Accessing Databases
There are two ways to access Melbourne Library Service databases. If you know the name of a specific database you want to use then simply click here for an alphabetical list of databases by name which you can access yourself with your library barcode number.
There are also databases that are only able to be accessed within our libraries using a login and password provided by staff,
click here for an alphabetical list of databases that can only be accessed in the library.
If you are unsure of which database to use then simply click on one of the subject categories below and you will be taken to the database that contains the most relevent information on that subject.
Databases by Name - accessible in the library, from home or work
These databases are available for any Melbourne Library Service member to use from any computer that has an Internet connection and a web browser, such as MS Internet Explorer. Some will need your
library barcode to access them only if you are using them from outside the library, while some will require a library barcode whether accessing them from within the library or from home.
Access only from within the LibraryTo access these databases you will require the library staff to log you in and they can only be used within the library. Staff will not provide the passwords for home use.
Magpies, The Source (only within library, password required)
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Art and Music
Grove Art Online:
Grove Art Online provides web access to the entire text of The Dictionary of Art (1996, 34 vols.) in addition to
links to many international museums and galleries.
Grove Music:
Provides the complete text to the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Also provides links to images, digital
sound and related sites.
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Biography Resource Centre:
A comprehensive database of biographical information on almost 275,000 people from throughout
history, around the world, and across all disciplines and subject areas.
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition:
Australia's pre-eminent dictionary of national biography which contains
over 10,000 scholarly biographies of significant Australians who died before 1980.
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Business
Safari E - Books online: Management, e-business and professional development titles covering all aspects of information technology, e-business, multimedia, desktop publishing and applied sciences, over 200 books online.
Who's who in Business in Australia - (Username - 428748 ; no password required): A comprehensive directory of individuals and organizations in Australian business.
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Careers
VOCED: VOCED is a research database for technical and vocational education and training. It is an international database of research abstracts with a special focus on Australia and the Asia Pacific region. VOCED is a free database that contains over 30,000 English language records, many with links to full text documents.
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Community Information
Infoxchange Service Seeker: The Infoxchange Service Seeker contains details on over 110 000 government and non-government services and agencies in Victoria. The update cycle is weekly with the goal of all information being updated twice each year.
Australian Bureau of Statistics - ABS: The Statistics section of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) web site gives you access to the full range of ABS statistical and reference information. It is updated weekdays at 11:30am, Canberra time. Everything on the ABS web site is accessible free of charge.
Family & Society Plus Text: full text family information service. It provides access to published research materials including journal articles, conference papers, books, government publications, research reports, discussion and working papers, statistical documents, annual reports, bibliographies and theses.
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Computers and E-Literacy
Safari E - Books online: Management, e-business and professional development titles covering all aspects of information technology, e-business, multimedia, desktop publishing and applied sciences, over 200 books online.
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Consumer Information
Price-It Collectibles: An antiques and collectibles pricing database that allows the experienced antiques dealer and the novice collector to identify, research and price art, antiques and collectibles.
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English Language Learning Online
There are 3 easy-to-use programs that can be accessed from home or the library. To use these programs from home you will need to type in your library card number at the prompt.
The library also has books, kits and audio visual materials for loan to help you learn English.
Tense Buster Online – break through the grammar barrier!
This program will help improve your grammar. It covers all grammar areas and includes practice exercises for beginner, intermediate and advanced students of English.
Reactions! Reading Skills
This program will help you with reading and vocabulary skills. It is based around a variety of texts including articles, broadcasts, quizzes, letters, recipes, stories, newsletters and advertisements. It is suitable for beginner, intermediate and advanced students.
Study Skills Success – academic study skills
This program is for students in upper secondary and higher education who wish to improve their academic study skills. It can also help you to prepare for IELTS and TOEFL. Each unit includes presentation and practice activities.
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General Reference
Britannica Online: This has over 123 000 articles from Encyclopedia Britannica and various journals, 27 000 photo's and illustrations, 3,300 video and audio clips.
Gale Virtual Reference Library: provides access to more than 1,000 electronic reference titles — eBooks — in virtually any subject area including health, medicine, science, art, history, business, biography and more.
Gale Powersearch: Search 'General OneFile', 'Gale Virtual Reference Library', 'Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center' all at Once.
Issues & Controversies: helps researchers understand the crucial issues we face today, exploring more than 800 hot topics in business, politics, government, education, and popular culture. Updated weekly, with links to a 12-year back-file, Issues and Controversies offers in-depth articles made to inspire thought-provoking debates. This database is great for research papers and debate prep.
Oxford Reference Online: Contains over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press, with an expanding range of key titles in the acclaimed Oxford Companions series plus the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. This means 140,000 entries, including 50,000 longer, in-depth, signed entries with bibliographies.
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center: Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center draws on the social issues series published by Greenhaven Press, as well as core reference content from other Gale and Macmillan Reference sources to provide a complete one-stop source for information on social issues. Access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, and full-text magazine and newspaper articles.
Masterfile Premier: This database provides full text for many general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1975. Covering virtually every subject area of general interest, MasterFILE Premier also includes over 300 full text reference books, nearly 100,000 biographies, 76,000 primary source documents, and an image collection of 116,000 photos, maps and flags.
