Online Resources

Know what you are looking for? Use the search bar to find resources by name or descriptions, scan the listings in alphabetical order, or use filters to explore different subjects, formats, age groups and more.


Ancestry.com

A searchable collection of billions of historical records from the USA and other countries. Get access to census and military records, birth, marriage and death records, and immigration records. Available at public computers at all Brooklyn Public Library locations.

For remote access to U.S. Federal Census records, genealogical and historical sources for more than 60 countries, Census data, slave schedules, maps, local history books and articles, and more, please visit our HeritageQuest resource.

Only in library branches

Britannica Academic Edition

Britannica Academic provides up-to-date and easy access to high-quality, comprehensive information and is a gateway for further research for colleges, academic libraries and institutions.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Britannica Escolar

Britannica Escolar is the Spanish digital learning portal for Elementary and Middle school students. The updated content of Britannica Escolar is organized by grade levels to help improve student achievement, provide differentiated instruction, and maximize the use of technology in the classroom.

Britannica Escolar hace posible que los estudiantes completen sus trabajos escolares usando los más de 15.500 artículos de las enciclopedias y 15.000 recursos multimedia que incluyen imágenes, videos, audio y mapas detallados. Los estudiantes también pueden acceder a una gran variedad de herramientas útiles para el aprendizaje desarrolladas por especialistas en educación. Confíe en Britannica Escolar para inspirar e incentivar el aprendizaje y el descubrimiento en cualquier lugar usando cualquier dispositivo conectado a Internet.

 

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Britannica School

Britannica School is a safe, up-to-date, and age-appropriate information resource for Elementary, Middle, and High School. Discover encyclopedia articles, multimedia, primary sources, games, and other learning resources that support student research and reinforce curriculum standards.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Brooklyn Newsstand

Brooklyn Newsstand is a collection of digitized Brooklyn newspapers made possible through a partnership between Brooklyn Public Library and Newspapers.com.  

Brooklyn Newsstand (2,402,000 digitized pages) contains 44 newspaper titles-including the full run of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper (1841-1963) and Brooklyn Life (1890-1931), a Brooklyn Society Magazine. Learn more about the history of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

View the full list of newspapers and their date ranges.

This site is best viewed using Chrome or Safari. 

Free & accessible anywhere

Brooklyn Public Library Digital Collections

Discover Brooklyn history: Explore our collection of digitized Brooklyn content.

Free & accessible anywhere

EPOCH - Electronically Preserving Obituaries as Cultural Heritage

A website that allows anyone to create and publish a free obituary online and in the process involve the community in building their own collection of local history.

Free & accessible anywhere

Fire Insurance Maps Online (FIMO)

New York State high-definition, full-color fire insurance maps from Sanborn and other publishers, real estate atlases, plat books, and other historical maps showing building structures, building construction details, property ownership, property uses, and other useful information. The site has an Interactive map search, and Geo-referenced or search by place name and drop-down menus.

Library card required

Flipster

Get access to major magazines and journals to read on your smartphone, tablet, or PC. Check out Flipster's getting started guide here. To get the free Flipster app, search for "Flipster" in either Google Play or  Apple's App Store

Library card required

Gale Business: Entrepreneurship

Information on opening, operating, and growing a small business including financing, managing, marketing, and accounting; contains sample business plans. To learn more about using this resource, check out this video tutorial.

Library card required

Gale Business: Plan Builder

A step-by-step online planning tool for starting, managing and optimizing a business or nonprofit; the Gale Business: Plan Builder dashboard walks users through five areas of exploration to develop a business plan focused on long-term success.

Gale Business: Plan Builder requires each user to create a username and password. To set up your personal account, select “Visit the Resource” below, then “Get Started”, and then “First Time Here? Get Started." To learn more about using this resource, check out this video tutorial.

Library card required

Gale eBooks

24/7 access to reference ebooks. No checkout necessary. Titles can be browsed, searched, and downloaded anytime from any Internet-connected device. Topics include arts, business, education, history, law, literature, medicine, religion, science, and social science.

Library card required

globalEDGE

A knowledge web-portal that connects international business professionals to information, insights, and resources on global business activities, created by the International Business Center at Michigan State University.

 

Free & accessible anywhere

HeritageQuest

Genealogical tool that includes U.S. Federal Census records, genealogical and historical sources for more than 60 countries, Census data, slave schedules, maps, local history books and articles, Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant application files, and the Freedman's Bank Records 1865-1874.

