Research Resources
The following list of databases is a good place to get started with your research. Many of these are subscription resources paid for by the Sawyer Free Library, NOBLE, and the state of Massachusetts, and they offer more information than a Google search. If you don’t know where to start, ask one of our Information Service Librarians for assistance.
Need assistance using our online research resources? Ask a librarian for assistance, call us at 978-325-5500, or email us at info@sawyerfreelibrary.org.
Reference | Arts, Humanities, & Culture | Business | Career | Genealogy | Grants | Health & Medicine | History | Newspapers & Periodicals | Readers’ Advisory | Science | Social Sciences
Reference
These research resources cover a wide range of topics and can be a great first step for locating articles and other information before jumping into a subject-specific database.
Peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world’s leading journals and reference sources. With extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects.
Research academic topics ranging from art and literature to economics and the sciences.
This resource offers full text for more than 2,000 journals, including more than 1,500 peer-reviewed titles. A multi-disciplinary database, Academic Search Elite covers virtually every area of academic study. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Offers reference materials for adults, as well as children. Included are a dictionary, thesaurus, videos, images, primary sources, and e-books.
Britannica Moderna is a comprehensive Spanish-language general encyclopedia.
Encyclopedias (English and Spanish)
Britannica comprehensive encyclopedias with dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, and more.
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia
This database provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries covering a variety of subject areas.(NOBLE cardholders only)
Use this comprehensive periodical resource for any subject. Coverage goes back to 1980 with over 12,000 titles (7,800 full-text including The New York Times back to 1985).
More than 1,730 general reference publications such as Consumer Reports with full text information dating as far back as 1975. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Middle Search Plus & Primary Search
Popular magazines for middle and jr. high school research. All full text articles included in the database are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles), and full text information dates as far back as 1990. Includes biographies, primary source documents, photos, maps and flags. (NOBLE cardholders only)
PowerSearch: Publication Search
Gale PowerSearch is a search platform unlike any other, providing libraries with a sophisticated yet simple solution for managing a wealth of periodical, reference, multimedia and primary source information.
An engaging cross-curricular, K-12 resource created for middle school assignment needs
Art, Humanities, & Culture
Includes major cooking and nutrition magazines, and culinary journals. Coverage includes thousands of searchable recipes, restaurant reviews, and industry information.
Find engaging explorations of cultural differences, contributions and influences.
Fine Arts and Music Collection
Wilson Art Index and RILM are among the resources in this collection.
Nearly 100 titles suit hobbyists and professional carpenters alike.
Gale Literature Resource Center is Gale’s most current, comprehensive, and reliable online literature resource, offering the broadest and most representative range of authors and their works, including a deep collection of full-text critical and literary analysis for literary studies.
Full-text periodicals support coursework and general interests alike.
Access the most searched magazines across Gale OneFile focusing on current events, sports, science, and health issues.
Religion and Philosophy Collection
Insightful content covers every category of religion and philosophy.
Transparent Language for Libraries
Transparent Language Online for Libraries empowers anyone to learn 110+ languages anytime, anywhere, on any device — with unlimited simultaneous usage.
Business
Coverage includes accounting, marketing and management, plus business theory and practice.
The industry’s most used business research database, providing full text for more than 2,300 journals, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed titles. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Hospitality, Tourism & Leisure Collection
Find information on the history of the hospitality and tourism field, also. Study specialized aspects of the industry including cultural aspects of travel, leisure activities, economic aspects of tourism, and more.
Insurance and Liability Collection
Reliable information on labor relations, mortgages, legal issues and more.
Comprehensive full text coverage for regional business publications. Incorporates coverage of 75 business journals, newspapers and newswires from all metropolitan and rural areas within the United States. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Career
Search authoritative periodical content covering topics like organizational dynamics, adult learning, and more. Updated daily.
A central portal for Gale provided test prep, career growth, and upskilling resources.
Learn about careers, receive personalized recommendations, create resumes, search for jobs and schools, and get career advice.
