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.


Access NYC

Provides listings and eligibility information for human service benefit programs offered by City, State, and Federal government agencies.

Free & accessible anywhere

Bibliography of the History of Art

A searchable bibliography of works on European and American visual arts material published between 1975 and 2007. Search by subject, artist, author, article, or journal title.

Free & accessible anywhere

Bizminer

Compare your company’s financial performance to local and national companies of similar size by industry. Download BizMiner’s Industry Financial Profiles and Industry Market Reports; view the reports as HTML in order to input your company’s data. 

This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian. You may request remote access to Bizminer by sending an email reference request to the Business & Career Center.

Only at Central Library

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

Brooklyn Public Library Electronic Magazines and Journals List

Find full text to many of the electronic journals held by the Brooklyn Public Library through its online database subscriptions.

Free & accessible anywhere

CIA World Factbook and Country Maps

The Central Intelligence Agency's basic intelligence for 266 world entities; free maps can be downloaded and printed in PDF or JPEG formats.

Free & accessible anywhere

Cision Communications Cloud

Media outlets and contacts. Share your news release via email with journalists, bloggers and social influencers via Cision.  (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

Crain’s New York Data Center

Data on leading companies and organizations that operate in the NYC market; includes the New York Book of Lists; use these lists to benchmark your business, gather competitive intelligence, and target potential new clients. (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

Creative Commons

Creative Commons searches openly licensed and public domain images. Search for works that are available to the public for free and legal sharing, use, repurposing, and remixing.

Free & accessible anywhere

DigitalLearn.org

The Public Library Association's site, DigitalLearn.org is an online hub for digital literacy support and training. Find short, video-based courses with narration, on basic skills, such as using a computer, navigating a web site, email, internet privacy, and more.

Free & accessible anywhere

Directory of Open Access Journals

Free community-curated directory that indexes and connects to full text, open access, peer reviewed scientific and scholarly journals.

Free & accessible anywhere

eBooks and More

Access Brooklyn Public Library’s collection of digital books, magazines and reference library, available to download wirelessly to your device.

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

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Collection of education research and information. Sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.

Free & accessible anywhere

Europeana

Web portal to the digital resources of many European museums, libraries, archives and audio-visual collections. Formats include books, paintings, films, objects, sound recordings and archival records. 

Free & accessible anywhere

Findhelp.org

Formerly known as Aunt Bertha, a national directory of social service organizations. Search by zip code to find nearby food, health, housing, job training programs and more.

Free & accessible anywhere

Foundation Directory by Candid

Find funding for your nonprofit organization with Candid's quick and efficient fundraising tool. Use their clean and coded philanthropic data to evaluate a funder, gain an understanding of the grant writing process, and find financial information.

Only at Central Library

GCFLearnFree.org

Video tutorials and self-paced courses to learn computer basics and build skills, including in Microsoft Office, the Internet, Email, and Google Workspace

Free & accessible anywhere

Glassdoor.com

Career and workplace community where users can find and anonymously share salary details about careers and jobs for specific employers. Find interview reviews describing company culture. Create a free account with your email address.

Free & accessible anywhere

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

Go Direct

Social Security and Federal benefit payments are to be deposited electronically by law of as March 2013. Sign up for a prepaid debit card or with your bank account for direct deposit.

Free & accessible anywhere

govinfo

govinfo (formerly the Federal Digital System) provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government. govinfo is a service of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO), which is a Federal agency in the legislative branch.

Free & accessible anywhere

GuideStar by Candid

Access information on over 2 million nonprofits where you can donate, work, volunteer, or seek out services. Nonprofits can update their profiles and earn seals of transparency here.

Only at Central Library

Hite: Health Information Tool for Empowerment

5,000 health and social services available to low income, uninsured and underinsured persons.

Free & accessible anywhere

HUD Affordable Apartment Search (New York State)

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development assists in finding subsidized apartments in New York State.

Free & accessible anywhere

Instructables

Get step-by-step, user created instructions on how to make just about anything. Examples include instructions on building a digital microscope or sewing a zipper.

Free & accessible anywhere

Investor’s Business Daily (IBD)

Learn how to invest, find news on market trends and personal finance, and access the digital IBD Weekly (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

Kings County Supreme Court

The Kings County Supreme Court handles felony criminal and civil matters, including name changes, matrimonial cases, foreclosures, mental hygiene applications, and elder law cases. Explore the website for sample forms and guides, court procedures, and information regarding a pending case. For a quick reference guide on Legal Referral Services in Kings County, click here.

Free & accessible anywhere

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

Memorial Sloan Kettering's Information About Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products

Evidence-based information about herbs, botanicals, supplements, and more, created by Memorial Sloan Kettering's Integrative Medicine Service.

Free & accessible anywhere

Mergent Archives

Historical Mergent (Moody’s) Manuals of global corporate data in digitized PDF documents dating back to 1909. Also includes historical D&B Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios from 1979, Million Dollar Directory from 1959, and Who Owns Whom from 1961. 

