Research

• Chilton Library

  Exclusive photographs, diagnostics designed by instructors, step-by-step repair procedures, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) maintenance schedules, wiring diagrams, recalls and Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) for automobiles and light trucks.

• Consumer’s Checkbook

  Ratings for Bay Area local service companies by a non-profit consumer agency. Available for use in the library at the following San Mateo County Library branches: Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Millbrae and San Carlos.

• Biography In Context

  Biographical information on over 220,000 people from throughout history and around the world.

• Books, Movies, Music

  Staff-recommended good reads, lists of award-winning books, and book review information.

• Cliffs Notes

  Summaries and commentary for hundreds of literary classics.

• Literature Resource Center

  Biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses for over 120,000 authors from every age and literary discipline.

• Literature Resources from Gale

  Find up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on more than 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.

• NoveList

  Tell NoveList what you like to read, and it will suggest similar books you might like! Find new fiction books and authors based on your old favorites.

• NoveList K-8

  NoveList K-8 helps children grades K-8, parents, & teachers identify books appropriate for children's reading abilities and interests.

• Novels for Students

  Presents analysis, context and criticism on commonly studied novels.

• Poetry for Students

  Features discussion and analysis of poems of all time periods, nations, and cultures.

• Short Stories for Students

  Provides critical overviews of short stories from all cultures and time periods. Includes discussions of plot, characters, themes and structure as well as the story's cultural and historical significance.

• Business Insights: Global

  Research and analyze companies, industries, countries and economies around the world. Features the tools you need to interpret a global business landscape: robust data sets, visualization tools to help you develop data-driven insights, and case studies to broaden your perspective on real-life situations.

• Encyclopedia of Associations

  From the Gale Directory Library access the directory for international, national and regional associations.

• Morningstar Investment Research Center

  Research mutual funds and stocks for investment opportunities.

• California Building Standards Codes

  CA Building Codes, includes Building, Fire, Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical.

• California Code

  CA law consists of 29 codes covering various subject areas.

• California Courts Self Help Center

  Information to help you work better with an attorney, and represent yourself in some legal matters.

• Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (in Spanish)

  Information to help you in some legal matters.
  Le ayudará a encontrar ayuda e información, trabajar mejor con un abogado y en algunos asuntos legales le ayudará a representarse a sí mismo.

• Community Information Program

  Database of nonprofit and public services available to people who live or work in San Mateo County.

• How to Reach Your Lawmakers

  Contact information for local, state, and federal elected officials.

• San Mateo County Code

  Rules and regulations for a wide variety of situations and issues as handled in San Mateo County.

• West's Encyclopedia of American Law

  American legal information on more than 5,000 legal topics.

• Enciclopedia Estudiantil (in Spanish) (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Encyclopedia for children with articles on general subjects, people, places, things, and ideas.
  Enciclopedia para niños con artículos en sujetos generales, personas, lugares, cosas, y ideas.

• Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion

  Information about clothing, body adornment, and examines the origins of clothing, the development of fabrics and technologies, and the social meanings of dress from a variety of historical eras and cultures.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine

  Information on alternative and complementary medical practices, recommended therapies for specific disorders and diseases, and medicinal uses for plants and herbs.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine

  Information on more than 1,600 medical disorders, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, and procedures.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America

  Essays on specific culture groups in the United States, emphasizing religions, holidays, customs, languages, historical background, and settlement patterns.

• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia

  Encyclopedia of animal life, describing microscopic animals through primates. Contains color pictures and detailed descriptions.

• Hispánica Saber–Gran Enciclopedia Hispanica (in Spanish)

  Fully searchable Spanish language multimedia encyclopedia with web links, periodical articles, videos, animations, sounds, interactive maps, and more.
  Enciclopedia multimedia en español que es completamente investigable con enlaces web, artículos de publicaciones periódicas, videos, animaciones, sonidos, mapas interactivos, y mucho más.

• West's Encyclopedia of American Law

  American legal information on more than 5,000 legal topics.

• World Book Encyclopedia Kids (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Easy-to-read articles and a wealth of engaging multimedia, games, science projects, interactive tools, and activities.

• World Book Encyclopedia Student (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Multimedia encyclopedia articles, web links, periodical articles, videos, animations, sounds, interactive maps, and more.

