Information & Research

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Pacific Grove Public Library librarians are here to answer your questions! Fill out and submit the Reference Librarian Help Form, email referencedesk@cityofpacificgrove.org, visit the Library at 550 Central Ave., Pacific Grove or call 831-648-5762

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Recommended Information Sources

The resources listed here have been purchased or recommended by Library staff to answer common questions and help with research on a wide variety of topics. Recommended resources for homework help are available on the Kids and Teens pages. Resources about Pacific Grove and the local area are available on the Community page.

Books | Business and Job Searching | Consumer Information | Genealogy | General Reference
Health and Medicine | Language Learning | Law and Government | Libraries | Maps and Geography
News | Science and Technology | Statistics | Telephone Directories | Travel

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General ReferenceGeneral Reference

Biography Reference Center
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Containing many of the top-ranked biographical reference collections and magazines, this database offers a comprehensive collection of full-text biographies, as well as thousands of unique narrative biographies. This resource provides superior coverage for several of the most popular and heavily-researched biographies and genres, including those contained within Biography Today and Biography.
EBSCOhost MasterFILE
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MasterFILE Complete offers the largest collection of the most popular full-text magazines, journals, and other highly-regarded sources from the world's leading publishers, covering virtually every subject area of general interest.
Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos
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El contenido editorial, medios enriquecidos y características interactivas de World Book Enciclopedia en español para jóvenes estudiantes.
Explora
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Full-text magazines, journals, and other highly-regarded sources from the world's leading publishers with a simple search that quickly delivers relevant results and easy-to-browse categories organized by popular topics.
History Reference Center
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Designed for secondary schools, public libraries, junior/community colleges and undergraduate research, this database features full text for more than 1,990 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books from leading history publishers, such as Branden Publishing, Compass Point Books, Houghton Mifflin, Lerner Publishing Group, Mason Crest Publishers, Morgan Reynolds Inc., Oliver Press, Oxford University Press, Rourke Publishing LLC., Salem Press, Stackpole Books, Toucan Valley Publications and more.
Points of View Reference Center
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Containing resources that present multiple sides of an issue, this database provides the basis from which students can realize and develop persuasive arguments and essays, better understand controversial issues and develop analytical thinking skills.
World Book Online
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Using the same expert information found in The World Book Encyclopedia, these easy-to-navigate websites include World Book Kids, World Book Info Finder for elementary and middle shcool homework and research needs, World Book Reference Center for advanced researchers and information seekers, Timelines, and Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos.
Foundation Center Online
Internet Movie Database Search
Tax Forms and Information: California
Tax Forms and Information: Federal
The Time Now
Unit Conversions

BooksBooks

Book Index with Reviews
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Book Index with Reviews™ is a comprehensive database that provides information on over 5 million books with almost 800,000 full-text searchable book reviews from the sources that you trust: Library Journal, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Booklist and others.
Literary Reference Center
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This comprehensive, full-text database provides a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes—to give students, professors, and researchers a foundation of literary reference works to meet their research needs.
Novelist
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NoveList is the premiere database of reading recommendations, providing a comprehensive source of information about books that includes expert recommendations, reviews, articles, lists and more.
Book Awards
Bookreporter
EarlyWord
Mid-Continent Public Library Juvenile Series and Sequels
New York Times Best Sellers
Order of Books - Books in Series

Business and Job SearchingBusiness and Job Searching

AtoZdatabases - job searching and marketing
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This simple, user-friendly, web-based solution provides details on every business and every household within the U.S.
Business Source Premier
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Business Source Premier is the industry’s most used business research database, providing full text for more than 2,300 journals, including full text for more than 1,100 peer-reviewed titles. This database provides full text back to 1886, and searchable cited references back to 1998. Business Source Premier includes full text coverage in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics updated daily.
Small Business Reference Center
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This database offers a wide variety of information on small business and entrepreneurial subject areas, common business types, a help and advice section, and provides information on how to create business plans that lead to successful funding.
California Business Portal
Central Coast Small Business Development Center
JobStar California: Local Job Search Guide
Small Business Administration

