Online Resources

Know what you are looking for? Use the search bar to find resources by name or descriptions, scan the listings in alphabetical order, or use filters to explore different subjects, formats, age groups and more.


Academic Search Premier

Includes full text of many articles, plus index entries for others. Subject areas covered include arts & literature, humanities, science, social science and many other specialties. Updated daily.

Library card required

Access NYC

Provides listings and eligibility information for human service benefit programs offered by City, State, and Federal government agencies.

Free & accessible anywhere

African American Experience

A collection of scholarly articles and primary source documents on African American history and culture. Includes books, speeches, letters, photographs, illustrations and audio clips.

Library card required

American History

Conduct research on American history with more than 16,000 primary and secondary sources, including overview essays, biographies, government and court documents, photos, maps, audio/video clips, and statistics.

Library card required

American Indian Experience

A collection of scholarly articles and primary source documents covering American Indian history from the paleolithic to the present. Includes treaties, speeches, and captivity narratives as well as traditional storytelling, maps, photographs, and video.

Library card required

ARTstor

A comprehensive image resource for students, teachers and scholars, with new collections added monthly. All images are rights-cleared for educational use. 

Library card required

Bibliography of the History of Art

A searchable bibliography of works on European and American visual arts material published between 1975 and 2007. Search by subject, artist, author, article, or journal title.

Free & accessible anywhere

Black Thought and Culture

Collects published works by leading African American writers, spanning the 1700s to the present. Includes books, interviews, journal articles, speeches, essays, pamplets and letters.

Library card required

BrainPop

Watch animated movies, play learning games, and more. Includes BrainPOP Jr. (K-3), BrainPOP, BrainPOP Español, and, for English language learners, BrainPOP ESL. Videos and activities cover topic areas within Science, Math, Social Studies, English Language Arts, and more.

Library card required

Brooklyn Newsstand

Brooklyn Newsstand is a collection of digitized Brooklyn newspapers made possible through a partnership between Brooklyn Public Library and Newspapers.com.  

Brooklyn Newsstand (2,402,000 digitized pages) contains 44 newspaper titles-including the full run of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper (1841-1963) and Brooklyn Life (1890-1931), a Brooklyn Society Magazine. Learn more about the history of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

View the full list of newspapers and their date ranges.

This site is best viewed using Chrome or Safari. 

Free & accessible anywhere

Brooklyn Public Library Digital Collections

Discover Brooklyn history: Explore our collection of digitized Brooklyn content.

Free & accessible anywhere

CIA World Factbook and Country Maps

The Central Intelligence Agency's basic intelligence for 266 world entities; free maps can be downloaded and printed in PDF or JPEG formats.

Free & accessible anywhere

Creative Commons

Creative Commons searches openly licensed and public domain images. Search for works that are available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing.

Free & accessible anywhere

Creativebug

Creativebug is a video-learning site for art and craft classes. New classes from top artists are released every day, with instructors bringing a lifetime of practice and proven teaching methods. Public Performance Rights are included for programming.

Interested in becoming a Creativebug Instructor? Brooklyn Public Library is partnering with the Creativebug editorial team to recruit Brooklyn-based creators and artists, particularly those who can help increase the diversity and representation of Creativebug's course catalog. Apply here: https://cbug.tv/BecomeAnInstructor

Library card required

Directory of Open Access Journals

Free community-curated directory that indexes and connects to full text, open access, peer reviewed scientific and scholarly journals.

Free & accessible anywhere

Ebscohost Espanol

Artículos con texto completo de revistas, diarios y revistas académicas, índices generales, y otros recursos en ambos Español e Inglés. EBSCOhost Español tiene una función de traducción, pero no es garantizado obtener una traducción completamente exacta.

Library card required

Europeana

Web portal to the digital resources of many European museums, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections. Formats include books, paintings, films, objects, sound recordings and archival records. 

Free & accessible anywhere

Fire Insurance Maps Online (FIMO)

New York State high-definition, full-color fire insurance maps from Sanborn and other publishers, real estate atlases, plat books, and other historical maps showing building structures, building construction details, property ownership, property uses, and other useful information. The site has an Interactive map search, and Geo-referenced or search by place name and drop-down menus.

Library card required

Flipster

Get access to major magazines and journals to read on your smartphone, tablet, or PC. Check out Flipster's getting started guide here. To get the free Flipster app, search for "Flipster" in either Google Play or  Apple's App Store

Library card required

Gale Academic OneFile

Academic One File lets you access millions of articles from thousands of scholarly and authoritative sources in the humanities, science, social science, business, and more. The Topic Finder feature is an easy visual to help explore sub-topics of your initial search.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale eBooks

24/7 access to reference ebooks. No checkout necessary. Titles can be browsed, searched, and downloaded anytime from any Internet-connected device. Topics include arts, business, education, history, law, literature, medicine, religion, science, and social science.