Only at Central Library

Mintel Reports Academic

Market research reports with analysis of consumer markets, companies, and brands.   

Unfortunately, the vendor restricts this resource to "view-only". You may not print or download from Mintel.

Only at Central Library

My Next Move

My Next Move is a tool for job seekers and students to learn more about possible career options. Learn about the tasks, skills, and salary information for over 900 different careers. Browse careers or industries, or check out the O*NET Interest Profiler, a tool that offers personalized career suggestions based on your interests and level of work experience.

Free & accessible anywhere

New York Apartment Law Insider

Provides information for owners and managers of residential real estate, covering topics like rent stabilization, rent control, building maintenance requirements, and correction of code violations. (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

New York City Department of Education's Find A School Database

Locate information on New York City's public schools. Search by borough, grade, school name, and zip code.

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 Landlord v Tenant Online

Provides landlord-tenant court decisions as far back as 1993, including cases from the NYC Civil Court, NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), and NYC Environmental Control Board.  (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

New York State Contract Reporter

Lists New York State bidding opportunities for contracts greater than $15,000. 

Free & accessible anywhere

New York State Legislature

Legislative information related to both houses of the New York State Legislature. Look up bill text, summaries, committee agendas, and voting records from 1995 to the present.

Free & accessible anywhere

New York State Office of Unclaimed Funds

Banks, insurance companies, corporations, courts, and other organizations are required by law to report dormant accounts and turn over unclaimed funds to the State Comptroller. Search by name or organization to discover and claim funds.

Free & accessible anywhere

Nursing Home Compare

From Medicare.gov, find and compare nursing homes, hospitals, hospice care, and other health care providers. Nursing homes are rated on health inspections, quality of care, and staffing.

Free & accessible anywhere

O*NET OnLine

O*NET OnLine is a tool for job seekers to explore hundreds of standardized and occupation-specific descriptors on almost 1,000 occupations covering the entire U.S. economy. This in-depth resource provides information on work tasks, tech and general skill requirements, work values and styles, and links to helpful industry-specific professional organizations. For a simplified version, visit My Next Move.

Free & accessible anywhere

Population Reference Bureau Data Center

A data searching tool from the nonprofit Population Reference Bureau, including information on income, housing prices, health, and labor force.

Free & accessible anywhere

PowerMyLearning

Online learning activities curated by educators and organized by subject, grade and Common Core standard. Educators can create playlists of activities tailored to their lessons and invite students to a "class" with a code and track their students' progress. Students can create an avatar and "level up" the more they play. Parents can also log in and connect with their children to set goals and rewards for them. Create a free login to get started.

Free & accessible anywhere

PropertyShark (New York City Only)

This site combines proprietary data with public data. View the comprehensive listing of a given property including its sale history, ownership information, zoning etc. Foreclosure listings and comparable sales along with phone numbers and maps are also available.(This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

PubMed

A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical articles back to the 1950s. Areas include medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, health care, and pre-clinical sciences.

Free & accessible anywhere

Rich Register

Net worth and biographical information of Americans with estimated net worth of $25 million or more.   (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

Science.gov

Searches over 60 databases and over 2200 selected websites from 15 federal agencies, offering 200 million pages of authoritative U.S. government science information including research and development results.  Also includes information education and training opportunities in science, tecnology, engineering, and mathematics fields for undergraduate and graduate students.

Free & accessible anywhere

Smarthistory

Smarthistory is an always-free resource for learning about global art history featuring curated article, image and video content—created by respected scholars in collaboration with museum curators—that is engaging, informative, and accessible. Patrons can explore a wealth of high-resolution images of art from museums, galleries and cultural heritage sites throughout the world, all of which are free to download and use for classroom presentations and projects under Creative Commons (CC) licensure. 

Free & accessible anywhere

UNdata

UNdata Easy way to search and download across multiple United Nations' databases. Includes current information on populations, trade, standard of living, and the environment.

Free & accessible anywhere

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

USA Spending

Search by agency, recipient, state funding, or even your own neighborhood to see how federal money is being used.  Developed as part of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act.

Free & accessible anywhere

Wall Street Transcript

Investment advice and information from interviews with CEOs and analysts offering comments on specific equities, specific industries, finance and investing.  (This resource is accessible via username and password at the Central Library.  See a librarian.)

Only at Central Library

Where to Write for Vital Records

Find information on vital records like birth records, death records and marriage records from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Offers direct links to state and other agencies that assist in locating information on vital records.
 

Free & accessible anywhere

World Digital Library

Images of historic items from countries around the world, curated by the U.S. Library of Congress and the United Nations.  Materials include photographs, maps, newspapers, journals, books, and manuscripts from museums, libraries, and national archives from around the world, representing over 100 languages.  Easily search by time period, institution, type of material, language, place, or topic.

Free & accessible anywhere