All databases can be accessed within the library, and most can be used from home 24/7.
For remote use, you will need a valid MPLD library card; click on the name of the database and enter your library card number.
Database Vendor Accessibility and Privacy Documents
Search by Alphabetical Listing of all Databases
Search by Subject:
Arts & Music
Biography & Genealogy
Books & Literature
Business & Investing
Careers & Employment
Cars & Consumer Information
Demographics - Business, Residential and Phone Numbers
Encyclopedias & Almanacs
Health & Wellness
History & Geography
Languages
Learning Resources
Magazines & Newspapers
Science & Technology
Social Issues
Arts & Music
BIR Entertainment | Find music or videos featuring a favorite artist or performer, or a specific genre. Currently information about 450,000 music titles and 200,000 DVD/video titles.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Biography & Genealogy
American History Online | Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history covering the American experience. One of Infobase Learning's History databases to assist educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage.
Ancestry.com Library Edition™ | (IN LIBRARY ONLY) Complete U. S. Census records for 1790-1940, including military records, court, land and probate records, vital and church records, directories, passenger lists and more.
Bloom's Literary Reference Online | Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature.
Modern World History Online | People, places, and events in the broad expanse of history—from the mid-15th century to the present.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Books & Literature
Book Index with Reviews | Provides information on more than 5 million book titles in a wide range of formats, and also contains 800,000 full-text searchable book reviews from sources like Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and others.
Bloom's Literary Reference Online | Examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature.
First Search | All topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Inkie.org | a suite of resources - available to everyone in Illinois at no charge - that supports local authors with online creation and publishing tools and allows readers to access locally-produced content.
NoveList K-8 Plus | A comprehensive reading resource for fiction and nonfiction with a fun and intuitive interface for younger readers.
NoveList Plus | A comprehensive reading resource for adult readers for fiction and nonfiction.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Business & Investing
AtoZdatabases | The premier reference, research, marketing, mailing lists/sales leads, and job search resource.
FinancialFit | includes a curated collection of personal finance lessons to guide learners in making life’s biggest financial decisions. FinancialFit features a bright, modern design and easy-to-identify content categories. The content is personalized to each user’s interests and assumes no prior financial knowledge.
Gale Business: Plan Builder | Step-by-step online planning tool for starting, managing and optimizing a business or nonprofit. The program’s intuitive dashboard walks users through five areas of exploration to develop a business plan focused on long-term success.
Illinois Public Records | Public records for Chicago area real estate transactions, mortgages, foreclosures. Sort by name, city, zip code. From home: Click on this remote link.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Legal GPS | Learn the steps of how to start your own small business with Legal GPS, an interactive tool to help those who are new to the business world.
Value Line | Comprehensive, investment research tool used by individuals and professionals to conduct basic research, formulate investment strategies, identify opportunities and make investment decisions.
Recommended Sites- Business
Biznar: Deep Web Business Search | scans all kinds of resources, including periodicals, government resources, news sources, and social networks.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Careers & Employment
AtoZdatabases | The premier reference, research, marketing, mailing lists/sales leads, and job search resource.
Ferguson's Career Guidance Center | Provides profiles of nearly 3,400 jobs and 94 industries, invaluable advice on career skills, thousands of resource entries, and more!
Inkie.org | a suite of resources - available to everyone in Illinois at no charge - that supports local authors with online creation and publishing tools and allows readers to access locally-produced content.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and eAudiobooks.
Car & Consumer Information
Consumer Reports | Provides ratings, reviews, recommendations and buying advice for cars, appliances, electronics, home and garden, baby products, and more.
Small Engine Repair Reference Center | Step-by-step maintenance and repair procedures for hundreds of small engine machines and their components
Weiss Ratings Medigap Report | A customized guide to help you choose the best, and most affordable, Medicare supplement insurance. Includes ratings of insurance carriers, plans and premiums, based on gender, age and zip code.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Demographics -- Business, Residential, Phone and Demographic Data
AtoZdatabases | The premier reference, research, marketing, mailing lists/sales leads, and job search resource.
Encyclopedias & Almanacs
Access Video on Demand: Just for Kids | Features books and stories brought to life, resources for early learners, exploring our world, homework help, TV shows, and all about nature, all from well-known and respected producers like Sesame Street, Reading Rainbow and PBS.
Culturegrams | Want to know more about the world’s people? Start here! Learn about each country’s history, customs, government, and general attitudes. Listen to the national anthem, view photos, and try recipes. Read interviews in which people from around the world describe their challenges, ambitions, and everyday. From home: Click on this remote link.
Encyclopedia Britannica | Full-text articles from the complete encyclopedia. This is the library edition. From home: Click on this remote link.
Facts on File Reference Suite | Brings together six different reference resources: American History Online, Modern World History Online, Ferguson's Career Guidance Center, Science Online, World News Digest, and Issues and Controversies on File
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Scholastic Go! | Contains three encyclopedia databases: The New Book of Knowledge, The New Book of Popular Science, and Amazing Animals. From home: Click on this remote link . Enter your library card number for the user name; no password is needed.
Science Online | Presents a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive essays, videos, diagrams, definitions, biographies, and experiments.
World Almanac for Kids Elementary | Features a variety of topics to research, videos, games, projects and much more. This is a great first research resource, perfect for younger elementary students.
World News Digest | Brings together and enhances more than seven decades of news from the renowned Facts On File World News Digest in print.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Health & Wellness
Materials contained in these resources are intended for informational purposes only.
