Articles & Databases

Explore our collection of hundreds of online resources and databases. Use our free online content to help with your research, whether it's finding a single article, tracing a family tree, learning a new language, or anything in between.

Academic Search Premier

Library Card Required

A multi-disciplinary database of more than 4,600 magazines and journals, including full text for nearly 3,900 peer-reviewed titles. In addition to the full-text, this database offers indexing and abstracts for 8,470 journals. 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Business, Health and Medicine, History, Language and Literature, Performing Arts, Dance, Reference, Magazines, Journals and Serials, Social Sciences, Area and Cultural Studies, Women's Studies, Political Science, Psychology
English

Biography in Context

Library Card Required

Provides biographical information on 650,000+ people from throughout history, around the world, and across all disciplines. For more in-depth biographies of figures from American history, consult American National Biography

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Biography, Reference, Homework Help, Encyclopedias, African American Studies, American Studies, History
<p>The included Lives &amp; Perspectives Collection supports high-school curricula and university coursework by providing multidisciplinary content on notable figures and the societal forces that have shaped their lives.</p>
English

Credo Reference

Library Card Required

Provides full-text online access to hundreds of multidisciplinary reference book collections, including art, history, law, medicine, psychology, technology, bilingual dictionaries and encyclopedias.  

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Business, Government and Law, Health and Medicine, Biography, United States History, World History, Performing Arts, Music, Philosophy, Science, Dictionaries, Homework Help, Encyclopedias, Religion, African American Studies, American Studies, Asian Studies, Gay and Lesbian Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies, Native American Studies, Women's Studies, Economics, Education, Geography, Psychology, Technology, History, Reference
<p>Credo is a vast, online reference library, providing access to the full text of hundreds of highly regarded and popular titles. And Credo brings the facts alive with images, sound files, animations, and much more. Find speedy, simple answers and authoritative, in-depth articles.</p> <p>Credo Reference contains dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopaedias, quotations and atlases, plus a wide range or subject-specific titles covering everything from accounting to zoology, via maps, math, management, martial arts, media studies, medicine, mountains, moons, music, multimedia, mythology.</p>
English

Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library)

Library Card Required

Gale eBooks (formerly Gale Virtual Reference Library) is an online library of reference titles for multi-disciplinary research, including texts related to American and world history, biography, health, arts, business, travel, religion, and multicultural studies. 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Business, Industry Surveys and Profiles, Imports and Exports, Jobs, International Business, Government and Law, Law, History, Biography, United States History, Language and Literature, Science, Reference, Homework Help, Encyclopedias, Social Sciences, Technology
English

Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society

Library Card Required

Covers a variety of contemporary debated subjects to explore different viewpoints and develop critical thinking skills.  Material is divided into an alphabetical list of subjects (Topics) and concepts divided into categories (Perspectives), supported with articles, images, speeches, and other documentation.  A good companion to Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center.  

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Government and Law, Health and Medicine, Science, Homework Help, Religion, African American Studies, American Studies, Gay and Lesbian Studies, Women's Studies, Criminology, Sociology, Political Science, Technology
English

JSTOR

Library Card Required

A searchable, digitized archive -- from the first date of publication to the last three to five years -- of major scholarly journals in many academic fields. 

Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to NYPL cardholders working from home, courtesy of JSTOR.

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Government and Law, History of Africa, Dance, Science, Magazines, Journals and Serials, Social Sciences, African American Studies, Economics, Political Science, Technology, History, Art
<p>Subject coverage includes Asian studies, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, philosophy, political science, population studies, science, and sociology.</p>
English

New York Times (1851-2020) w/ Index

On-Site Access Only

Searchable full-text and page images from The New York Times archive with the option to search by subject headings (index covers 1851-1993). 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Business, Government and Law, History, Genealogy, New York City History, United States History, Performing Arts, Reference, Magazines, Journals and Serials, Historical Newspapers, U.S. Newspapers, American Studies, World History
English

Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

Library Card Required

The online version of the Oxford English Dictionary contains all work to date of the third edition, reflecting daily updates and revisions. Also includes the full-text of the second edition, and a historical thesaurus. 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Reference, Dictionaries
<p>Contains the complete text of the 20-volume Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition. The following information is provided for each word: etymology, definition, part of speech, date of origination, pronunciation, quotation, and cross-references.</p>
English

Oxford Reference Online

Library Card Required

Oxford Reference Online brings together language and subject reference works from one of the world's biggest reference publishers into a single cross-searchable resource.  Titles cover a wide range of humanities, social science, performing arts, and general reference subjects.  Dance publications include the International Encyclopedia of Dance and the Oxford Dictionary of Dance. Theatre publications include The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance and The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Government and Law, History, United States History, World History, Performing Arts, Dance, Philosophy, Reference, Books and Libraries, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Religion, Social Sciences, Area and Cultural Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Technology
English

PowerSearch (Gale)

Library Card Required

This resource searches across all of the Gale databases to which NYPL subscribes, including Academic One File, General One File, and Infotrac Newsstand. 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Business, Health and Medicine, History, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Science, Reference, Homework Help, Magazines, Journals and Serials, Manuscripts and Rare Books, Historical Newspapers, International Newspapers, U.S. Newspapers, Religion, Social Sciences, Area and Cultural Studies, American Studies, Economics, Education, Political Science, Technology
English

Project Muse

Library Card Required

Provides full-text access to over 500 peer-reviewed scholarly journals and top quality book-length scholarship in the humanities and social sciences.  

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Government and Law, Health and Medicine, History, History of Africa, Language and Literature, Performing Arts, Dance, Music, Philosophy, Science, Religion, Social Sciences, Area and Cultural Studies, African American Studies, American Studies, Women's Studies, Political Science
English

ProQuest Research Library

Library Card Required

Provides articles from periodicals covering arts, business, children, education, health, humanities, law, multicultural studies, sciences, social sciences, and general interest. Full text is available for nearly two-thirds of its titles. 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Business, Government and Law, History, Performing Arts, Philosophy, Science, Magazines, Journals and Serials, U.S. Newspapers, Religion, Area and Cultural Studies, African American Studies, American Studies, Gay and Lesbian Studies, Jewish Studies, Women's Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Technology
<p>ProQuest Research Library contains articles from over 2600 newspapers and periodicals covering the arts, business, humanities, health, social sciences, sciences. Of those journals approximately 1700 are available with the full text and/or image.</p>
English

World Book Online Reference Center

Library Card Required

Comprehensive access to encyclopedia articles, web links, periodical articles, animations, maps and more.

 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
History, Homework Help, Encyclopedias
<p>World Book Online, from the publishers of the World Book Encyclopedia, provides access over 31,000 encyclopedia articles, 6,000 web links, 25,000 periodical articles, 800 animations and sounds, 400 interactive maps, 100 3-D bubble views, and much more.</p>
English

WorldCat -- OCLC

Library Card Required

Search for materials held in libraries around the world. Contains all records cataloged by OCLC member libraries and includes records representing 400 languages. 

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All Branch LibrariesSchomburg Center for Research in Black CultureStephen A. Schwarzman BuildingThe New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThomas Yoseloff Business Center
Reference, Books and Libraries
English