General Academic

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely 24/7. Because each library creates its own eBook collection, the content you see may vary if you use the database at different libraries (your school, your public library, or your office).

General OneFile
A one-stop source for news and periodical articles on a wide range of topics: business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature and art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Millions of full-text articles, many with images. Updated daily.

  General Reference Center Gold
A general interest database that integrates a variety of sources in one easy-to-use interface. Use General Reference Center Gold to find articles from newspapers, reference books, and periodicals, many with full-text and images. Find the latest current events, popular culture, business and industry coverage, the arts and sciences, sports, hobbies, and more.

 Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Opposing Viewpoints in Contextis an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, the new solution features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience.

...more academic resources available through the Alabama Virutal Library

Automotive

Get the detailed information you need to tackle vehicle maintenance and repairs. 

Business

Business Index ASAP
Perform in-depth research on management issues, economic indicators and business theories and practices, as well as on the activities of companies and industries worldwide. Instant access to academic and business journals with full text and images.

Business Insights: Essentials
Business Insights: Essentialscombines all of the content formerly found inBusiness & Company Resource Centerwith a new interface designed around the research goals and workflows of your diverse business research community. Easily find information on companies, industries and more in the context of timely news, statistical data, and in-depth reports.

 ...more business resources available through the Alabama Virtual Library

Career Resources

Vocations and Careers Collection
Finding the right career can be a daunting and high stakes task: finding an appropriate institution of learning, job searching, and maintaining a career are all topics covered by this collection, providing current and applicable content for all vocational milestones. Offering content from nearly 400 journals, this collection provides content from general career guides to highly specialized industry journals.

Learning Express Library - Prepare for a career exam, explore occupations and improve your workplace skills here. You will register as a new user using your Library Card Number. You will then be prompted to use your email as your Username and then select a password.

...more career resources available through the Alabama Virtual Library

Culinary

Culinary Arts Collection
The Culinary Arts collection includes 150 of the major cooking and nutrition magazines. Coverage includes thousands of searchable recipes, restaurant reviews, and industry information.

Education Studies

Education resources including ERIC available through the Alabama Virtual Library

Fine Arts & Music

Fine Arts & Music Collection
With more than 100 full-text magazines and journals covered in databases such as the Wilson Art Index and RILM, this collection will provide your students with resources to support research in areas such as drama, music, art history, and filmmaking.

Gardening

Gardening, Landscape and Horticulture Collection
Farmers, landscape architects, and biotechnologists alike will have their information appetites sated with this collection of nearly 50 journals focused specifically on key issues in gardening, landscaping, and other areas of horticulture. A fertile and growing collection, this collection includes content relating to both the practical aspects as well as the scientific theory of horticulture studies.

Geneaology

Ancestry.com Unparalled genealogy collection. 200+ billion images in 7,000 unique databases. The world's most popular online genealogy resource.

HeritageQuest Online is a comprehensive treasury of American genealogical sources—rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, and finding aids.The collection consists of six core data sets:U.S. Federal Censuses, Genealogy and local history books, Periodical Source Index (PERSI), Revolutionary War records, Freedman’s Bank Records, LexisNexis U.S. Serial Set.

History (Local)

This guide, Selected Resources for Alabama Counties, was created by the Southern History Department. Each of Alabama's 67 counties is represented with its own page and listing of resources available in the Birmingham library. This is a user-friendly way for patrons to see what books and records are available in the the Downtown library for each individual county. 

Recursos en español

Informe
Una colección de revistas hispánicas con textos completos. Abarca negocios, salud, tecnología, cultura, temas de actualidad y otras materias

Home Improvement

Home Improvement Collection
Even the smallest home improvement project can be daunting: with this collection of nearly 100 home improvement focused titles, hobbyists and professional carpenters alike will immediately put their projects on a more solid foundation. Coverage includes such topics as architectural techniques, tool and material selection, zoning requirements, and many more.

Health

Magill's Medical Guide, 8th edition Covers diseases, disorders, treatments, procedures, specialties, anatomy, biology, and issues in an A-Z format, with sidebars addressing recent developments in medicine and concise information boxes for all diseases and disorders. To access you must provide your 14 digit Shelby County Library Card.

Genetics and Inherited Conditions, 2nd edition An A-Z encyclopedia offering nonspecialist information about 460 topics in genetics, from the science behind this important field to diseases that can be passed down among generations. To access you must provide your 14 digit Shelby County Library Card Number.

Language

Beginning October 1st, the library will no longer have access to Rosetta Stone. Please use Pronunciator for your language learning.

 
Pronunciator -

• Help Page
• Learn 100 Languages
• An Average of 9,500 Instructional Phrases Per Language
• Create Personalized Courses
• Over 6,000 Downloadable PDF Phrasebooks
• 600,000+ Hours of Downloadable Audio Lessons
• Learn Sign Language with 20,000 Instructional Videos

Learning Online (tutorials)

 Hoonuit is a comprehensive online database of how-to training tutorials covering popular Microsoft, Apple, Adobe and Google software programs, to your library. Full Course List.

Literature

Contemporary Authors
Provides complete biographical and bibliographical information and references on more than 120,000 U.S. and international authors.

 Contemporary Literary Criticism
Contemporary Literary Criticism--Select is an extensive collection of critical essays on contemporary authors. Each CLC--Select entry contains a biographical/critical introduction, listing of principal works and sources for further study.

Gale Virtual Reference Library
Gale Virtual Reference Library is a database of encyclopedias and specialized reference sources for multidisciplinary research. These reference materials once were accessible only in the library, but now you can access them online from the library or remotely 24/7. Because each library creates its own eBook collection, the content you see may vary if you use the database at different libraries (your school, your public library, or your office).

LitFinder
Covering world literature and authors throughout history, LitFinder contains a wealth of literary works including over 150,000 full-text poems and 800,000+ poetry citations, as well as short stories, speeches, and plays. For students or patrons seeking a deeper view into literature, LitFinder also includes secondary materials like biographies, images, and more! From Shakespeare's sonnets to poems by Donald Hall or short stories from Edgar Allan Poe to works by Annie Proulx, LitFinder has you covered.

Literature Resource Center
Find up-to-date biographical information, overviews, full-text literary criticism and reviews on nearly 130,000 writers in all disciplines, from all time periods and from around the world, supplemented by the scholarly materials of the Scribner Writers Series and Twayne's World, U.S., and English Authors Series. The optional MLA International Bibliography module adds citations for hundreds of thousands of books, articles and dissertations from 1926 to the present, linked to full text where available.

Literature Resouces from Gale
Research authors and their works, literary movements and genres. Search across several major Literature databases to find full text of literary works, journal articles, literature criticism, reviews, biographical information and overviews.

News & Current Events

The Birmingham News Collection: Search nearly 26 years of  Birmingham and Alabama history with The Birmingham News. Coverage from 1993 through current. Explore current and archived issues of The Birmingham News with full-color newspaper pages and individual articles, as well as content only published online.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Opposing Viewpoints in Contextis an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information and opinions on hundreds of today's hottest social issues. Drawing on the acclaimed Greenhaven Press series, the new solution features continuously updated viewpoints, topic overviews, full-text magazines, academic journals, news, primary source documents, statistics, images, videos, audio and links to vetted websites organized into a user-friendly portal experience.

...more news resources available from Alabama Virtual Resources

General Science

Test Preparation (ACT, SAT etc.)

Test Prep Learning Express Library -First time? You will have to register as a new user using your Library Card Number as your Username, then select a password.