Databases

Note: Databases with marked with a * are available to Boxborough cardholders and those with a ~ are available to Boxborough residents only. Other databases are made available to all MA residents by MBLC (Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners). 

Art and Music | Business, Investing, and Job Searching | Continued Learning | Crafts | Cross Discipline and Encyclopedias | Diversity and Gender Issues | Ebooks | Education | Environmental Studies | Film and Television | Genealogy | Government, Law and Criminal Justice | History and Biography | Home and Gardens | Information Science | K-12: Resources for Kids | Literature Review and Critic | Medical Science and Nursing | News and Current Events | Nutrition and Cooking | Product Reviews | Psychology | Physics | Religion and Philosophy | Science | Travel

Art and Music

~Classica: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. Watch beautiful classical music, operas, and ballets from around the world, anywhere, anytime. Delight in masterful performances on your favorite devices. Instructions on how to access Classica through Libby can be found on our help page.

~Craftsy: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. A service that offers crafting videos, tutorials and additional resources for creative makers. Use their tailored project kits, step-by-step expert instruction, and timely lessons to create crafts from sewing and quilting, to baking, art, and more. Instructions on how to access Craftsy through Libby can be found on our help page.

*Creativebug: Access thousands of online arts and crafts classes, tutorials, and projects, such as sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, drawing, and much more. Most classes include both step-by-step instructions you can read and demonstration videos.

Fine Arts (Gale OneFile): This collection provides access to scholarly journals and magazines that support research in areas including drama, music, art history, and filmmaking. The database emphasizes full-text content for publications included in the Wilson Art Index and RILM bibliography.

*Freegal Music: Offers access to over 16 million songs, including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists. In total the collection is comprised of music from over 93,000+ labels with music that originates in over 100 countries.

~Qello Concerts: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. Stream the world's largest collection of on-demand full-length music performances, concert films, and music documentaries. Qello Concerts transforms your connected devices into the ultimate live music concert film experience. Instructions on how to access Qello Concerts through Libby can be found on our help page.

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Business, Investing, and Job Searching

Business (Gale OneFile): A comprehensive business resource for the undergraduate researcher seeking company news, the public library patron making personal investment decisions, or the high school student looking to major in business administration. Provides full-text coverage of all business disciplines including accounting, economics, finance, marketing, management, and strategy, as well as business theory and practice.

Communications and Mass Media (Gale OneFile): Includes journal articles on all aspects of the communications field, including advertising, public relations, linguistics, and literature.

Leadership and Management (Gale OneFile): Provides access to authoritative periodical content covering topics such as 21st-century skills, organizational dynamics and leadership, adult learning and continuing education, and more. Updated daily, this library resource is useful for researchers or any professional interested in career development.

*Morningstar Investing Center: The Morningstar Investing Center is an online investment database with information on more than 30,000 stocks, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds.

Peterson's Career Prep (Gale Presents): This robust resource provides users access to core career tools and includes features for improved usability. These features include: Personalized career assessments focused on a user’s interests, values, personality, and workplace preferences. Comprehensive career information including videos, articles, best practices, and downloadable worksheets. Job searching capabilities via integration with Indeed.com that matches listing based on a user’s assessment results resume editing software powered by VisualCV. Resume Creator that provides 5,000 resume templates and cover letter samples.

Vocations and Careers (Gale OneFile): Provides content from general career guides to highly specialized industry journals.

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Continued Learning

~Great Courses Library Collection: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. Take courses and watch lectures on history, health, science, language arts, and much more from college professors from around the world. Instructions on how to access Great Courses through Libby can be found on our help page.

*Mango Languages: Mango is an online language learning system that makes learning a new language fast, easy and incredibly effective. This resource is made possible by the Sargent Memorial Library Foundation. The Library's subscription to Mango Languages will cease at the beginning of January 2025. If you are looking for other language learning services, please visit Transparent Languages for Libraries.