• Axis 360

  San Mateo County Library offers eBooks on the Axis 360 platform in conjunction with the Blio eReader application. With Blio, picture books and other illustrated books come alive. Plus, Axis 360 and the Blio reader make eBooks accessible. They allow limited sight patrons guided reading as well as text-to-voice options for all titles. Experience the difference now.

• California Missions eBooks

  Twenty California missions eBooks that can be read online or downloaded with Follett Digital Reader, available free at the California missions eBooks site.

• EBSCO eBook Collection (Formerly NetLibrary)

  eBooks can be downloaded and read on a PC, Sony Reader or Barnes and Noble Nook.

• Gale Virtual Reference Library

  Reference eBooks about medicine, law, animals, colleges, social studies, and more.

• ManyBooks.net

  Freely available public domain eBooks in a variety of text formats designed for a wide variety of e-text readers.

• Peninsula Library System Digital Book Library

  Enjoy downloadable ebooks and eaudiobooks from the Peninsula Library System Digital Book Library; only for library cardholders from Peninsula Library System Member Libraries. Explore new titles each month as we develop and build our own collection.

• Project Gutenberg

  Freely available public domain eBooks in text and computer-created audio formats.

• Safari Tech Books

  The best IT and technology eBooks from the best authors and publishers.
  Note: The Favorites and Bookmarks features do not currently work in Safari.

• TumbleBooks

  Animated talking storybooks for children in English, Spanish, and other languages.

• Ancestry Library Edition

  Resources for genealogical and historical research, including military, court, census, birth, marriage, and death records, and more.

• HeritageQuest (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Resources for genealogical and historical research, including the U.S. Federal Census, Freedman’s bank records, the PERSI index, and more.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine

  Information on alternative and complementary medical practices, recommended therapies for specific disorders and diseases, and medicinal uses for plants and herbs.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine

  Information on more than 1,600 medical disorders, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, and procedures.

• MedLine Plus

  Health information from National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine.

• MedLine Plus (in Spanish)

  Health Information in Spanish.
  Información de Salud: sobre diversas condiciones, enfermedades y bienstar, pruebas médicas, síntomas, lesiones y cirugías.

• California Missions eBooks

  Twenty California missions eBooks that can be read online or downloaded with Follett Digital Reader, available free at the California missions eBooks site.

• Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion

  Information about clothing, body adornment, and examines the origins of clothing, the development of fabrics and technologies, and the social meanings of dress from a variety of historical eras and cultures.

• Middle Ages Reference Library

  Historical and biographical essays about the different civilizations and peoples of Medieval times.

• U.S. History in Context

  Articles, primary sources, and scholarly analysis about United States history.

• U*X*L American Decades

  Covers 20th-century events and social history beginning in 1900 and ending in 1999.

• World History in Context

  Articles, primary sources, and scholarly analysis about world history.

• Biography In Context

  Biographical information on over 220,000 people from throughout history and around the world.

• California Missions eBooks

  Twenty California missions eBooks that can be read online or downloaded with Follett Digital Reader, available free at the California missions eBooks site.

• Cliffs Notes

  Summaries and commentary for hundreds of literary classics.

• College Blue Book

  The definitive guide to thousands of 2- and 4-year schools in the U.S. and Canada, their programs, degrees, and financial aid sources.

• Enciclopedia Estudiantil (in Spanish) (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Encyclopedia for children with articles on general subjects, people, places, things, and ideas.
  Enciclopedia para niños con artículos en sujetos generales, personas, lugares, cosas, y ideas.

• Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion

  Information about clothing, body adornment, and examines the origins of clothing, the development of fabrics and technologies, and the social meanings of dress from a variety of historical eras and cultures.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America

  Essays on specific culture groups in the United States, emphasizing religions, holidays, customs, languages, historical background, and settlement patterns.

• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia

  Encyclopedia of animal life, describing microscopic animals through primates. Contains color pictures and detailed descriptions.

• HelpNOW

  Connect live with an expert tutor for homework help in English & Spanish, seven days a week
  from 1 PM – 10 PM. Kindergarten - Adult.

• Homework Help Websites

  Useful websites to help you with common homework topics.

• ipl2

  The ipl2 digital collections include Resources by Subject, Newspapers and Magazines, Special Collec-tions created by the ipl2, and special collections for Kids and Teens.

• Kids InfoBits

  Homework help resources for beginning elementary school; also includes 75 popular kids magazines like Highlights and Sports Illustrated for Kids.