Library card required

Gale General OneFile

A searchable collection of general interest and scholarly publications on topics including Careers, Computers & Technology, Education, Health, History, Personal Finance, and Self-Help. Content includes reference books, newspapers, magazines, journals, and audio & video files.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale In Context: Elementary

Gale In Context: Elementary (formerly Kids InfoBits), introduces elementary school students to database searching with easy-to-use resources featuring age-appropriate, curriculum-related content

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale In Context: High School

Gale in Context High School (Formerly Student Resources) contains information on a variety of topics in an easy to read format. Includes primary documents, biographies, topical essays, background information, critical analyses, magazine articles, audio and video clips, and thousands of photographs and illustrations. Includes topics in science, health, history, literature, current events, sports, world cultures, and business/economics. Easy to search and topics are comprehensive in content.

Library card required

Gale In Context: Middle School

Gale In Context: Middle School is a Gale database created specifically for middle school students, combining reference content with age-appropriate videos.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints

Gale in Context Opposing Viewpoints covers today’s social issues, from Offshore Drilling to Climate Change. Helps students research, analyze and organize a broad variety of data for conducting research, completing writing assignments, preparing for debates, creating presentations and more.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale OneFile: Criminal Justice

Customized selection of journals relating to criminal justice. From the New York State Online Virtual Library database collection.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale OneFile: Diversity Studies

Customized selection of journals relating to Diversity Studies. From the New York State Online Virtual Library database collection.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale OneFile: Environmental Studies and Policy

Journals from the New York State Online Virtual Library database collection relating to environmental studies and environmental policy, including climate change, recycling, and sustainability.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale OneFile: Fine Arts

Customized selection of journals from the New York State Online Virtual Library database collection relating to the fine arts and music, from filmmaking, jazz and Mozart to Shakespeare and Van Gogh.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Gale OneFile: Gender Studies

Journals from the New York State Online Virtual Library database collection related to gender and sexuality in culture and society. Research information on women's studies, gender identity and more.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Go Direct

Social Security and Federal benefit payments are to be deposited electronically by law of as March 2013. Sign up for a prepaid debit card or with your bank account for direct deposit.

Free & accessible anywhere

govinfo

govinfo (formerly the Federal Digital System) provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch.

Free & accessible anywhere

GreenFile

Resource draws on the connections between the environment and a variety of disciplines such as agriculture, education, law, health and technology. Topics covered include global climate change, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling and more.

Library card required

HUD Affordable Apartment Search (New York State)

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development assists in finding subsidized apartments in New York State.

Free & accessible anywhere

Instructables

Get step-by-step, user created instructions on how to make just about anything. Examples include instructions on building a digital microscope or sewing a zipper.

Free & accessible anywhere

JSTOR

JSTOR offers researchers the ability to retrieve high-resolution, scanned images of journals, books, and primary sources as they were originally designed, printed, and illustrated. The material available spans many disciplines in the arts, sciences, and humanities.

When browsing or searching, you may find locked content. We apologize that some content is not available via Brooklyn Public Library's subscription. 

Only in library branches

Kings County Supreme Court

The Kings County Supreme Court handles felony criminal and civil matters, including name changes, matrimonial cases, foreclosures, mental hygiene applications, and elder law cases. Explore the website for sample forms and guides, court procedures, and information regarding a pending case. For a quick reference guide on Legal Referral Services in Kings County, click here.

Free & accessible anywhere

Latino American Experience

Scholarly articles and primary source documents covering Latino American history and culture from the 1400s to the present.

Library card required

MarciveWeb DOCS

Searchable catalog of U.S. government publications from July 1976 - present. Access to Congressional Research Service reports that are in the public domain.  

Only in library branches

MasterFILE Premier

Full text articles covering a broad range of subjects including general reference, business, education, health, general science and multicultural issues.

Library card required

Middle Search Plus

Middle Search Plus is a full-text database providing popular middle school magazines, reference e-books, and thousands of primary source documents and videos. Subjects include history, current events, science and sports.

Library card required

New York Apartment Law Insider

Provides information for owners and managers of residential real estate, covering topics like rent stabilization, rent control, building maintenance requirements, and correction of code violations. (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

New York Heritage Digital Collections

Search and browse digital collections about New York State's extensive history. Includes letters, diaries, photographs, newspapers, and maps from over 160 museums, libraries and archives.

Free & accessible anywhere

New York Landlord v Tenant Online

Provides landlord-tenant court decisions as far back as 1993, including cases from the NYC Civil Court, NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), and NYC Environmental Control Board.  (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

New York State Legislature

Legislative information related to both houses of the New York State Legislature. Look up bill text, summaries, committee agendas, and voting records from 1995 to the present.

