Library Resources

• The Library's collection of licensed databases may include information on this topic; these are commercial, copyrighted materials that PGCMLS licenses for the reference and research needs of its customers; often this material comes directly from printed books. Most of these databases may be accessed remotely, while a few are available only to users on PC's in our Branches.
• The Library's collection of electronic reference books may also include information on this topic. These online versions of printed books do not have to be checked out or downloaded; like databases, content can be searched and sections printed. They are always available for your use in the Library and through remote access from home.

Live Help

• Live Homework Help- Live tutors are available every day to help you work through your homework problems (available in English or Spanish). Shockwave Player is required to access this service.
• AskUsNow! - Live librarians are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help you find reliable information quickly and to answer your questions.
• E-mail Reference - E-mail us your questions at any time, day or night. We will answer within two business days.
• Telephone Reference - Call a reference librarian at your local branch to get answers to your research/information questions. The library locations page gives hours and contact numbers.

Web Resources

Research &Writing

• A+ Research and Writing - This comprehensive site gives you help in brainstorming, researching, and writing all types of papers.
• Citing Sources - Lots of information and examples of citations, as well as discussions of plagiarism and when to cite sources.
• Landmark Citation Machine - An interactive web tool that uses the principles found in the MLA Handbook and the APA Publication Manual to help teachers and students construct citations for print and on-line resources.
• Website Evaluation Forms -  How can you tell good from not-so-good web sites?  These questions will help you to determine whether a web site is authentic, whether it contains quality content, and whether it is really useful for you.
  • Grades 7-9  
  • Grades 10-12

Languages

• Japanese Lessons - These lessons take you through grammar basics,  parts of speech, expressions, greetings and useful expressions.
• Learn German Online - Free lessons for beginners and advanced learners are complemented by numerous interactive exercises, online tests, study tips, famous German quotations, and an online German dictionary.
• An On-line Russian Reference Grammar - Professor Robert Beard’s online grammar reference work with exercises and dictionaries.
• StudySpanish.com - Spanish tutorials on the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.  Extensive lesson materials on pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and more.
• Tex's French Grammar - Cute University of Texas site with all kinds of help on French grammar, including practice and a verb conjugator.   

Literature

Many classic books, poems, and plays are freely available online; check the Free Online Books section of our Great Reads page.

• Antistudy - Free Book Notes - Searches CliffsNotes, Spark Notes, Barron’s Book Notes, PinkMonkey, Novel Guide, and other reputable book notes sites for the literature study guides you need.
• Authors: Yahoo! Directory - Find links to individual authors and to categories, periods and movements.
• Bibliomaniahttp - Read more than 2000 online classic texts, or use literature book notes and author biographies.
• CliffsNotes - Free online study guides for classic works of literature, as well as other topics like math, history and philosophy.
• Critical Reading: A Guide - A college professor provides a “how-to” guide to analyzing literature, particularly poetry and fiction.
• Literary Criticism (Internet Public Library) - Contains critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period.
• Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet - Presents an annotated guide to scholarly Shakespeare resources and other unique Shakespeare materials available online.
• Shmoop
  Study guides for literature, U.S. history, poetry and essays: character and theme analysis, quotes, symbols, pop culture references, and more. Also includes how to cite Shmoop and a Tour de Shmoop.

Math

• Algebrahelp - View lessons on many algebra topics, use the calculators to see step-by-step solutions, and test your knowledge using interactive worksheets.
• Basic Math at Math.com - Math lessons from basic math through calculus, quizzes, games, and links to math tools and references.
• Calculus on the Web (COW) - Professors from Temple University's math department developed this interactive site to help you learn or brush up on calculus. Also included are a section on pre-calc and linear algebra.
• Create a Graph - Use this handy site to create pie charts, bar graphs, and other graphs online.
• Dave's Short Course in Trigonometry - These trig lessons by a professor of mathematics have lots of information and exercises.
• Geometry Tutorials, Problems - Lots of geometry tutorials, calculators, solvers and problems!

News and Issues

• NewsHour Extra - Using the resources of PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NewsHour Extra's mission is to help high school students understand world events and national issues and answer the question "why should I care?" about the news.
• Public Agenda for Citizens: Understanding the Issues - Helping bring clarity to the chaos of today’s news, policies and issues.
• The Wall Street Journal: Classroom Edition - Providing high school students with engaging, real-life news and information on the world of business.

People

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-Present - Allows searching by name, state, political party, date or Congress, or position.
• Biography.com - Biography.com is the companion website to the Biography channel on cable. It includes biographies of 25,000 people including celebrities and sports figures sometimes omitted from other databases.
• The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences - Profiled here are African American men and women who have contributed to the advancement of all areas of the sciences.
• POTUS: Presidents of the United States - Detailed information on the Presidents of the United States.

Reference

• Calculator.com - This site has standard, fraction, scientific and other calculators which you can use online.
• Encyclopedia Mythica - Award-winning Internet encyclopedia covering mythology, folklore and legends.
• InfoPlease.com - A comprehensive reference source that combines the contents of an encyclopedia, a dictionary, an atlas, and several almanacs loaded with statistics, facts, and historical records. A single search engine allows you to search all these sources at once.
• Quotations at Bartleby.com - Combines the best of both contemporary and classic quotations collections into a searchable database of over 87,000 entries, the largest of its kind ever compiled.
• Symbols.com - An encyclopedia of over 2,500 graphic symbols and signs which can be searched using either a graphic or word index.
• YourDictionary.com - Get definitions, thesaurus entries, spelling, pronunciation, and etymology results along with specialized and foreign language dictionaries.

Science

• The Animal Diversity Web - The University of Michigan Museum of Zoology site offers a great deal of information on the                  kindom of animals. Pictures, sound files and classification information are available.
• How Volcanoes Work - Describes, in great detail, the science behind volcanoes and volcanic processes.  Includes extensive links to sites for individual volcanoes and live volcano video cams.
• Learn Chemistry Tutorials - A site full of tutorials, quizzes, and guides for all aspects of chemistry.
• Net Frog 2002: Online dissection index - This cool site actually allows you to dissect a frog online.
• The Physics Classroom - The tutorials cover basic physics topics using informative graphics and an easy-to-understand language. Each unit is broken up into lessons and sub-lessons; these lessons are used by teachers and students from junior high school through college.
• Science Fair Project Resource Guide - Step-by-step help which will guide you through the Scientific Method, Choosing a Topic, Completing the Project, and Displaying your Project.
• The World’s Biomes - Good individual discussions of each biome, as well as a general article on conservation and preservation of biomes.
• The Periodic Table of Videos - Choose a symbol from the periodic table and watch experiments, samples and information about your element.

Social Studies

• Ancient Egyptian Culture - Find out about the history, daily life, archeology, and art of this fascinating time and place.
• From Slavery to Civil Rights: A Timeline of African - American History - This Library of Congress site has many good links about African-American history from the 1600's through the twentieth century.
• Medieval Life - All about life during the Middle Ages in Europe.
• National Geographic - Great site with daily news about Planet Earth, and lots of incredible photos and information about animals, history, music, cultures, science and more. 
• Our Documents - Relive defining moments in our history through 100 milestone documents compiled by the National Archives and Records Administration. These documents chronicle United States history from 1776 to 1965.
• The White House - Your Government - This official executive branch web site lists all of the cabinet positions and executive branch agencies with their leadership, missions, and links.  Also provides links to pages for the judicial and legislative branches.
• Shmoop
  Study guides for literature, U.S. history, poetry and essays: character and theme analysis, quotes, symbols, pop culture references, and more. Also includes how to cite Shmoop and a Tour de Shmoop.