Search thousands of college and graduate schools, identify scholarships, take practice tests, and use test prep eBooks.
Professional Development Collection
Designed for professional educators, this database provides a highly specialized collection of 520 high quality education journals, including nearly 350 peer-reviewed titles. This database also contains more than 200 educational reports. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Vocations & Careers Collection
Covers the college and job search and provides current and applicable content for all vocational milestones from nearly 400 journals. General career guides as well as highly specialized industry journals.
Children & Young Adults
Research vetted, updated, and age-appropriate content in Spanish.
Innovative early learning resource for students in grade levels kindergarten through second grade.
Encyclopedia articles with images, maps, games, and other learning materials for elementary, middle, and high school students and educators.
PebbleGo is used in elementary schools to develop background knowledge, teach research and digital literacy skills, and support curriculum.
For beginning researchers in Kindergarten through Grade 5. The curriculum-related, age appropriate, full-text content is from the best elementary reference sources and magazines.
Gale in Context: Middle School
Explore the most-studied topics including cultures, government, people, history, literature, and more.
Gale OneFile: High School Edition
Search magazines, journals, newspapers, and reference on a range of topics. Best for middle- and high-school students.
Genealogy
AmericanAncestors.org provides access to 1.4+ billion records spanning the United States, the British Isles, continental Europe, and beyond, including one of the most extensive online collections of early American genealogical records, the largest searchable collection of published genealogical research journals and magazines, and the only online source for records from Boston’s Catholic Archdiocese. (In-library access only)
Ancestry Library Edition makes family research easy for beginners while still providing in-depth tools for even the most advanced genealogists. (In-library access only)
Fold3 is an Ancestry database that allows researchers to look for their military and veteran ancestors. (Gloucester residents only)
With more than 4.4 billion records, HeritageQuest delivers an essential collection of genealogical and historical sources—with coverage dating back to the 1700s—that can help people find their ancestors and discover a place’s past.
MyHeritage Library Edition™ is one of the largest, most internationally diverse genealogy databases of its kind in the world. It includes billions of historical documents from more than 70 countries, millions of historical photos, public records, indexes and additional resources. Available in 42 languages, MyHeritage Library Edition is the industry’s most multilingual family history research database. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Grants
Candid. combines Foundation Directory and Grants to Indiiduals into one resource. Search thousands of grantmakers, grants, and funding opportunities for projects and non-profit organizations. Find funding opportunities and resources for individuals, including scholarships, fellowships, and more from nearly 10,000 grantmakers.
(In-library access only)
Health & Medicine
Health and Medicine Collection
Find up-to-date information on a range of health care topics. Best for students, researchers, and health care professionals.
Health Reference Center Academic
Full text of nursing and allied health journals, plus the wide variety of personal health information sources.
Provides information on many health topics including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine and general health. (NOBLE cardholders only)
HealthSource: Nursing/Academic Edition
This database provides nearly 550 scholarly full text journals focusing on many medical disciplines. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Search a full range of health-related issues, from current disease and disorder information to alternative medical practices.
Provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine. (NOBLE cardholders only)
All aspects of the Nursing profession–from direct patient care to health care administration–are covered in this collection.
Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine
Access academic journals and magazines covering the fields of physical therapy, physical fitness, and sports medicine.
History
Nearly a million biographical entries spanning history and geography. Search by name, occupation, Nationality, birth place, or death place.
This NewsBank database gives users access to the experience of African American life as recorded by the news media, from the early 1700s through modern times. (Gloucester residents only)
Military and Intelligence Database Collection
Journal content covers the past and current state of military affairs.
Comprehensive, contextual, media-rich search results from an extensive collection of historical information, including Primary Source Microfilm’s digital archives, Macmillan Reference USA, Charles Scribner’s Sons, and full-text periodicals and academic journals.
Periodicals for analysts, risk management professionals and students.
Offers students and researchers access to periodicals, reference works, and primary documents. Includes historical maps, atlases, and audio and video selections from NPR, archival newsreels, and more.