Free & accessible anywhere

New York State Office of Unclaimed Funds

Banks, insurance companies, corporations, courts, and other organizations are required by law to report dormant accounts and turn over unclaimed funds to the State Comptroller. Search by name or organization to discover and claim funds.

Free & accessible anywhere

NovelNY (resources for students)

Encyclopedias and research tools for elementary and middle school students: the Scholastic Go! encyclopedia, eLibrary Elementary for books and magazines, Kids Infobits for children's magazines, and Opposing Viewpoints in Context. High school and college students can access General OneFile, Academic OneFile, and Opposing Viewpoints for research. From the New York State Online Virtual Library database collection.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Oxford Research Encyclopedias

Oxford Research Encyclopedias are a collection of essays on a variety of topics, designed to give readers an overview of a subject that they can understand in half an hour of reading or less.

Remote users: Type your Brooklyn Public Library card number in the box "Sign in with your library card", click Sign In, and then select Brooklyn Public Library.

Library card required

Oxford Very Short Introductions

The full text of the entire catalog of Oxford University Press's Very Short Introductions series. The books in this platform offer concise overviews to a range of academic subjects in the arts & humanities, law, medicine & health, science & mathematics, and social sciences. 

Remote users: Type your Brooklyn Public Library card number in the box "Sign in with your library card", click Sign In, and then select Brooklyn Public Library.

Library card required

PressReader

Access to current newspaper editions from around the world in a full color readable online format.  

Library card required

Project Muse

Humanities and social science content for the scholarly community. Complete, full-text versions of scholarly journals and books from many of the world's leading university presses and scholarly societies. 

You may encounter locked content. When browsing or searching "All Muse", select "Only Content I have access to" to find subscription content. We apologize that some content is not available via Brooklyn Public Library's subscription.

Library card required

Salem Literature

Collection of classical and current literary criticism of the world’s most-studied literature. Focuses on both an individual author’s entire body of work or on a single work of literature.  Based off of Magill Books or Masterplots series.

Library card required

SIRS Discoverer

Areas covered include: current events, history, health, language arts, math, science, social studies, and technology. Includes newspaper and magazine articles, material from DK Eyewitness books, and science experiment ideas. Search for something specific or explore a variety of topics and current events.
 

Library card required

Smarthistory

Smarthistory is an always-free resource for learning about global art history featuring curated article, image and video content—created by respected scholars in collaboration with museum curators—that is engaging, informative, and accessible. Patrons can explore a wealth of high-resolution images of art from museums, galleries and cultural heritage sites throughout the world, all of which are free to download and use for classroom presentations and projects under Creative Commons (CC) licensure. 

Free & accessible anywhere

Sports Market Analytics

SBRnet and the Sports Market Analytics Data Platform are a comprehensive online platform of nationwide sports business data and analytics, using syndicated and custom proprietary research for the professional and college sports categories as well as sports participation and equipment sales information. Data is driven from consumer research, industry reports, and licensed industry articles. Topics include:

  • · Sports Fan Demographics
  • · Attendance
  • · Television Viewing
  • · Streaming Media
  • · Social Media Usage
  • · Logo Merchandise Sales
  • · Sponsorship Influence
  • · Sports Participation
  • · Fitness Participation
  • · Sports Gambling
  • · Sports Travel
  • · Collectibles
  • · Device Usage
  • · Fantasy Sports Play
  • · Consumer categories: Sports Drinks, Homeowners Insurance, Driver’s Insurance, Cell Phone Carrier, Banking, Credit Cards, Hotel/Motel, Air Travel and Quick Service Restaurant.


On the SMA log-in page, enter only your library card number. The username and password fields are auto-populated by the vendor.

Library card required

TrueFlix

Read and listen to e-books and watch videos online based on titles from the Trueflix nonfiction book series.  Also look up project ideas, extra information, and lesson plans for teachers and others.

Library card required

UNdata

UNdata Easy way to search and download across multiple United Nations' databases. Includes current information on populations, trade, standard of living, and the environment.

Free & accessible anywhere

Urban Archive

View our collection of city stories and check out the platform of digital collections of New York City's museums, archives, and libraries.

Free & accessible anywhere

USA Spending

Search by agency, recipient, state funding, or even your own neighborhood to see how federal money is being used.  Developed as part of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.

Free & accessible anywhere

World Digital Library

Images of historic items from countries around the world, curated by the U.S. Library of Congress and the United Nations.  Materials include photographs, maps, newspapers, journals, books, and manuscripts from museums, libraries, and national archives from around the world, representing over 100 languages.  Easily search by time period, institution, type of material, language, place, or topic.

Free & accessible anywhere