ANZ Reference Centre: A comprehensive database of Australian and international reference titles, ANZ Reference Centre also includes over 20 titles from Australian Consolidated Press. An excellent database for research on any topic, including sports, current affairs, politics, technology, nature and much more.
InfoTrac OneFile: Is a comprehensive periodical resource that puts more than 60 million articles at your fingertips with a single search query. More than 11,000 titles and backfile coverage from 1980. InfoTrac OneFile covers a diverse set of topics, including humanities, education, business, science, current events, art, politics, economics, social science, law, health care, computers,technology, environmental issues, and general interest topics.
Macquarie Dictionary and Thesaurus: The online service gives you access to the Macquarie Dictionary and Thesaurus Fourth Edition with over 112,000 headwords covering English as it is used in Australia, from the colourfully colloquial to the highly technical. Etymologies for some of the more interesting phrases in English. For example, where does `save someone's bacon' come from? And what about 'on the wallaby'?
Thousands of new words and senses. Words are constantly coming into use in Australian English, from many different sources, they are picked up through our extensive reading program and our consultant specialists. Illustrative material from Ozcorp, Macquarie's database of Australian writing, which is being increased and updated. Regionalisms from around Australia, many gathered from Australian Word Map, a joint online project of Macquarie and the ABC, which has called on the help of Australians all over the country to identify regionalisms from their area.
Oxford Language Dictionaries: are a fully searchable, completely comprehensive bilingual dictionaries with unique study materials that provide extra help with learning and using Chinese, French, Italian, German and Spanish.
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Health
Health and Wellness Resource Centre: Covers areas of health, medicine and alternative medicine.
Consumer Health Complete: Provides content covering all areas of health and wellness from mainstream medicine to the many perspectives of complementary, holistic, and integrated medicine. This full text database covers topics such as aging, cancer, diabetes, drugs & alcohol, fitness, nutrition & dietetics, men’s & women's health, and children's health.
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Literature and Books
Austlit: Provides authoritative information on hundreds of thousands of creative and critical Australian literature works relating to more than 75,000 Australian authors and literary organisations. Its coverage spans 1780 to the present day.
Book Flix: 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. BookFlix was developed in collaboration with Weston Woods Studios and engineered by Grolier Interactive.
Global Books In Print: A database of over 4 million titles that are available and over 165,000 publishers, distributors, wholesalers and book agents. Access over 450,000 full text Reviews.
Libraries Australia: Search across Australian public and academic Library catalogues.
Magpies, The Source (only within library, password required): Searchable database about books for children.
Non-Fiction Connection: features narrative nonfiction (titles with characters, storylines and drama that read much like a traditional novel). Find a title similar to one you already read and liked, or search by keyword, genre, topic, time frame, setting, and more.
Novelist: A fiction database that provides subject heading access, reviews, annotations, and much more for over 125,000 fiction titles. It also includes other content of interest to fiction readers, such as Author Read-alikes, What We're Reading, Book Discussion Guides, BookTalks, and Annotated Book Lists.
Fiction Connection: Allows patrons to search similar titles by entering the title of a book they already know they enjoy, or browsing by location, topic, character, genre, timeframe, or setting.
Good Reading Magazine Online: An Australian resource with information on “Everything About Books” including thousands of easy to read independent book reviews and lots of interesting Australian and International articles, author profiles, stories on writers’ houses, bookshops, short stories, book trivia and more.
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Local History
Picture Victoria: The primary focus of Picture Victoria is to provide a single portal for access to pictorial and photographic collections held in Victoria's public libraries.
Picture Australia: Is a service hosted by the National Library of Australia to provide a single access point to the digitised pictorial collections held in the collections of libraries, museums, galleries, archives, universities and other cultural agencies, in Australia and abroad.
Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition: Australia's pre-eminent dictionary of national biography which contains over 10,000 scholarly biographies of significant Australians who died before 1980.
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Media and Newspapers
ANZ Reference Centre: A comprehensive database of Australian and international reference titles, ANZ Reference Centre also includes over 20 titles from Australian Consolidated Press. An excellent database for research on any topic, including sports, current affairs, politics, technology, nature and much more.
Australian Newspapers BETA search service: The BETA service is freely available to the public and currently contains 73,000 out of copyright newspaper pages (approx 730,000 individual articles) from 1803 onwards.
InfoTrac OneFile: Is a comprehensive periodical resource that puts more than 60 million articles at your fingertips with a single search query. More than 11,000 titles and backfile coverage from 1980. InfoTrac OneFile covers a diverse set of topics, including humanities, education, business, science, current events, art, politics, economics, social science, law, health care, computers,technology, environmental issues, and general interest topics.
Library Press Display: is a digital solution brought to you by NewspaperDirect, Inc. - the world leader in out-of-market newspaper and magazine distribution, enabling publishers to reach their readership through innovative digital and networking solutions.
Margaret Gee's Media Guide (username - 428748 ; password - mgcom) Contains detailed information on every major Australian media outlet - from television stations and newspapers through to press agencies.
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Online Journals
A-Z Journal List: Electronic magazines we subscribe to. Check here to see if we have a title you are looking for.
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Science
Science Resource Centre: Reference material from 58 titles including the Gale Encyclopedia of Science and the UXL Encyclopedia of Science, over 200 full text magazines and academic journals, links to 500 websites and 8000 multimedia records.
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