Peterson's Test Prep (Gale Presents): An online tool library patrons and students of all ages can use for standardized test preparation, researching and selecting college and graduate schools, finding tuition assistance, and exploring careers.

Transparent Language for Libraries: Language learners can build vocabulary, practice skills, and maintain what they have learned with Transparent Language Online, available anytime, anywhere in 110+ languages.

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Crafts

~Craftsy: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. A service that offers crafting videos, tutorials and additional resources for creative makers. Use their tailored project kits, step-by-step expert instruction, and timely lessons to create crafts from sewing and quilting, to baking, art, and more. Instructions on how to access Craftsy through Libby can be found on our help page.

*Creativebug: Access thousands of online arts and crafts classes, tutorials, and projects, such as sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, drawing, and much more. Most classes include both step-by-step instructions you can read and demonstration videos.

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Cross Discipline and Encyclopedias

Academic OneFile (Gale): Provides millions of articles from over 17,000 scholarly journals and other authoritative sources—including thousands of podcasts and transcripts from NPR and CNN as well as videos from BBC Worldwide Learning.

Academic OneFile Select (Gale): Covers everything from art and literature to economics and the sciences. This resource for academic research integrates the full text of publications from across the disciplines and now includes vocational/technical titles used by community college students, filling a specific need for curriculum-oriented collections.

Britannica Library Suite: Access the Britannica Encyclopedia collection 24/7. Discover encyclopedia articles, multimedia, primary sources, e-books, and other learning resources that support student research and reinforce curriculum standards.

• Britannica Fundamentals - Learning Zone
• Reference Center
  
• Children
• Young Adults
• School Edition (K-12)
• Elementary School Edition
• Middle School Edition
• High School Edition
• Spanish Edition: Escolar (K-8)
• Spanish Edition: Elementary
• Spanish Edition: Middle
• Britannica Moderna

*Culturegrams: A reference resource for reliable cultural information on the countries of the world. The database includes information on more than 200 countries, detailing daily life and culture, including history, customs and lifestyles. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, each concise, reliable and up-to-date report is written and reviewed by local experts to provide users with unique, intimate cultural details from a real insider’s perspective.

If you are logging in within the Library or from an Acton-Boxborough school, please click here to access Culturegrams through IP authentication.

Elementary (Gale In Context): For students in Kindergarten through Grade 5. Reference content for information on current events, the arts, science, health, people, government, history, sports and more.

Gale - Full Suite: This link will take you to all of the Gale resources available to Massachusetts residents. This page does NOT include any of the resources purchased specifically for Boxborough residents (which are paid for by the Sargent Memorial Library Foundation).

General OneFile (Gale): A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics

High School Edition (Gale OneFile): Designed for middle- and high-school students and provides access to age-appropriate, authoritative digital content for classroom assignments. Learners can research magazines, journals, newspapers, and reference books covering a wide range of subjects, from science, history, and literature to political science, sports, and environmental studies.

Middle School (Gale In Context): This is a reference tool for Junior high and middle school (grades 6-8) students on information of current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more.

Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context): a premier online resource offering  viewpoints, reference articles, infographics, news, images, video, audio, and more on the hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. This cross-curricular resource supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Informed, differing views help learners develop critical-thinking skills and draw their own conclusions.

Pop Culture Studies (Gale OneFile): Provides access to scholarly journals and magazines that both analyze and contribute to popular culture. The database offers useful information for researchers in social science, history, art or liberal arts courses.

Popular Magazines (Gale OneFile): Provides access to the most searched magazines across the InfoTrac products. All of the titles are selected based on actual publication searches performed by library patrons and the database includes many titles recommended by Bowker's Magazines for Libraries.

Power Search (Gale): Provides a collection of periodicals, scholarly journals, newspapers, and reference content.

PowerSearch - Publication Search (Gale): Search through Gale PowerSearch by publications.

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Diversity and Gender Studies

Diversity Studies (Gale OneFile): This database has a collection of scholarly journals and magazines that explore cultural differences, contributions, and influences in the global community. The database is a must-have for social science, history and liberal arts coursework.

