Research

Boost your research. Get help from professional librarians in person, on the phone (860-673-9712 x4), and via email.

Researching from home? The library provides access to dozens of subscription databases covering a variety of topics.  Access our databases in the library or remotely. If prompted for an ID number, enter the barcode number from the back of your Avon Library card (omit spaces).

Browse all resources:

  • A to Z Maps Online

    The world’s most comprehensive collection of downloadable maps including modern maps, historical maps, maps of exploration, geography games and video guides.  Available on library computers, or at home from the library’s website for Avon cardholders.

    From the Library & Home

     

  • AbdoZOOM Animals

    Young readers will explore 160 pages of fascinating and interactive animal content in depth! Animals can be easily filtered by geography, habitat, and classification. Topic tabs feature overviews, characteristics, life cycles, feeding habits, personality traits, history, and more. With read-along audio, beginning readers can go on an adventure with their favorite animals!

    From the Library & Home

  • AbdoZOOM Biographies

    With 160 compelling biographies to choose from, young readers will learn about the lives of important people and their contributions. Each biography is broken down into easy-to-read, chronological sections, focusing on each person’s impact, early life, rise to fame, breakthrough, legacy, and more. Enjoy a diverse list of important figures from yesterday and today, including inventors, explorers, entertainers, athletes and activists.

    From the Library & Home

  • AbdoZOOM STEAM

    Young readers can explore more than 100 topics through the lens of how they relate to Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. Each topic is broken down into sections about the five STEAM categories. Plus, a special art project helps spur creativity. With read-along audio and colorful pictures, this database is a great introduction into the wide world of STEAM!

    From the Library & Home

  • ABI/INFORM

    ABI/INFORM is a business research database that includes important full‐text journals and much sought‐after titles from the business press as well as key trade publications, dissertations, conference proceedings, and market reports.

    From the Library & Home

  • America’s News

    Search current and archived coverage of issues, events, people, government, sports and more with the largest collection of full-text U.S. newspapers. Includes staff-written articles, obituaries, editorials, announcements, real estate and other sections.

    From the Library & Home

  • America’s News Magazines

    Find information on topics of current interest including business, education, the environment, history, homeschooling, science and technology. Features Newsweek/Newsweek Global, Popular Science, Field and Stream, Mother Earth News, Science Illustrated, Smithsonian and more for homework help and current events.

    From the Library & Home

  • Ancestry

    Find census, birth, marriage and death records, newspaper and historical stories, photos, historical maps and other media.

    In Library Use Only

  • BarPrep Hero

    The Multistate Bar Examination, which is prepared and administered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, covers material relating to seven legal practice areas. They are Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property and Torts. The following practice exams incorporate those subjects into the hypothetical problem-solving, multiple choice questions.

    Website

  • Biography Reference Bank

    A comprehensive collection of more than 200,000 full text biographies, including the complete full text run of Biography Today and Biography Magazine, as well as thousands of narrative biographies that are not available in other databases.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • BookBrowse

    Exceptional books don’t just entertain, they also uplift and educate us. BookBrowse seeks out these books across a range of genres offering reviews, recommendations, articles and excerpts, and includes extensive resources for book clubs. For the latest recommendations subscribe to their twice-monthly online magazine; or browse by genre and a wide range of themes.

    From the Library & Home

  • BookFlix

    BookFlix is an online literacy resource that pairs classic video storybooks from Weston Woods with related nonfiction from Children’s Press and other trusted Scholastic imprints. It is published by Scholastic Inc.

    From the Library & Home

  • Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Practice Test

    CNA practice tests that have the same kind of questions you’ll be answering when you take the real written examination. All test questions are based on current course materials, including the 2016 National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP®), which is the written test that most states use.

    Website

  • Christian Science Monitor, 1988-present

    Searchable full text of this international newspaper from 1988 to present, provided by ResearchIt

    From the Library & Home

  • Connecticut Digital Archives

    CT Digital Archives is a collaboration between the University of Connecticut Library and the Connecticut State Library. Avon’s online local history collection is located here, as well as those of many other libraries, museums, and historical societies around the state.

    From the Library & Home

  • Connecticut Digital Collections

    CT Digital libraries provided by the Connecticut State Library, including books, letters, newspapers, photographs and more.

