Online Resources

A to Z Databases

Find contact information and more about 30 million business profiles & 220 million residents. Ideal for sales leads, mailing lists, market research, employment opportunities, finding friends and relatives, and more.

Academic Search Elite

Contains indexing for over 8,000 publications, many of them peer-reviewed journals. Full text is available for more than 4,450 of these titles in subjects such as biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, psychology, religion & theology, and more.

Access Newswires

A full-text collection of current and archived articles from key domestic newswires. Newswires often cover news that local papers do not, providing authoritative, award winning reporting on local, national and international people, issues and events. Access U.S. Newswires includes content from such leading newswires as the Associated Press, Scripps Howard News Services, McClatchy-Tribune Wire Service, Copley News Service, PR Newswire and Financial wire.

America's Obituaries and Death Notices

Easily search a collection of over 22 million recent records from hundreds of U.S. newspapers.

American Ancestors

The Library subscribes to this database from the New England Historic Genealogical Society. Stop in at the Reference Desk on the second floor for information on how to access this great resource. Inside Library use only.

American-French Genealogical Society

Located in Woonsocket, RI, the Society's library is a primary source for French Canadian research and it has a large selection of other local genealogical data.

America’s News

Search current and archived coverage of issues, events, people, government, sports and more with the largest collection of full-text U.S. newspapers. Includes staff-written articles, obituaries, editorials, announcements, real estate and other sections.

Ancestry - Library Edition

Discover your unique family history! This resource includes billions of records from around the world, including U.S., U.K., and Canadian census and vital records, immigration and passport records, periodicals and books, photos, and more. In-library use only.

Auto Repair Source

Auto Repair Source, formerly known as AutoMate, is a reference database that provides accurate, authoritative and up-to-date auto service and repair information. AutoMate features content from the original equipment manufacturers, including step-by-step repair procedures with supporting images, maintenance schedules, and diagnostic trouble codes so users can accurately diagnose, repair and maintain their vehicle.

Biography Reference Center

Biography Reference Bank is an essential full-text database for biographical research in any discipline, such as women’s studies, cultural studies, media studies and more.

Black Life In America

The experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media. This collection offers “suggested searches” to guide patrons and students to pertinent topics from social justice, politics, arts, literature, key people, etc.

Census Online

Free digitized census records, including some early RI records.

Consumer Health Complete

Covers all areas of health and wellness from mainstream medicine to complementary, holistic, and integrated medicine. This full text database covers topics such as aging, cancer, diabetes, drugs & alcohol, fitness, nutrition & dietetics, men’s & women's health, and children's health.

Cyndi's List of Genealogical Sites on the Internet - RI

A very comprehensive list of sites including cemeteries, military, newspapers, societies, churches and more.

Death Indexes

Online searchable death indexes and records listed by state and county. Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death notices and registers, obituaries, probate indexes and cemetery burial records.

Death Records Online

Online searchable death indexes for the US.

Digital Library of Historical Directories

Digital library of 18th, 19th and early 20th century local and trade directories for England and Wales.

EBSCO Host

These databases include Auto Repair, Magazine Index, Alternative Health, Pharmacology Database, a general Encyclopedia, an Animal Encyclopedia, Current Topic Search, NoveList Plus Reader's Advisory and much more.

If you would like to search just Consumer Reports, you can do so by logging in with your library card.

Ellis Island

Database for passenger arrivals into Ellis Island from 1892-1924.

Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos

Una base de datos informativa, interactiva y rica en medios en español.A media-rich, interactive, informational database in Spanish.

ERIC - Educational Resources Information Center

Provides access to education literature and resources included in the Current Index of Journals in Education and Resources in Education Index. Contains more than 1,243,000 records and links to more than 224,000 full-text documents from ERIC.

Explora Educator's Edition

Highlights content relevant to teachers, including lessons plans, curriculum standards, and other professional development resources.

Explora for Primary Schools

EBSCO's research database for students K-5 is the replacement for Searchasaurus and Kids Search and features colorful pictures and school subject categories for easy browsing.

Explora for Secondary Schools

Through Explora for Secondary Schools, users can easily pre-determine which content sources (e.g., Magazines, Newspapers, Biographies, Country Reports, Film & Video) will be included with their search. They can also search their databases by topic heading, make use of an online dictionary and encyclopedia, explore the top searches of the day, and even limit their search according to appropriate Lexile reading levels.

FamilySearch Internet Genealogy Service

Search the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints extensive archives.

Flipster

Flipster offers an easy, browse-able reading experience. Users can browse magazines by category as well as perform searches for specific periodicals. An online newsstand provides a carousel of the most recent issues, as well as a carousel of all issues allowing for quick access to magazines. The table of contents contains links for quick access to articles of interest and hotlinks within magazines are hyperlinked, opening in separate tabs when clicked. In addition, there is an option to zoom in and out for better readability.

MOBILE ACCESS: Look for Flipster in your device’s App store. Select Get Started then “AskRI – RI Office of Library And Information Services”. Tap “Enter Zip Code” and enter your zip code. We are still working on mobile access for individual libraries.

Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia

Provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries covering a variety of subject areas.

