Guide to Online References
Introduction
Online references are collections of specialized information distributed over the Internet. The information is arranged for ease and speed of retrieval—searching for material in an online reference may be many times faster than the same search using Google or another generalized search engine. The content in these references is often more authoritative than that found on many web sites.
Through partnership with the EINetwork and the Access PA Power Library, we are proud to offer access to numerous online references free of charge to library card holders. These references may be accessed using the library's computers or from your computer at home.
Accessing the References
From the Library
To access references using the library's computers, just click the "Find Articles" link at the top of any page on our site. From there, choose the database or collection you wish to view. The reference site will recognize the computer you are connecting from as a library computer, so no further login information is necessary.
From Home
To access references from home, open our website (http://dormontlibrary.org/) in your web browser. Click the "Find Articles" link at the top of our home page and start searching. You will be asked to enter your library card number before you can view your search results; you cannot access most online resources without it.
We recommend that you begin all sessions on a reference site from the Dormont Library web page; bookmarking the individual databases or reference sites may not work properly. Content available to in-library users and home users may differ slightly.
This service is for Allegheny County residents only. Out-of-county residents may still be able to access PA Power Library resources; contact your local library for more details.
Selected References
These are just a sampling of the reference materials available to library patrons. Many more are available—feel free to explore, or if you believe a specific reference or database should be covered here, let us know.
- EBSCOhost
- EBSCOhost is a comprehensive magazine and reference resource with fifteen databases to choose from. Databases available include:
- MasterFile Premier: a full-text archive of over 1700 magazines and publications, including professional and scholarly journals, updated daily by EBSCOhost. Back issues for some publications go back to 1976. Select publications are also archived in PDF format, preserving the original images and layout of the page. Other materials available via MasterFile include 500 full text reference books, 80,000 biographies and 100,000 primary source documents, as well as an Image Collection of over 200,000 photos, maps and flags. Start all general reference questions here!
- MAS Ultra: for high school students, this database features a selection of 500 magazines with full text articles and color PDFs dating back over 30 years.
- MiddleSearch Plus: a database geared towards middle school students, with 140 age-appropriate magazines. All articles are classified by Lexiles reading level. Full text articles are available dating back to 1990.
- Primary Search: a database for elementary school students, featuring popular publications like Appleseeds, Boys' Life, Cobblestone, Cricket, Highlights for Children, Hopscotch, Jack & Jill, Ladybug, Ranger Rick, Science World, Spider, SuperScience, Time for Kids, Turtle, and many more.
- Newspaper Search: full cover-to-cover text of 25 major newspapers from around the world, including the Washington Post, the Toronto Star, the Times of London, USA Today, and others. Selected full text articles are available for a further 200 newspapers, as well as transcripts from news wires and TV news channels.
- Health Source: this database comes in two versions. The Nursing/Academic edition provides articles from over 500 medical and professional journals, while the Consumer Edition provides access to over 130 consumer health magazines.
- Clinical Pharmacology: access to concise, accurate, up-to-date information on all prescription drugs available in the United States, as well as many over-the-counter products and experimental medicines.
- Business Source Premier: full text journals covering most aspects of business, economics, accounting, and finance.
- EBSCO Animals: EBSCO's Encyclopedia of Animals offers in-depth information on a variety of topics relating to animals. The database consists of indexing, abstracts, and full text records describing the nature and habitat of familiar animals. Great for kids and anyone with an interest in the natural world.
- EBSCOhost Español & Français
- Proporciona el acceso con texto completo a muchas de las bases de datos de EBSCOhost en español y francés.
- Fournit l'accès à texte intégral à plusieurs des bases de données d'EBSCOhost dans espagnol et français.
- Provides full-text access to many of the EBSCOhost databases in Spanish and French.
- Oxford Reference Online
- Over 100 titles from one of the world's premiere reference publishers. The Oxford Reference collection provides access to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, with over 240,000 words and subjects. Other dictionaries are available covering specialized fields of study and English as it is used in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
- English-to-foreign-language dictionaries are available for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Irish, Welsh, and Latin.
- Additionally, the Premium Collection includes many titles from the Oxford Companion series; each Companion features brief essays about hundreds of topics in a subject area such as medicine, music, archaeology, Shakespeare, mythology, neuroscience, seafaring, and even gardening.
- Testing and Education Reference Center
- Provided by the Gale Group and Peterson Publishing, this site is a prime resource for high school, vocational, undergraduate, and graduate students and professionals. Free PDF test guides from Peterson Publishing and practice tests are available for many important exams, including:
- SAT, including SAT Writing and the new Critical Reading exam
- SAT Subject Exams
- ACT Assessment
- Advanced Placement exams
- College Level Examination Program (CLEP)
- Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
- Law School Admissions Test (LSAT)
- Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT)
- Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)
- Civil Service Exams
- Praxis I and II