• Literature Resource Center

  Biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses for over 120,000 authors from every age and literary discipline.

• Literature Resources from Gale

  Find up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on more than 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world.

• Middle Ages Reference Library

  Historical and biographical essays about the different civilizations and peoples of Medieval times.

• Opposing Viewpoints In Context

  Hot topics database of pro and con articles and statistics on many current social issues.

• Scholarships, Fellowships and Loans

  Over 4,200 sources of education-related financial aid and awards at all levels of study.

• Science in Context

  Researching science topics has never been easier -- with Science In Context, thousands of topic overviews, experiments, biographies, pictures and illustrations are just a few clicks away and the latest scientific developments are covered in articles from over 200 magazines and academic journals and links to quality web sites.

• Student Resources in Context

  Guided homework help with biographies, literature, history, health, science, and multicultural studies.

• U.S. History in Context

  Articles, primary sources, and scholarly analysis about United States history.

• U*X*L American Decades

  Covers 20th-century events and social history beginning in 1900 and ending in 1999.

• World Book Encyclopedia Kids (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Easy-to-read articles and a wealth of engaging multimedia, games, science projects, interactive tools, and activities.

• World Book Encyclopedia Student (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Multimedia encyclopedia articles, web links, periodical articles, videos, animations, sounds, interactive maps, and more.

• World History in Context

  Articles, primary sources, and scholarly analysis about world history.

• HelpNOW

  Adults can receive live online assistance in resume and cover letter writing through the "Adult Learning Center" from 1 PM – 10 PM.

• JobScout

  A new online learning and social media platform that will teach you the basic Internet skills and job-hunting techniques you need to find a job.

• Mango Languages (Note: Your library card # is required)

  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 & more. Mango can also help second language learners learn English and is available for those speaking Chinese Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese.

• Ask Us a Question by E-mail

  Email your question to one of our librarians and receive your answer within two days.

• HelpNOW

  Connect live with an expert tutor for homework help in English & Spanish, seven days a week
  from 1 PM – 10 PM. Kindergarten - Adult.

• ipl2

  The ipl2 digital collections include Resources by Subject, Newspapers and Magazines, Special Collec-tions created by the ipl2, and special collections for Kids and Teens.

• Other Area Libraries

  Other libraries within driving distance of San Mateo County.

• San Mateo County Library Catalog

  Catalog of materials (books, DVDs, CDs, eBooks, books-on-CD, and more) in the public libraries of San Mateo County.

• WorldCat Libraries Catalog

  Search the library catalogs of thousands of worldwide public, school, academic, law, health and other libraries.

• Academic Onefile (includes Expanded Academic)

  Academic and research articles from scholarly journals in arts and humanities, social sciences, science and technology, etc.

• General Onefile (formerly Infotrac)

  Full-text articles for 5,800 popular magazines like Time, Newsweek, and People.

• INFOTRAC Newsstand

  Indexing and select full text articles from international, national, state and local newspapers like the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and the Contra Costa Times.

• Kids InfoBits

  Homework help resources for beginning elementary school; also includes 75 popular kids magazines like Highlights and Sports Illustrated for Kids.

• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia

  Encyclopedia of animal life, describing microscopic animals through primates. Contains color pictures and detailed descriptions.

• Safari Tech Books

  The best IT and technology eBooks from the best authors and publishers.
  Note: The Favorites and Bookmarks features do not currently work in Safari.

• Science in Context

  Researching science topics has never been easier -- with Science In Context, thousands of topic overviews, experiments, biographies, pictures and illustrations are just a few clicks away and the latest scientific developments are covered in articles from over 200 magazines and academic journals and links to quality web sites.

• American FactFinder

  Your source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data.

• California Statistical Abstract

  A compilation of data on social, economic, and physical aspects of the State of California.

No materials available at the moment.

• Academic Onefile (includes Expanded Academic)

  Academic and research articles from scholarly journals in arts and humanities, social sciences, science and technology, etc.

• American FactFinder

  Your source for population, housing, economic, and geographic data.

• Ancestry Library Edition

  Resources for genealogical and historical research, including military, court, census, birth, marriage, and death records, and more.

• Ask Us a Question by E-mail

  Email your question to one of our librarians and receive your answer within two days.

• Axis 360

  San Mateo County Library offers eBooks on the Axis 360 platform in conjunction with the Blio eReader application. With Blio, picture books and other illustrated books come alive. Plus, Axis 360 and the Blio reader make eBooks accessible. They allow limited sight patrons guided reading as well as text-to-voice options for all titles. Experience the difference now.

