General Information Sources

Combined search of 17 databases from Gale provided to all public libraries statewide by the Michigan e-Library (MeL), including Academic OneFile, Business & Company ASAP, Computer Database, Educators Reference Complete, General BusinessFile ASAP, General OneFile, Health Reference Center Academic, Informe, InfoTrac Custom Newspapers, LegalTrac, etc. Provides ability to limit searching to sets of full text articles in 24 different interdisciplinary subject areas, including Diversity Studies, Environmental Studies and Policy, Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, Pop Culture, War & Terrorism, etc. Also provides links to 8 additional Gale databases provided by MeL, including Business & Company Resource Center, Chilton Library, Health & Wellness Resource Center, etc.

Varies by database.

Access to 17 databases provided by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) using their FirstSearch interface, including:  WorldCat; ArticleFirst; Alternative Press Index; Anthropology Plus; Chicano Database; ERIC; GPO Monthly Catalog; Heritage of the Printed Book; History of Science, Technology and Medicine; Index to Nineteenth Century American Art Periodicals; MedLine; OAIster; SCIPIO; and World Almanacs.  Permits simultaneous searching of up to three databases at once.

Varies by database.

Access to 11 databases from NewsBank, Inc., including: Access World News [full text newspapers, 1990s-present]; AccessUN [index of United Nations documents, 1944-present]; Archive of Americana, combining America's Historical Newspapers with Early American Imprints, Series I. Evans (1639-1800) and Series II. Shaw-Shoemaker (1801-1819) [digitized American books 1639-1819]; Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports and Electronic Index [translated from foreign language news sources, 1974-1996]; Hispanic American Newspapers; and World Newspaper Archive, combining America's Historical Newspapers with Latin American Newspapers.

Varies by database.

Comprising hundreds of titles written during the 16th and 17th centuries, the DLCR will give researchers immediate, Web-based access to hundreds of hard-to-find works, including papal documents, synodal decrees, catechisms, confessors’ manuals, biblical commentaries, theological treatises, sacred drama, liturgical works, inquisitorial manuals, preaching guides, accounts of saints’ lives, and devotional works. Included are digital facsimiles and searchable full-text, in a variety of languages.

16th & 17th centuries

Includes links to the Advanced Papyrological Information System (APIS), an integrated virtual library of papyri held by U-M, Duke, Princeton, and Berkeley, plus digital facsimiles of papyri in the U-M collection, online exhibits, and more.

300 B.C. - 800 A.D.

Online interactive version (with linked citations, digital images, and full video and sound) of the Birds of North America, the definitive US scientific reference on the 700+ breeding birds of North America. First housed at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, BNA was initiated as an 18-volume print reference in the early 1990's under the guidance of the American Ornithologists Union and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Searchable by species, topic, or keyword. Each species account covers the life details, behaviors, migration information, maps of breeding and wintering ranges, all habitat descriptions, and conservation and management guidelines. All information is regularly updated with the latest research findings from the leading researchers for each species. Uses streaming RealPlayer for audio (bird songs and calls) and QuickTime for video.

Updated regularly.

Derived from the highly classic Oxford Dictionary of Music, this concise edition is a mine of information for lovers of music of all periods and styles. Providing thousands of entries on musical terms, works, composers, librettists, musicians, singers, and orchestras, the dictionary's coverage is exceptional, giving comprehensive work-lists for major composers, detailed entries on living composers and performers, important ballets and operas, as well as descriptions of musical instruments and their histories.

Current edition

The Oxford Dictionary of Dance offers wide coverage of dancers, choreographers, teachers, composers, technical terms, major works, important films, and organizations involved in the dance world. It embraces the new activity within traditional forms like ballet as well as the stream of new dance languages invented by fresh generations of choreographers and the many dance forms imported from the rest of the world. There is information on classical ballet, Spanish flamenco, Indian Bharata Natyam, Japanese Butoh, and jazz. The volume also covers post-modern dance, examining everything from Balanchine to recent practitioners of Eurocrash, minimalism, and contact improvisation. Ranging from the history of music to the changing design of the ballet shoe, this is a comprehensive dictionary compiled by two leading authorities on dance.

Current edition

Combined access to 50+ ProQuest databases, including full text journals, historical newspapers and corporate reports, and specialized indexes for many different fields, including:  Arts, Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, History, Humanities, Literature & Language, News & Current Events, Science, Social Sciences, and Dissertations & Theses.  Among the included databases:   ABI/INFORM, American Periodicals Series (APS), Environmental Science & Pollution Management, Ethnic NewsWatch, OxResearch, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, ProQuest Historical Annual Reports, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, ProQuest Research Library, ProQuest Technology Collection, and Zoological Record Plus.  Includes all databases from CSA (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts). 

Varies by database.

New web version of the most complete and authoritative dictionary of the English language. Provides definitions, history, and pronunciation of 600,000 words, past and present, from across the English-speaking world, with over 3 million quotations documenting how and when they have been used over time. Also incorporates the Historical Thesaurus of the OED, where words are arranged by their meaning rather than alphabetically.

Third Edition (in progress since 2000), with Second Edition (1989) entries (gradually being replaced).