First Search | All topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Health Reference Center | Gives clear and comprehensive information on conditions and diseases, health and wellness, mental health, and the human body.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Weiss Ratings Medigap Report | A customized guide to help you choose the best, and most affordable, Medicare supplement insurance. Includes ratings of insurance carriers, plans and premiums, based on gender, age and zip code.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
History & Geography
Culturegrams | Learn about each country’s history, customs, government, and general attitudes. Listen to the national anthem, view photos, and try recipes. Read interviews in which people from around the world describe their challenges, ambitions, and everyday lives. From home: Click on this remote link.
History Databases from Infobase Learning -- Assists educators and students in their research needs. Fully revised, cross-searchable, citable and seamlessly integrated for complete history coverage:
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African American History | A comprehensive examination of more than five centuries of the African-American experience.
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American History Online | Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history covering the American experience.
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American Indian History Online | 15,000 years of American Indian history and culture.
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Ancient and Medieval History Online | An extensive exploration of world history, from pre-history through the 1500s.
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Modern World History Online | Covers the people, places, and events in the broad expanse of history—from the mid-15th century to the present.
World News Digest | Brings together and enhances more than seven decades of news from the renowned Facts On File World News Digest in print.
Recommended Websites - History
Making of America | is a collaborative endeavor among libraries, pricipally the University of Michigan Library and the Cornell University Library. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
NYPL Digital Gallery | More than 700,000 digitized images from the New York Public Library, including historical documents, photographs, art pieces, and maps are featured.
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Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Languages
Mango Languages| Includes Spanish, French, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and Japanese and ESL courses for those learning English and a translation tool for written text. Create a Mango account to keep track of your progress in the lessons.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Learning Resources
LearningExpress Library | An easy-to-use e-learning platform featuring online tutorials, practice tests and e-books to help you achieve your educational and professional goals. In addition to helping you improve your skills in reading, writing, math and basic science
Niche Academy | An easy-to-use database that allows patrons to access a variety of tutorials covering library resources and materials in addition to tutorials on how to become more familiar with different software and technology tools. Some of the more popular tutorials are Excel, Word, Ancestry, and Windows 10.
Recommended Websites - Learning
GCFLearnFree.org | the GCFLearnFree.org program has helped millions around the world learn the essential skills they need to live and work in the 21st century. From Microsoft Office and email to reading, math, and more, GCFLearnFree.org offers more than 180 topics, including more than 2,000 lessons, 800+ videos, and 55+ interactives and games, completely free.
Check the Events Calendar for related programs.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Magazines & Newspapers
The McHenry Public Library subscribes to approximately 400 magazines and newspapers in the Adult and Young People Services areas combined. Search our Online Catalog to find an individual title. Choose "Advanced Search", then "Title” from the drop-down menu. Type the name of the periodical in the search field and choose "Magazine or Journal" from the Format menu. Click Search
Chicago Sun-Times | Explore Chicago history through local news, events, and people with the Chicago-Sun Times collection. Search current and archived issues with full-color newspaper pages, full-text articles and content only published online. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.
First Search | All topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Gale General OneFile | A general interest database that integrates a variety of sources in one easy-to-use interface. Use General Reference Center Gold to find articles from newspapers, reference books, and periodicals, many with full-text and images. Find the latest current events, popular culture, business and industry coverage, the arts and sciences, sports, hobbies, and more.
Magazines on OverDrive | Choose from thousands of magazines, many of them popular, through OverDrive or OverDrive's easy-to-use Libby app. Online magazines are available FREE to McHenry Public Library cardholders. Perfect for tablet, iPad, computer or Wi-Fi enabled devices. Download some and take them on vacation or just read at your leisure. After you click on the link to the left, go to Collections, then Magazines.
Newsbank | 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.
Newspapers.com Library Edition | Newspapers.com Library Edition is an extensive online database of 3,000+ historical newspapers from the early 1700s into the early 2000s. Distributed by ProQuest, it contains a diverse blend of well-known regional and local newspapers in Illinois. From home: Click on this remote link
Northwest Herald Collection | Explore McHenry County history through local news, events, and people with the Northwest Herald Collection. Search current and archived issues with full-color newspaper pages, full-text articles and content only published online. Also available remotely 24/7 on any device.
World News Digest | All major political, social, and economic events since November 1940.
Science & Technology
First Search | Research on all topics. Search for books, music, movies as well as full-text articles from magazines, medical journals, and government publications. Includes 16 different databases. From home: Click on this remote link.
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
Science Online | Presents a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive essays, videos, diagrams, definitions, biographies, and experiments.
Small Engine Repair Reference Center | A full-text database that provides step-by-step maintenance and repair procedures for hundreds of small engine machines and their components.
Recommended Sites - Science Websites
BASE - Bielefeld Academic Search Engine | sponsored by the Bielefeld University Library in Germany, selected resources that meet academic quality standards including more than 30 million documents in several languages.
Directory of Open Access Journals | A database searchable by keywords, offers access to full-text articles from online scholarly publications covering all subjects, favoring research and scientific publications.
Plants Database | Sponsored by the US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, this database covers anything to do with plants. Search by common or scientific name, characteristics or region.
Scitation | Scitation offers online access to a robust collection of close to 1 million articles from leading physical sciences publications including journals, conference proceedings, standards, and magazines published by AIP Publishing and AIPP's publishing partners.
World Wide Science | This database is the product of an alliance among international scientific institutions and is operated by the US Department of Energy. Includes conference papers, articles, and other documents not readily found on the surface web.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
Social Issues
Issues and Controversies | Explores hundreds of hot topics in politics, government, business, society, education, and popular culture.
World News Digest | Brings together and enhances more than seven decades of news from the renowned Facts On File World News Digest in print
Recommended Sites - Social Issues
Social Science Research Network | Scholarly abstracts and full text papers in subject areas such as accounting and other business fields, music, philosophy, literature, and politics.
Search the McHenry Public Library Catalog.
Search Overdrive for eBooks and Audiobooks.