Gender Studies (Gale OneFile): The database provides balanced coverage of this significant aspect of culture and society. The database offers access to scholarly journals and magazines covering topics including gender studies, family and marital issues, and more.

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Ebooks

*Freading: Over 30,000 titles from hundreds of internationally known publishers with more being added each day. No holds are needed for any of the books. If the title is in the collection, a user can borrow it immediately.

*Hoopla: Instantly stream movies, TV shows and music. Borrow ebooks, comics, and audiobooks without any wait. Choose from hundreds of thousands of titles and access the materials immediately or download them to phones or tablets for later. Users are able to borrow up to 10 items per month.

Libby: A free app created by Overdrive which offers a large collection of eBooks, audiobooks, videos and magazines for borrowing. You can download the app onto your mobile device or tablet. Download materials onto the app itself or send to your Kindle eReader. You can borrow up to 10 items and place up to 10 items on hold. Magazines require no hold and can be downloaded at any time.

Overdrive: Offers a large collection of eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, and videos for borrowing. Download the items onto the Libby app, or send it to your Kindle eReader. You can borrow up to 10 items and place up to 10 items on hold. Magazines require no hold and can be downloaded at any time.

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Education

*Culturegrams: A reference resource for reliable cultural information on the countries of the world. The database includes information on more than 200 countries, detailing daily life and culture, including history, customs and lifestyles. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, each concise, reliable and up-to-date report is written and reviewed by local experts to provide users with unique, intimate cultural details from a real insider’s perspective.

If you are logging in within the Library or from an Acton-Boxborough school, please click here to access Culturegrams through IP authentication.

~Great Courses Library Collection: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. Take courses and watch lectures on history, health, science, language arts, and much more from college professors from around the world. Instructions on how to access Great Courses through Libby can be found on our help page.

*Mango Languages: Mango is an online language learning system that makes learning a new language fast, easy and incredibly effective. This resource is made possible by the Sargent Memorial Library Foundation. The Library's subscription to Mango Languages will cease at the beginning of January 2025. If you are looking for other language learning services, please visit Transparent Languages for Libraries.

PebbleGo: A curricular content hub specifically designed for K-2 students. Packed with informational articles, ready-made activities, and literacy supports for students of all abilities, it boosts engagement and fosters independent learning in core subject areas. 

Peterson's Test Prep (Gale Presents): An online tool library patrons and students of all ages can use for standardized test preparation, researching and selecting college and graduate schools, finding tuition assistance, and exploring careers.

*Teachables: Provides tens of thousands of searchable and printable educational materials. The ready-to-use resources offer teachers reliable, authentic, and proven classroom materials.

Transparent Language for Libraries: Language learners can build vocabulary, practice skills, and maintain what they have learned with Transparent Language Online, available anytime, anywhere in 110+ languages.

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Environmental Studies

Environmental Studies (Gale In Context): Provides users with comprehensive information, empowering learners to critically analyze and understand important topics that affect people around the world. Explore topics and events within Earth systems, global change, pollution, populations, and more. 

Environmental Studies and Policy (Gale OneFile): Provides robust coverage of environmental issues and policies.

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Film and Television

*Hoopla: Instantly stream movies, TV shows and music. Borrow ebooks, comics, and audiobooks without any wait. Choose from hundreds of thousands of titles and access the materials immediately or download them to phones or tablets for later. Users are able to borrow up to 12 items per month.

~IndieFlix: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. Stream classic and contemporary features, award-winning shorts, film festival favorites and documentaries from around the world. Explore thought-provoking, well-known, and undiscovered content. Instructions on how to access IndieFlix through Libby can be found on our help page.

*Kanopy: Offers on-demand streaming of over 30,000 award-winning films and documentaries. Borrow a movie and watch it as many times as you wish for 72 hours. Users are able to borrow up to 10 movies per month.

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Genealogy

HeritageQuest: A comprehensive treasury of American genealogical sources rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, and finding aids with coverage dating back to the 1700's.