Consumer InformationConsumer Information

Consumer Reports through EBSCOhost
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Consumer Reports magazine articles and ratings through EbscoHost.
Consumer Information Center U.S. Government
ConsumerSearch Product Reviews
Kelley Blue Book
Motor Trend IntelliChoice
NADA vehicle pricing and information
The Wirecutter

GenealogyGenealogy

Monterey County Herald Obituary Index
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The index includes obituaries from January 1, 1995 to June 30, 2014 and local news articles and features from January 1, 1995 to June 30, 2003. The Monterey County Herald index was created by staff and volunteers of Monterey Public Library and Pacific Grove Public Library.
FamilySearch
Roots Web
Social Security Death Index
Vital Records: United States Birth Certificates, Death Records & Marriage Licenses

Health and MedicineHealth and Medicine

Consumer Health Complete
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The single-most comprehensive resource for consumer-oriented health content. It is designed to support the information needs of patients, and to foster an overall understanding of health-related topics. CHC provides content covering all areas of health and wellness from mainstream medicine to the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated medicine.
Healthfinder — Consumer health information
Mayo Clinic
Medline Plus
Medline Plus Understanding Medical Words

Language LearningLanguage Learning

Read It - ELL Reference Center
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This multi-purpose information resource is designed for middle and high school students and anyone that is new to the English language. This database will help ELLs succeed academically and in everyday life by providing assistance as they conduct research, build their background knowledge and develop study skills.
Defense Language Institute Language Resources
Open Culture Free Language Lessons

Law and GovernmentLaw and Government

Legal Information Reference Center (LIRC)
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Providing exclusive online full text for many of the top consumer legal reference books, Legal Information Reference Center contains hundreds of full-text publications and thousands of legal forms, with more content being added on a regular basis.
Benefits.gov: Your Path to Government Benefits
California State Home Page
Government Printing Office
State & Local Government on the Net
Vote Smart
Voting Records of Members of Congress

LibrariesLibraries

Library Services for People with Print Disabilities
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California’s Library Services for People with Print Disabilities, in association with the Library of Congress, provides free Braille and audio books, magazines and playback equipment to all eligible Californians unable to read standard print. Follow the link to find your local braille and talking book library and sign up for free library service.
LibrarySpot
Monterey Bay Area Libraries

Maps and GeographyMaps and Geography

Best Places to Live, Work, Play, or Retire
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
How far is it?

NewsNews

Newspaper Source Plus
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Provides more than 1,400 full-text newspapers, with more than 55 million full-text article andcomprehensive full text for major newspapers. Newspaper Source Plus also brings critical news content with ongoing updates though out the day with its News View component.
California Digital Newspaper Collection
Californian (Salinas)
Carmel Pine Cone
Cedar Street Times
Historical Monterey Newspapers
Monterey Herald

Science and TechnologyScience and Technology

Science Reference Center
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A comprehensive research database that provides easy access to a multitude of full-text, science-oriented content. Designed to meet every student researcher's needs, Science Reference Center contains full text for hundreds of science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, and other sources.
National Weather Service
U.S. Naval Observatory - Sun and Moon Data
USGS Earthquake Hazards Program

StatisticsStatistics

Consumer Price Index - Pacific Cities
National Center for Education Statistics
U.S. Census Bureau Home Page

Telephone DirectoriesTelephone Directories

AtoZdatabases - job searching and marketing
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This simple, user-friendly, web-based solution provides details on every business and every household within the U.S.
AnyWho

TravelTravel

Welcome to Hostelling International
XE Currency Converter

The links on these pages are to sites selected as particularly useful by the staff of the Pacific Grove Public Library. The City of Pacific Grove and the Library are not responsible for the content of sites maintained by other organizations. The content of those sites does not reflect the opinions, standards, policy or endorsement by the City of Pacific Grove, its officials or its staff.