    From the Library & Home

  • Connecticut Post

    The Connecticut Post serves Connecticut’s largest city of Bridgeport. The paper features breaking news articles, sports, editorial, business, and lifestyle coverage for southwestern Connecticut.

    From the Library & Home

  • Consumer Reports

    Get product ratings from world famous test labs and find out which products are best buys and worst performers. Includes cars, appliances, electronics, home & garden, babies & kids, money, and more.

    From the Library

    From Home

    Back issues available online

  • CultureGrams

    Reports on 187 countries and all 50 U.S. states, including background facts, history & government, social customs & lifestyle, religion, economy, holidays, education, transportation, and even recipes!

    From the Library

    From Home

  • Driving-Tests.org

    Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles handbooks and practice tests for driving permits, motorcycle licenses and commercial drivers licenses.

    From the Library & Home

  • Explora

    Explora is a dedicated search interface for students that covers all of our EBSCO databases. A simple search quickly delivers relevant results, including articles, essays, and primary source documents.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • findIT CT

    Statewide Library Catalog – a service of the Connecticut State Library

    From the Library & Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library

    A collection of over 800 recent reference books in electronic format, covering the arts, biography, business, education, environment, history, law, medicine, science, and much more. Search by keyword across the entire collection, browse by topic, or select an individual book.

    From the Library & Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Biography Collection

    A collection of biographical e-books.

    From the Library and Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Business Collection

    A collection of reference e-books covering business, management and marketing topics.

    From the Library & Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: History Collection

    A collection of history e-books, covering US and World History, from ancient times through the 20th Century.

    From the Library & Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Literature Collection

    A collection of e-books on on literature, from Shakespeare through Suzanne Collins.

    From the Library & Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Medicine Collection

    A collection of e-books covering disease, medicine, nutrition, and all kids of health related topics.

    From the Library and Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Nation & World Collection

    A collection of e-books on the culture, politics and other issues of the US and other countries.

    From the Library & Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Science Collection

    A collection of e-books, including the Gale Encyclopedia of Science, covering several scientific disciplines.

    From the Library & Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Social Science Collection

    A collection of recent e-books on topical social issues.

    From the Library & Home

  • Gale Virtual Reference Library: Technology Collection

    A collection of e-books on current technologies, including cloud computing and electric cars.

    From the Library & Home

  • Hartford Courant-Historical, 1764-1991

    Searchable full text and images from every available issue between 1764 and 1991.

    From the Library & Home

  • Hartford Courant, 1992-present

    Searchable full text and images from every available issue between 1992 and the present.

    From the Library & Home

  • Health Source: Consumer Edition

    Consumer health information providing access to full-text consumer health magazines and reference books, including searchable full text for current health pamphlets. Covers a wide variety of subjects, including information on specific diseases as well as overall health topics. Subjects include fitness, nutrition, diabetes, aging, women’s health, children’s health and more.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • History Reference Center

    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 the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

     

  • JobNow

    JobNow provides live interactive online help and online resources to guide you through the tasks to get a job. Get help with resume writing, interviewing, building skills, and more!

    Register here

  • Journal Inquirer

    The Journal Inquirer newspaper serves Manchester Connecticut, a service, retail, employment and residential center for the eastern part of the Hartford region.

    From the Library & Home

  • LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com)

    Learn relevant, professional skills on LinkedIn Learning.  With your Avon Library card number and PIN, you can access more than 16,000 online courses in seven languages taught by expert instructors with real world experience.  Popular topics include leadership, project management, cloud computing, Microsoft products, and web development.

    For PIN problems or other technical support,  call the reference desk at 860-673-9712 x4.

    From the Library & Home

    App available: LinkedIn Learning is available in the App Store for both Android and iOS devices.  Download those from the Google Play or App Store.

    When using an app, you will be prompted for your library ID.  The library ID for Avon Free Public Library is afpl.

  • Los Angeles Times, 1985-present

    Searchable full text articles from every available issue from 1985 to present, provided by ResearchIt CT

    From the Library & Home

  • MagillOnLiterature Plus

    Produced by Salem Press, MagillOnLiterature Plus combines all of the quality content of both MagillOnLiterature and MagillOnAuthors in a fully integrated and enhanced single database. Contains biographical essays of the 2,500 most studied authors. More than 8,500 writers of fiction, poetry, drama, and essays are featured. More than 400 comprehensive essays on specific literary genres, themes and settings round out the collection. Includes a cross-referenced glossary of 1,800 literary words and phrases.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • Mango Languages

    Mango Languages teaches real conversations in over 60 languages and makes it fun too! Free mobile apps, easy progress tracking and film based learning make it one of the most popular language learning programs.

