-volume reference book in electronic form) provides a broad overview of costume traditions of diverse cultures from prehistoric times to the present day. Examines more than 430 items of human decoration and adornment, ranging from togas to turbans, necklaces to tennis shoes. Explores how and why items were created, the people who made them, and their uses. This set shows how clothing, headwear, body decorations, and footwear reflect the different cultural, religious, and societal beliefs.

Encyclopedia of Religion (a 15-volume reference book in electronic form) The second edition of this highly regarded encyclopedia, intended to reflect both changes in academia and in the world since 1987, includes almost all of the 2,750 original entries -- many heavily updated -- as well as approximately 600 entirely new articles. Preserving the best of the first edition's cross-cultural approach, while emphasizing religion's role within everyday life and as a unique experience from culture to culture, this new edition is the definitive work in the field for the 21st century. An international team of scholars and contributors have reviewed, revised and added to every word of the classic work, making it relevant to the questions and interests of all researchers.

US Immigration and Migration Reference Library (a 6-volume reference book in electronic form) chronicles and interprets the phenomenal waves of immigration to the United States from the earliest times up to the present day, when restrictive policies have temporarily stanced the flow of immigrants. Covers the economic, religious, and political forces that compelled people to seek a better life in a new land; profiles both prominent and lesser-known people of the immigrant experience; and features key documents related to the topic.

Kid's InfoBits is a periodical database designed for elementary school students, with easy access to full-text magazines, newspapers and reference books for information on current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more.

Books & Languages

eAudiobooks & Text eBooks offers digital audio books in the OverDrive Media Console™ (Microsoft Windows Media Audio) format, and eBooks in the Adobe® Reader® and Mobipocket Reader formats. See this handy comparison chart of formats & compatibilities.

Techie eBooks from Safari lets you read, browse, search and partially download ebooks for programmers and IT professionals. PLS currently subscribes to nearly 700 titles from various publishers, such as Sams, O'Reilly and Que.

NetLibrary eBooks (including Legal eBooks) is a PLS-owned collection of electronic books you can view with Adobe Reader. First create a free NetLibrary account here at MPL (or from within one of the PLS libraries), and then you can access the e-book collection from home by searching the PLS Online Catalog or by visiting netlibrary.com.  In addition to popular fiction and non-fiction, the collection includes Cliff's Notes, plus self-help consumer law titles from Nolo and Sphinx.

Literature Resource Center lets you access biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of more than 120,000 authors from every age and literary discipline. Scribner Writer's Series includes 15-20 page signed essays on more than 1,600 authors and literary genres drawn from 13 acclaimed Scribner print series. Twayne World, US, and English Authors each contains the full text of 200 frequently used Twayne Literary Masters books on individual World, US, or English authors, for a total of 600 full-text titles.

BookBrowse for Libraries is a unique hybrid between a readers' advisory database and an online magazine. by combining rich content with a user-friendly, fully searchable interface that links back to the library's catalog. Key features include:
  • 80+ previews and 30+ in-depth reviews each month
  • Fully searchable archives of thousands of books, including excerpts, reviews & author biographies
  • Read-alike suggestions from all recommended books
  • Browse and cross-reference by more than 70 subjects and themes
  • Summaries of reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, The New York Times and other reputable sources
  • Resources and reading guides for book clubs
What Do I Read Next? includes nearly 100,000 recommended titles, more than 53,000 plot summaries, and awards information from 557 awards, all to help users uncover new reading adventures, find long-remembered favorites, and discover award-winning titles. Search by genre, subject, author, title, series, and more.

Business & Consumers
Articles (General BusinessFile ASAP) lets you analyze company performance and activity, industry events and trends as well as the latest in management, economics and politics. Access to a combination of broker research reports, trade publications, newspapers, journals and company directory listings with full text and images available.

Companies (Business and Company Resource Center) is a fully integrated resource bringing together company profiles, brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.

Reference USA contains more than 12 million U.S. businesses, and offers the current information you need to locate companies, create marketing lists and to customize your search based on criteria that include:


Small Business Network (Resource Library) is a virtual center, designed to complement the public library's on-site services and resources for people working in small businesses. Includes listings of partner organizations to entrepreneurs & small businesses, focused Internet resources, and more.

Business Plans Handbook (a book in electronic format) is a collection of actual business plans compiled by entrepreneurs seeking funding for small businesses throughout North America. The book presents approximately 25 sample plans taken from businesses in the manufacturing, retail, and service industries--only company names and addresses have been changed. Includes a sample business plan template and two fictional plans, a glossary of small business terms, and a directory section containing various listings of interest to entrepreneurs and consultants specializing in small business advice and planning.

 Morningstar Mutual Funds Online provides fast and easy access to Morningstar Mutual Funds in a PDF format. Download the latest issue under Most Recent Issue, select an entire group of funds to review under Download Reports by Category, or find a specific fund under Search.

Consumer Reports is the full-text, online version of the popular consumer magazine.  Our licensing allows it to be available only from within the library, on one PC.  This PC is located next to the Reference Desk, under the clock.

Health & Society

Health - General (Health and Wellness Resource Center) Use this Resource Center to find magazines, journals, newspapers, definitions, directories, and information on: Fitness, Pregnancy, Medicine, Nutrition, Diseases, Public Health, Occupational Health and Safety, Alcohol and Drug abuse, Prescription Drugs, etc. Included are links to diet, cancer, and health assessment sites as well as government databases. The material contained in this Resource Center is intended for informational purposes only.

Health Reference Center Academic Use this database to find articles on: Fitness, Pregnancy, Medicine, Nutrition, Diseases, Public Health, Occupational Health and Safety, Alcohol and Drug abuse, HMOs, Prescription Drugs, etc. The material contained in this database is intended for informational purposes only.
College Blue Book (a 6-volume reference book in electronic form) is completely revised and updated, and remains the definitive guide to thousands of 2- and 4-year schools in the U.S. and Canada, their programs, degrees, and financial aid sources.

Associations Unlimited Use this database to locate approximately 460,000 international and U.S. national, regional, state, and local nonprofit membership organizations in all fields, including IRS data on U.S. 501(c) nonprofit organizations. The database is also used to monitor association trends; identify related associations; networking and making professional contacts; marketing to associations, their members and markets.

Auto Repair from ALLDATA claims to be the world's most comprehensive resource for automotive diagnostic and repair information.
  • Use the Online SEARCH feature to locate information quickly.
  • Access the latest Technical Service Bulletins with the NEW TSBs feature.
  • Print wiring diagrams on 8 1/2" x 11" paper.