Newspapers & Periodicals
Explore and stay informed on local and national topics, people and events in areas such as business, health, education, jobs and careers, political and social issues and more. Features a wide variety of credible, vetted news sources spanning the U.S. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device. (Gloucester residents only)
Full text from 1980-current. Includes published obituaries. Click here for a video tutorial on using The Boston Globe Online.
Cape Ann Newspapers (1827-1998)
Historic newspapers from Cape Ann, including the Cape Ann Advertiser, Gloucester Telegraph, and the Gloucester Daily Times collection from June 1888 through August 1998. More editions will be added over time.
Consumer Reports (Newspapers & Periodicals)
Consumer Reports, formerly Consumers Union, is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. (Gloucester residents only)
Gloucester Daily Times (2009-Present)
Full text of Gloucester Daily Times from 2009 through the current edition. Limited articles from 2008 are available. (Gloucester residents only)
Search full-text articles by headline, date, newspaper section and more.
A periodical database designed for students in junior high and middle school with access to a variety of indexed and full-text magazines, newspapers and reference books for information on current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports, and more.
Full-text of The New York Times, including the NYT Book Review and NYT magazine from 1985-current.
Access major U.S. and international newspapers online to search articles instantly by title, headline, date, or other fields.
Cover-to-cover full text articles for 28 national (U.S.) & international newspapers; selected full text for more than 260 regional (U.S.) newspapers; and 20,000+ full text television and radio news transcripts. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Readers’ Advisory
A readers’ advisory database, Novelist Plus provides reviews, Author Read-alikes, What We’re Reading, Book Discussion Guides, BookTalks, Annotated Book Lists and much more for over 135,000 fiction and non-fiction titles. (NOBLE cardholders only)
NoveList K-8 Plus is a comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction. With its fun and intuitive interface, NoveList K-8 Plus will help you integrate reading across the curriculum and support your young readers. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Science
Nearly 200 titles provide broad coverage of agriculture and related fields.
Environmental Studies & Policy Collection
Includes magazines and academic journals, and provides instant access to multiple viewpoints, including perspectives from the scientific community, governmental policy makers, and corporate interests.
Manipulate 3D interactive models to visualize and understand concepts in biology, chemistry, earth, and space science.
Gardening, Landscape & Horticulture Collection
Ideal for gardeners, landscape architects, farmers and biotechnologists, this collection of journals includes content relating to both the practical aspects as well as the scientific theory of horticulture studies.
Well-researched information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment. (NOBLE cardholders only)
This database is a definitive resource for students studying both the applied and general sciences. With coverage dating back to 1986, ProQuest Science Journals features over 1030 titles, with more than 760 available in full text. Search over 2.7M records, dating back to the mid 1980s.
Information on hundreds of today’s most significant science topics.
Social Sciences
Communication and Mass Media Collection
Current, accurate information covers advertising, literature, linguistics and more.
Whether studying to become a lawyer or law enforcement officer, paralegal, or for a career in Homeland Security, this collection provides users with access to a variety of materials, including more than 700 journals.
Discover content useful for starting a business, marketing a product, developing policy, analyzing trends, and more.
Educational Resource Information Center (ERIC)
The Educational Resource Information Center contains more than 2,200 digests along with references for additional information and citations and abstracts from over 1,000 educational and education-related journals. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Access a wide selection of state-specific (and multi-state) legal forms and resources across the most popular legal areas.
Balanced coverage of gender studies, feminism, family/marital issues, health, and more.
Offers international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics and current events.
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts
LISTA indexes more than 560 core journals, nearly 50 priority journals, and nearly 125 selective journals; plus books, research reports and proceedings. Subject coverage includes librarianship, classification, cataloging, bibliometrics, online information retrieval, information management and more. (NOBLE cardholders only)
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints is the premier online resource covering today’s hottest social 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.
Find 24/7 access to 200 subject-appropriate full-text periodicals.