    From the Library & Home

    Apps available in the App store for both iOS and Android devices.

  • MasterFILE Premier

    MasterFILE Premier contains full text for thousands of general reference magazines and publications and covers a wide-range of subject areas including business, health, education, general science, multicultural issues and much more.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • Medline Plus

    Medical encyclopedia & dictionary, health information in Spanish, prescription & nonprescription drug information, links to clinical trials, including information from the National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health, and other health-related agencies.

    Website

  • Morningstar

    Morningstar provides data on more than 385,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 8 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets.
    From the Library
    From Home

  • New Britain Herald

    Local news, sports and information for readers throughout New Britain and surrounding district.

    From the Library & Home

  • New Haven Register

    The New Haven Register, the second-largest daily newspaper in the state of Connecticut, provides local news for the towns and cities within New Haven and Middlesex counties.

    From the Library & Home

  • New York Times – Historical, 1851-2013

    Full-text and full-image coverage of the New York Times newspaper from 1851-2013.

    From the Library & Home

  • New York Times, 1985-present

    Searchable full text and images from every available issue between 1985 and the present, provided by ResearchIt CT.

    From the Library & Home

  • NewsBank’s Special Reports

    NewsBank’s Special Reports focus on topics of current interest. They include content from sources throughout the world to provide a global perspective, current and background information, statistics, maps, images, websites, and suggested search terms. New information is added daily to featured and current reports.

    From the Library and Home

  • Newspaper Source Plus

    Provides more than 1,000 full-text newspapers, providing more than 39 million full-text articles.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • Professional Development Collection

    Professional Development Collection includes full text for more than 500 high-quality education journals, provided by ResearchItCT.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

     

  • Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA)

    Directory information for more than 20 million business and 222 million consumers.

    From the Library & Home

  • Referencia Latina

    This comprehensive Spanish-language database offers content from a variety of sources including thousands of encyclopedia entries, an inclusive collection of images, an atlas, health reports, a Spanish-English dictionary and full text for reference books and general interest magazines in a broad array of subject areas.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • Salem Press Reference Shelf

    Online copies of some of our latest reference books. Login with your library card to access from home.

    From the library & home

  • Science Reference Center

    A comprehensive research database that provides easy access to a multitude of full-text, science-oriented content.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • Small Business Reference Center

    Offers readers a collection of state-specific resources supported with demographic data and other local information. Business videos include interviews, “lessons learned” features, lectures and how-to videos to help foster success in all aspects of managing a business.

    From the Library & Home (Avon cardholders)

    From Home (non-Avon cardholders)

  • State Library’s List of Foreign Language Collections

    The Connecticut State Library maintains lists of public libraries in Connecticut that have collections in languages other than English. Libraries are included if they have what they consider substantial, active, non-English language print collections.

    From the Library and Home

  • UConn Healthnet

    Research service for consumers with personal medical questions. For Connecticut residents only. Also provides resource guides and helpful tips for doing your own research.

    From the Library and Home

  • Value Line Research Center

    Covers stocks, mutual funds, options, convertible securities and special situation stocks.

    From the Library

    From Home

     

  • Wall Street Journal, 1984-present

    Searchable full text articles from every available issue between 1984 and the present, provided by ResearchIt CT.

    From the Library & Home

  • Washington Post, 1987-present

    Searchable full text articles from every available issue between 1987 and the present, provided by ResearchIt CT.

    From the Library & Home

  • Workforce Solutions (including Job & Career Accelerator)

    LearningExpress Library’s Workforce Solutions gives job seekers the most comprehensive collection of job search and career exploration tools anywhere — all in one place and always available online. It includes resume and letter builders with targeted samples and tips, millions of job and internship postings, interviewing advice, sample occupational tests, tools to build your skills, and a personal dashboard to track users’ work.  See all that Workforce Solution offers by clicking here, or just create an account and explore.

    From the Library & Home