• Biography In Context

  Biographical information on over 220,000 people from throughout history and around the world.

• Books, Movies, Music

  Staff-recommended good reads, lists of award-winning books, and book review information.

• Business Insights: Global

  Research and analyze companies, industries, countries and economies around the world. Features the tools you need to interpret a global business landscape: robust data sets, visualization tools to help you develop data-driven insights, and case studies to broaden your perspective on real-life situations.

• California Building Standards Codes

  CA Building Codes, includes Building, Fire, Electrical, Plumbing, and Mechanical.

• California Code

  CA law consists of 29 codes covering various subject areas.

• California Courts Self Help Center

  Information to help you work better with an attorney, and represent yourself in some legal matters.

• California Missions eBooks

  Twenty California missions eBooks that can be read online or downloaded with Follett Digital Reader, available free at the California missions eBooks site.

• California Statistical Abstract

  A compilation of data on social, economic, and physical aspects of the State of California.

• Chilton Library

  Exclusive photographs, diagnostics designed by instructors, step-by-step repair procedures, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) maintenance schedules, wiring diagrams, recalls and Technical Service Bulletins (TSBs) for automobiles and light trucks.

• Cliffs Notes

  Summaries and commentary for hundreds of literary classics.

• College Blue Book

  The definitive guide to thousands of 2- and 4-year schools in the U.S. and Canada, their programs, degrees, and financial aid sources.

• Community Information Program

  Database of nonprofit and public services available to people who live or work in San Mateo County.

• Consumer’s Checkbook

  Ratings for Bay Area local service companies by a non-profit consumer agency. Available for use in the library at the following San Mateo County Library branches: Foster City, Half Moon Bay, Millbrae and San Carlos.

• EBSCO eBook Collection (Formerly NetLibrary)

  eBooks can be downloaded and read on a PC, Sony Reader or Barnes and Noble Nook.

• Encyclopedia of Associations

  From the Gale Directory Library access the directory for international, national and regional associations.

• Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion

  Information about clothing, body adornment, and examines the origins of clothing, the development of fabrics and technologies, and the social meanings of dress from a variety of historical eras and cultures.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine

  Information on alternative and complementary medical practices, recommended therapies for specific disorders and diseases, and medicinal uses for plants and herbs.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine

  Information on more than 1,600 medical disorders, including causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, and procedures.

• Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America

  Essays on specific culture groups in the United States, emphasizing religions, holidays, customs, languages, historical background, and settlement patterns.

• Gale Virtual Reference Library

  Reference eBooks about medicine, law, animals, colleges, social studies, and more.

• General Onefile (formerly Infotrac)

  Full-text articles for 5,800 popular magazines like Time, Newsweek, and People.

• Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia

  Encyclopedia of animal life, describing microscopic animals through primates. Contains color pictures and detailed descriptions.

• HelpNOW

  Connect live with an expert tutor for homework help in English & Spanish, seven days a week
  from 1 PM – 10 PM. Kindergarten - Adult.

• HeritageQuest (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Resources for genealogical and historical research, including the U.S. Federal Census, Freedman’s bank records, the PERSI index, and more.

• Homework Help Websites

  Useful websites to help you with common homework topics.

• How to Reach Your Lawmakers

  Contact information for local, state, and federal elected officials.

• INFOTRAC Newsstand

  Indexing and select full text articles from international, national, state and local newspapers like the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, and the Contra Costa Times.

• ipl2

  The ipl2 digital collections include Resources by Subject, Newspapers and Magazines, Special Collec-tions created by the ipl2, and special collections for Kids and Teens.

• JobScout

  A new online learning and social media platform that will teach you the basic Internet skills and job-hunting techniques you need to find a job.

• Kids InfoBits

  Homework help resources for beginning elementary school; also includes 75 popular kids magazines like Highlights and Sports Illustrated for Kids.

• Literature Resource Center

  Biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses for over 120,000 authors from every age and literary discipline.

• Mango Languages (Note: Your library card # is required)

  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 & more. Mango can also help second language learners learn English and is available for those speaking Chinese Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, and Vietnamese.

• ManyBooks.net

  Freely available public domain eBooks in a variety of text formats designed for a wide variety of e-text readers.