Massachusetts Vital Records: 1620-1850, by New England Historical Genealogical Society. A searchable database containing resident records of New England Town's from 1620 to 1850.

*MyHeritage Library Edition: MyHeritage Library Edition is one of the largest, most internationally diverse genealogy databases of its kind. Libraries that offer MyHeritage Library Edition provide their patrons with access to billions of historical documents, millions of historical photos and other resources in thousands of databases that span the past five centuries. Remote access and a mobile-friendly interface make it the most convenient genealogy product for libraries and institutions.

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Government, Law, and Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice (Gale OneFile): Access 150 journals on criminal justice and related fields. Key subjects covered in the database include law, law enforcement, security, and terrorism.

Gale LegalForms - Mass: Thousands of legal forms available with more forms being added daily. Official, State Specific, Federal, Business, Personal, Real Estate and General forms covering hundreds of legal subjects and issues.

Global Issues (Gale In Context): Offers international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics and current events.

Insurance and Liability (Gale OneFile): This collection provides access to academic journals and trade publications covering the insurance industry and topics such as labor relations, mortgage banking, legal issues, and more. The database offers content of interest to individual property owners and multinational corporations alike.

Military and Intelligence (Gale OneFile): Provide military personnel with access to scholarly journals, magazines, and reports covering all aspects of the past and present military affairs. Updated annually, this library resource contains hand-selected content supporting key subject areas such as, governmental policies, the socioeconomic effects of war, the structure of the armed forces, and more.

War and Terrorism (Gale OneFile): Provides access to academic journals and magazines of interest to analysts, risk management professionals, and students of military science, history, and social science. The database offers balanced coverage of both historic and contemporary topics in the fields of war and terrorism.

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History and Biography

Biography (Gale In Context): Find more than 600,000 biographical entries on more than 528,000 individuals spanning history and geography.

Digital Commonwealth: An online library of photographs, manuscripts, audio recordings, and other materials of historical interest from libraries, museums and archives across Massachusetts.

*Teachables: Provides tens of thousands of searchable and printable educational materials. The ready-to-use resources offer teachers reliable, authentic, and proven classroom materials.

U.S. History (Gale In Context): Contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in US history.

War and Terrorism (Gale OneFile): Provides access to academic journals and magazines of interest to analysts, risk management professionals, and students of military science, history, and social science. The database offers balanced coverage of both historic and contemporary topics in the fields of war and terrorism.

World History (Gale In Context): This collection is an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events and topics in World History. The new solution merges Gale's authoritative reference content with full-text magazines, academic journals, news articles, primary source documents, images, videos, audio files and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience.

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Home and Gardens

Agriculture (Gale OneFile): This collection provides a comprehensive view of a growing body of knowledge. Researchers will have access to current and authoritative periodical content that spans the industry—from practical aspects of farming to cutting-edge scientific research in horticulture.

~Craftsy: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. A service that offers crafting videos, tutorials and additional resources for creative makers. Use their tailored project kits, step-by-step expert instruction, and timely lessons to create crafts from sewing and quilting, to baking, art, and more. Instructions on how to access Craftsy through Libby can be found on our help page.

*Creativebug: Access thousands of online arts and crafts classes, tutorials, and projects, such as sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, drawing, and much more. Most classes include both step-by-step instructions you can read and demonstration videos.

Gardening, Landscaping and Horticulture (Gale OneFile): A collection of nearly 50 journals focused specifically on key issues in gardening, landscaping other areas of horticulture.

Home Improvement (Gale OneFile): Titles in the database covering topics including architectural techniques, tool and material selection, zoning requirements, and others. The database offers content that meets the needs of hobbyists and professionals alike.

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Information Science

Information Science (Gale OneFile): This collection provides access to scholarly journals and trade publications essential for information professionals and other knowledge workers. The database offers coverage of topics including information infrastructure, metadata architecture, publishing, and more.