Library card required

LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com)

LinkedIn Learning offers more than 16,000 online courses in seven languages, hosted by expert instructors with real-world experience. Courses on LinkedIn Learning include Leadership, Project Management, Mental Wellness, Job Hunting, Digital Marketing, Data Science, 3D Animation, and CAD.

For Mobile users: 
1. Download the LinkedIn Learning app from Google Play / App Store 
2. Open the app 
3. Select - "Sign In" 
4. Select "Sign in with your library card" 
5. You'll be prompted to "Enter your Library ID". Tap on the box and enter "bklynlibrary" (all lowercase, no quotation marks) 
6. Use your BPL library card number or username and PIN and click on "Continue". 
First time users will be prompted to select topics of interest.

Library card required

MasterFILE Premier

Full text articles covering a broad range of subjects including general reference, business, education, health, general science and multicultural issues.

Library card required

Medline Plus

National Library of Medicine’s database of health information for consumers and health professionals. Includes information on over 750 health topics, drugs and supplements, medical encyclopedia, dictionaries, interactive tutorials, and surgery videos. Also includes health information in over 40 languages.

Free & accessible anywhere

MedlinePlus (en Español)

MedlinePlus le ayuda encontrar las respuestas que usted busca en temas de salud. MedlinePlus ha recopilado la informacion mas confiable proveniente de fuentes autorizadas tales como la Biblioteca Nacional de Medicina y los Institutos Nacionales de la Salud, asi como otras agencias gubernamentales y organizaciones de servicios para la salud. MedlinePlus tambien le ofrece mucha informacion sobre medicamentos, una enciclopedia medica ilustrada, programas interactivos para el paciente y las mas recientes noticias acerca de la salud.

Free & accessible anywhere

New York Heritage Digital Collections

Search and browse digital collections about New York State's extensive history. Includes letters, diaries, photographs, newspapers, and maps from over 160 museums, libraries and archives.

Free & accessible anywhere

New York Times (1851-2007) with Index (1851-1993)

PDFs of articles include original layout, images, and advertisements. Limit searches by topic, article title, date, and more.   

Library card required

New York Times Digital Microfilm

Browse 2008 - present issues of the New York Times by date and page number or search for articles by keyword. Includes high-quality replications of photos, graphs, and tables. (Please note that present coverage will be one month behind due to a publisher embargo period.)

Library card required

NovelNY (resources for students)

Encyclopedias and research tools for elementary and middle school students: the Scholastic Go! encyclopedia, eLibrary Elementary for books and magazines, Kids Infobits for children's magazines, and Opposing Viewpoints in Context. High school and college students can access General OneFile, Academic OneFile, and Opposing Viewpoints for research. From the New York State Online Virtual Library database collection.

Free & accessible anywhere in NY state

Oxford English Dictionary Online

A guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of more than 600,000 words in English from current speech to past usage.

Library card required

Oxford Research Encyclopedias

Oxford Research Encyclopedias are a collection of essays on a variety of topics, designed to give readers an overview of a subject that they can understand in half an hour of reading or less.

Remote users: Type your Brooklyn Public Library card number in the box "Sign in with your library card", click Sign In, and then select Brooklyn Public Library.

Library card required

Sports Market Analytics

SBRnet and the Sports Market Analytics Data Platform are a comprehensive online platform of nationwide sports business data and analytics, using syndicated and custom proprietary research for the professional and college sports categories as well as sports participation and equipment sales information. Data is driven from consumer research, industry reports, and licensed industry articles. Topics include:

  • · Sports Fan Demographics
  • · Attendance
  • · Television Viewing
  • · Streaming Media
  • · Social Media Usage
  • · Logo Merchandise Sales
  • · Sponsorship Influence
  • · Sports Participation
  • · Fitness Participation
  • · Sports Gambling
  • · Sports Travel
  • · Collectibles
  • · Device Usage
  • · Fantasy Sports Play
  • · Consumer categories: Sports Drinks, Homeowners Insurance, Driver’s Insurance, Cell Phone Carrier, Banking, Credit Cards, Hotel/Motel, Air Travel and Quick Service Restaurant.


On the SMA log-in page, enter only your library card number. The username and password fields are auto-populated by the vendor.

Library card required

Urban Archive

View our collection of city stories and check out the platform of digital collections of New York City's museums, archives, and libraries.

Free & accessible anywhere