Resources Available from New York City Public Libraries

A number of useful databases are available from New York City public libraries and you may gain remote access to many of these resources just by having a library card. (You may obtain a library card for all three libraries listed below if you live, work, or own property anywhere in New York State; for more information see the Web address provided below.)

New York Public Library

Go to http://tm9qt7lg9g.search.serialssolutions.com/ for information about electronic resources available remotely. Go to http://www.nypl.org/books/cards.html for information about obtaining a library card.

Resources of interest include:

• Academic Search Premier, MasterFILE Premier, and Business Source Premier can be searched simultaneously through their provider, EBSCOhost. Together these three files provide access to the full-text of over 4,000 general, business, and academic periodical (this resource is also available from Brooklyn Public Library and Queens Public Library).
• Gale's Ready Reference Shelf - database providing access to thirteen of Gale's reference directories including Encyclopedia of Associations, Encyclopedia of American Religions, Research Centers Directory, etc.
• Electric Library - database providing full-text access to a variety of periodicals including several academic titles.

Also note that NYPL's Science, Industry, & Business Library and Humanities & Social Science Library have additional electronic resources that are only available on-site. For more information visit http://www.nypl.org/databases/sibldb.cfm.

Brooklyn Public Library

Go to http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eresources.jsp for information about electronic resources available remotely. Go to http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/borrowing_materials.jsp for information about obtaining a library card.

Resources of interest include:

• Academic Search Elite, MasterFILE Premier, and Business Source Premier can be searched simultaneously through their provider, EBSCOhost. Together these three files provide access to the full-text of over 4,000 general, business, and academic periodical (this resource is also available from New York Public Library and Queens Public Library).
• Newspaper Source - full-text coverage for over 170 national and international newspapers.
• Ethnic NewsWatch - collection of full-text newspapers, magazines and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press.

Queens Public Library

Go to http://www.queenslibrary.org/index.aspx?section_id=4&page_id=249 for information about electronic resources available remotely. Go to http://www.queenslibrary.org/LibraryCard/index.asp for information about obtaining a library card.

Resources of interest include:

• EBSCOhost - described as a business database, this resource actually includes a wide variety of databases including Academic Search Elite, MasterFILE Premier, and Business Source Premier. Together these three files provide access to the full-text of over 4,000 general, business, and academic periodicals (this resource is also available from New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library).
• Global NewsBank - database providing access to news from around the world.
• InfoTrac - resource providing access to a variety of indexes and reference databases including "Expanded Academic Index ASAP" which provides indexing and some full-text for approximately 2,000 scholarly, trade and general-interest publications.

Other Catalogs

Catalogs are databases of bibliographic records of books, journals, newspapers, electronic files, and other media collected by a particular library (such as the Museum Library's Catalog). Union catalogs provide access to the inventories of multiple libraries and they indicate the items owned by each library.

Key:

 Restricted use. Available only from networked Museum computers and off-site via the proxy server. Please see the off-site access instructions for more information. Also, please be aware of the usage restrictions that apply to licensed resources.

 Unrestricted use. Freely available to anyone.

                                                                                                                                            

 Libdex

 Worldwide directory of library home pages and online catalogs.

 WorldCat Database

Database containing millions of records of books, journals, and other materials cataloged by OCLC member libraries.

 WorldCat.org (free public version)

Database containing millions of records of books, journals, and other materials by a network of libraries. This version has fewer features than the subscription version of WorldCat (see above).

Other Catalogs of Interest

New York City Metro Area Libraries

• BobCatPlus -- New York University Bobst Library
• NYPL catalog
• CLIO -- Columbia University Libraries
• New York Academy of Medicine Library Catalog
• New York Botanical Garden Mertz Library Catalog
• Other NY Metro Area Libraries' Catalogs

Natural History Library Catalogs

• MUSCAT -- Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (French National Museum of Natural History)
• SIRIS -- Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
• UNICORN -- Natural History Museum Library, London
• Other Natural History Libraries

National/International Libraries

• The British Library Public Catalog (BLPC)
• Library of Congress Catalog
• The European Library
• Other European Library Catalogs
• Libraries of the World, and their catalogues

Union Catalogs

• Libdex (worldwide directory of library home pages and online catalogs)
• WorldCat (access is restricted to Museum staff members)
• Union catalog of libraries worldwide