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K-12: Resources for Kids

Britannica Library Suite: Access the Britannica Encyclopedia collection 24/7. Discover encyclopedia articles, multimedia, primary sources, e-books, and other learning resources that support student research and reinforce curriculum standards.

• Britannica Fundamentals - Learning Zone
• Reference Center
• Children
• Young Adults
• School Edition (K-12)
• Elementary School Edition
• Middle School Edition
• High School Edition
• Spanish Edition: Escolar (K-8)
• Spanish Edition: Elementary
• Spanish Edition: Middle
• Britannica Moderna

*Culturegrams: A reference resource for reliable cultural information on the countries of the world. The database includes information on more than 200 countries, detailing daily life and culture, including history, customs and lifestyles. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, each concise, reliable and up-to-date report is written and reviewed by local experts to provide users with unique, intimate cultural details from a real insider’s perspective.

If you are logging in within the Library or from an Acton-Boxborough school, please click here to access Culturegrams through IP authentication.

Elementary (Gale In Context): For students in Kindergarten through Grade 5. Reference content for information on current events, the arts, science, health, people, government, history, sports and more.

High School Edition (Gale OneFile): Designed for middle- and high-school students and provides access to age-appropriate, authoritative digital content for classroom assignments. Learners can research magazines, journals, newspapers, and reference books covering a wide range of subjects, from science, history, and literature to political science, sports, and environmental studies.

Middle School (Gale In Context): This is a reference tool for Junior high and middle school (grades 6-8) students on information of current events, the arts, science, popular culture, health, people, government, history, sports and more.

Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context): A premier online resource offering  viewpoints, reference articles, infographics, news, images, video, audio, and more on the hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. This cross-curricular resource supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Informed, differing views help learners develop critical-thinking skills and draw their own conclusions.

PebbleGo: A curricular content hub specifically designed for K-2 students. Packed with informational articles, ready-made activities, and literacy supports for students of all abilities, it boosts engagement and fosters independent learning in core subject areas. 

*Teachables: Provides tens of thousands of searchable and printable educational materials. The ready-to-use resources offer teachers reliable, authentic, and proven classroom materials.

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Literature Review and Criticism

*BookBrowse: Discover your next great read with BookBrowse. Login with your library card number to find reviews, recommendations, read-alikes, books by theme, author bios and interviews, resources for book clubs, and more. 

Literature Resource Center: Find biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on nearly 120,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world. This database can also be accessed and cross-searched with Gale Artemis Literary Sources.

NoveList Plus: Has all your reading answers. Find books that match your interests, read-alikes for your favorite titles and authors, or ready-made book lists on your favorite genres.

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Medical Science and Nursing

Health and Wellness (Gale): This database offers access to thousands of full-text medical journals, magazines, reference works, multimedia, and more. Perfect for researchers at all levels, this comprehensive consumer health resource provides authoritative information on the full range of health-related issues, from current disease and disorder information to in-depth coverage of alternative medical practices, and more.

Health and Medicine (Gale OneFile): Up-to-date information on the complete range of health care topics. With more than 2,500 embargo-free, full-text periodicals, reference books, pamphlets, and hundreds of videos demonstrating medical procedures and live surgeries

Nursing and Allied Health (Gale OneFile): Designed for professionals and students. All aspects of the nursing profession are covered.

Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine (Gale OneFile): Both researcher and practitioner alike will find relevant, authoritative content in this collection, which includes over 100 titles covering the fields of physical therapy and sports medicine.

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News and Current Events

Boston Globe Article Archive: Get full text of Boston Globe from 1980 to present.

Communications and Mass Media (Gale OneFile): Includes journal articles on all aspects of the communications field, including advertising, public relations, linguistics, and literature.

General OneFile (Gale): A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics.

Global Issues (Gale In Context): Offers international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics and current events.

New York Times Article Archive: Search the full-text of the New York Times (starting in 1985).

News (Gale OneFile): Provides access to more than 2,300 major U.S. regional, national, and local newspapers, as well as leading titles from around the world. It also includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts.