• MedLine Plus

  Health information from National Institutes of Health and the National Library of Medicine.

• Middle Ages Reference Library

  Historical and biographical essays about the different civilizations and peoples of Medieval times.

• Morningstar Investment Research Center

  Research mutual funds and stocks for investment opportunities.

• NoveList

  Tell NoveList what you like to read, and it will suggest similar books you might like! Find new fiction books and authors based on your old favorites.

• NoveList K-8

  NoveList K-8 helps children grades K-8, parents, & teachers identify books appropriate for children's reading abilities and interests.

• Novels for Students

  Presents analysis, context and criticism on commonly studied novels.

• Opposing Viewpoints In Context

  Hot topics database of pro and con articles and statistics on many current social issues.

• Other Area Libraries

  Other libraries within driving distance of San Mateo County.

• Peninsula Library System Digital Book Library

  Enjoy downloadable ebooks and eaudiobooks from the Peninsula Library System Digital Book Library; only for library cardholders from Peninsula Library System Member Libraries. Explore new titles each month as we develop and build our own collection.

• Poetry for Students

  Features discussion and analysis of poems of all time periods, nations, and cultures.

• Project Gutenberg

  Freely available public domain eBooks in text and computer-created audio formats.

• Safari Tech Books

  The best IT and technology eBooks from the best authors and publishers.
  Note: The Favorites and Bookmarks features do not currently work in Safari.

• San Mateo County Code

  Rules and regulations for a wide variety of situations and issues as handled in San Mateo County.

• San Mateo County Library Catalog

  Catalog of materials (books, DVDs, CDs, eBooks, books-on-CD, and more) in the public libraries of San Mateo County.

• Scholarships, Fellowships and Loans

  Over 4,200 sources of education-related financial aid and awards at all levels of study.

• Science in Context

  Researching science topics has never been easier -- with Science In Context, thousands of topic overviews, experiments, biographies, pictures and illustrations are just a few clicks away and the latest scientific developments are covered in articles from over 200 magazines and academic journals and links to quality web sites.

• Short Stories for Students

  Provides critical overviews of short stories from all cultures and time periods. Includes discussions of plot, characters, themes and structure as well as the story's cultural and historical significance.

• Student Resources in Context

  Guided homework help with biographies, literature, history, health, science, and multicultural studies.

• TumbleBooks

  Animated talking storybooks for children in English, Spanish, and other languages.

• U.S. History in Context

  Articles, primary sources, and scholarly analysis about United States history.

• U*X*L American Decades

  Covers 20th-century events and social history beginning in 1900 and ending in 1999.

• West's Encyclopedia of American Law

  American legal information on more than 5,000 legal topics.

• World Book Encyclopedia Kids (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Easy-to-read articles and a wealth of engaging multimedia, games, science projects, interactive tools, and activities.

• World Book Encyclopedia Student (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Multimedia encyclopedia articles, web links, periodical articles, videos, animations, sounds, interactive maps, and more.

• WorldCat Libraries Catalog

  Search the library catalogs of thousands of worldwide public, school, academic, law, health and other libraries.

• World History in Context

  Articles, primary sources, and scholarly analysis about world history.

• Centro de Ayuda de las Cortes de California (in Spanish)

  Information to help you in some legal matters.
  Le ayudará a encontrar ayuda e información, trabajar mejor con un abogado y en algunos asuntos legales le ayudará a representarse a sí mismo.

• Enciclopedia Estudiantil (in Spanish) (Note: Your library card # is required)

  Encyclopedia for children with articles on general subjects, people, places, things, and ideas.
  Enciclopedia para niños con artículos en sujetos generales, personas, lugares, cosas, y ideas.

• MedLine Plus (in Spanish)

  Health Information in Spanish.
  Información de Salud:  sobre diversas condiciones, enfermedades y bienstar, pruebas médicas, síntomas, lesiones y cirugías.

• Hispánica Saber–Gran Enciclopedia Hispanica (in Spanish)

  Fully searchable Spanish language multimedia encyclopedia with web links, periodical articles, videos, animations, sounds, interactive maps, and more.
  Enciclopedia multimedia en español que es completamente investigable con enlaces web, artículos de publicaciones periódicas, videos, animaciones, sonidos, mapas interactivos, y mucho más.

• TumbleBooks (in Spanish)

  Animated talking storybooks for children in English, Spanish, and other languages.
  Libros animados para niños en español y en otros idiomas.