Genealogy Roots Blog

This blog is for finding online genealogy databases, records and resources, focusing on vital records, census, naturalization and military records and passenger lists.

Genealogy TODAY.com

"Serving genealogists since 199 with original articles from experienced genealogists and writers and a collection of unique search resources and databases.

GreenFile

Includes content on the environmental effects of individuals, corporations and local/national governments. Topics covered include global climate change, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, recycling and more.

Hispanic Life in America

Hispanic Life in America

The experience and impact of Hispanic Americans as recorded by the news media, 1704 to today.

Hispánica Saber - Gran Enciclopedia Hispánica

Una enciclopedia completa en español.A comprehensive encyclopedia in Spanish.

History Reference Center

A comprehensive full text history reference database. Features full text for more than 2,400 reference books, encyclopedias, and non-fiction books from leading history publishers as well as full text for more than 130 leading history periodicals. The database also contains more than 61,100 historical documents, 66,000 biographies of historical figures, 110,200 historical photos and maps and more than 80 hours of historical video.

hoopla

hoopla is a groundbreaking digital media service offered by your local public library that allows you to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, comics and TV shows to enjoy on your computer, tablet, or phone – and even your TV!

You can check out 6 items per month.

Learning Express Library

Whatever your goal, LearningExpress Library's resources will help you succeed. Each of our Learning Centers offers the practice tests, exercises, skill-building courses, eBooks, and information you need to achieve the results you want—at school, at work, or in life. Looking to land a job? You'll find an entire Learning Center dedicated to helping you get the one that's right for you.

User Guide

Library, Information Sciences & Technology Abstracts

Indexes more than 500 core journals, more than 50 priority journals, and 125 selective journals; plus books, research reports and proceedings. Subject coverage include librarianship, classification, cataloging, bibliometrics, online information retrieval, information management and more. Coverage extends as far back as the mid-1960s.

Literary Reference Center

Literary Reference Center (LRC) is a comprehensive literary reference database, which provides users with a broad spectrum of reference information from antiquity to the present day. It combines information from over 1,000 books and monographs, major literary encyclopedias and reference works, hundreds of literary journals, and unique sources not available anywhere else. LRC contains detailed information on the most studied authors and their works.

Mango Languages

Mango is an online language-learning system that can help you learn languages like Spanish, French, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Italian, Russian and more.

User Guide

MapGeo Cumberland

MapGeo provides local maps and data (e.g. parcel, zoning, flood, utility, permit, scanned plans) citizens and staff can quickly access current and accurate data. The provided maps answer questions and make key decisions—at home, at work or in the field.

MasterFILE Premier

Designed specifically for public libraries, this multidisciplinary database provides full text for nearly 1,700 general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1975. Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Premier also contains full text for nearly 500 reference books and over 164,400 primary source documents, as well as an Image Collection of over 502,000 photos, maps & flags. This database is updated daily via EBSCOhost.

MEDLINE

MEDLINE provides authoritative medical information on medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, the health care system, pre-clinical sciences, and much more. Created by the National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE uses MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) indexing with tree, tree hierarchy, subheadings and explosion capabilities to search citations from over 4,800 current biomedical journals.

National Archives

Online catalogs, brochures and guidelines for using the Archives and their holdings.

New England Historic Genealogical Society's American Ancestors

ONLY ACCESSIBLE IN THE LIBRARY - Search Vital Records, Cemetery and Military databases from throughout New England.

NoveList

Have you read everything by your favorite author? Use Author Read-alikes to locate other authors and titles of interest or search for fiction by topic. NoveList also includes full-text searchable book reviews, annotations, genre- and theme-based book lists, award lists, and book discussion guides.

Points of View Reference Center

Points of View Reference Center™ is a full-text database designed to provide students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides more than 280 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument), counterpoint (opposing argument), and Critical Thinking Guide.

Providence Journal

Find full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and much more from current and archived issues of The Providence Journal.

Full Text (1981 - Present)
Web Edition Articles (2016 - Present)

Rhode Island USGenWeb Genealogy and History Project

RI genealogy sources, articles, census data, query postings and much more.

Rootsweb.com

A free genealogy site that includes search engines, databases, genealogy guides, family trees and more.

Udemy

Udemy can help improve your career skills or further develop a personal interest with access to more than 4,000 continuously updated, on-demand video courses. Explore the many options across 75 categories in business, technology, design, and more taught by world-class instructors.

INSTRUCTIONS: Use your Ocean State Libraries library card barcode to create an account and access.

Valley Breeze

Find full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and much more from current and archived issues of The Valley Breeze. This includes all editions of the newspaper.

Woonsocket Call

Find full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and much more from current and archived issues of The Woonsocket Call.

World Book Advanced

An encyclopedia geared toward high school and college students, but an all purpose encyclopedia for anyone to look through.

World Book Discover

An instruction site for individuals with reading levels below grade level.

World Book Dramatic Learning

The plays on this site have been written to work in concert with accompanying lesson plans tied to state achievement benchmarks. They function as a catalyst to engage students in the adventure of learning, encouraging them to pursue further research and exploration long after their classroom experience is over.