Opposing Viewpoints (Gale In Context): a premier online resource offering  viewpoints, reference articles, infographics, news, images, video, audio, and more on the hottest social issues, from capital punishment to immigration to marijuana. This cross-curricular resource supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts classes. Informed, differing views help learners develop critical-thinking skills and draw their own conclusions.

Pop Culture Studies (Gale OneFile): Provides access to scholarly journals and magazines that both analyze and contribute to popular culture. The database offers useful information for researchers in social science, history, art or liberal arts courses.

Popular Magazines (Gale OneFile): Provides access to the most searched magazines across the InfoTrac products. All of the titles are selected based on actual publication searches performed by library patrons and the database includes many titles recommended by Bowker's Magazines for Libraries.

War and Terrorism (Gale OneFile): Provides access to academic journals and magazines of interest to analysts, risk management professionals, and students of military science, history, and social science. The database offers balanced coverage of both historic and contemporary topics in the fields of war and terrorism.

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Nutrition and Cooking

~Craftsy: Available through Overdrive's Libby app. A service that offers crafting videos, tutorials and additional resources for creative makers. Use their tailored project kits, step-by-step expert instruction, and timely lessons to create crafts from sewing and quilting, to baking, art, and more. Instructions on how to access Craftsy through Libby can be found on our help page.

*Creativebug: Access thousands of online arts and crafts classes, tutorials, and projects, such as sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, drawing, and much more. Most classes include both step-by-step instructions you can read and demonstration videos.

Culinary Arts (Gale OneFile): Access academic journals and magazines on all aspects of cooking and nutrition. The database includes thousands of searchable recipes, restaurant reviews, and industry information.

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Product Reviews

*Consumer Reports Online: Find unbiased, expert opinions, reviews, buying advice, product comparisons, user reviews and much more on over 5,000 products.

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Psychology

Psychology (Gale OneFile): Provides access to academic journals and magazines that cover the study of emotions, personality, and the human mind. The database offers content of interest to both researchers and general users.

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Physics

*American Physics Society (APS): APS Now provides readers and researchers in public libraries in the United States full use of all online APS journals, from the most recent articles back to the first issue in 1893, a collection including over 400,000 scientific research papers. IN LIBRARY USE ONLY.

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Religion and Philosophy

Religion and Philosophy (Gale OneFile): provides access to scholarly journals and magazines of interest to both researchers and general users. The database offers balanced content that covers topics across a wide range of philosophies and religions.

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Science

*American Physics Society (APS): APS Now provides readers and researchers in public libraries in the United States full use of all online APS journals, from the most recent articles back to the first issue in 1893, a collection including over 400,000 scientific research papers. IN LIBRARY USE ONLY.

Environmental Studies and Policy (Gale OneFile): Provides robust coverage of environmental issues and policies.

Science Database: This database is a definitive resource for students studying both the applied and general sciences with coverage dating back to 1986.

Science (Gale Interactive): A visual tool that helps instructors teach complex topics in biology, chemistry, human anatomy, and earth/space science. Interactive tools allow users to zoom, rotate, and explore 3D models to engage with science beyond static text.

Science (Gale In Context): Engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information on hundreds of today's most significant science topics.

*Teachables: Provides tens of thousands of searchable and printable educational materials. The ready-to-use resources offer teachers reliable, authentic, and proven classroom materials.

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Travel

*Culturegrams: A reference resource for reliable cultural information on the countries of the world. The database includes information on more than 200 countries, detailing daily life and culture, including history, customs and lifestyles. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, each concise, reliable and up-to-date report is written and reviewed by local experts to provide users with unique, intimate cultural details from a real insider’s perspective.

If you are logging in within the Library or from an Acton-Boxborough school, please click here to access Culturegrams through IP authentication.

Hospitality and Tourism (Gale OneFile): Provides well-rounded coverage of the both the historical and current state of affairs in the hospitality and tourism field.

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