Resources

This web site is devoted to the advancement of the science of African American Genealogy and genealogical study of other Ethnic Studies by Dr. James M. Rose, alias Dr. Roots.

American Periodicals, from the Center for Research Libraries, comes to the Evanston Public Library through a generous donation by the Malkinson Family.  American Periodicals contains digitized, full text copies of 387 publications spanning the 19th century through the dawn of the 20th century. The collection contains special interest and general magazines, labor and trade publications, scientific and literary journals, and photographic periodicals, as well as other historically significant titles. Key titles include: American Annual of Photography; The Craftsman; Electrical Age; Hampton’s Magazine;The Labor Journal; Popular Science; Woman’s Protest Against Woman Suffrage; and many more.

Because the database contains digitized images of periodical pages, researchers can see all of the original typography, drawings, graphic elements, and article layouts exactly as they were originally published.  For more information, or for help using  American Periodicals, please call the Reference Desk at 847-448-8630, or use the online chat whenever the library is open.

Search U.S. Census records from 1790-1930; Evanston city directories from 1890-93; immigration records; birth, marriage, and death records; and old telephone directories from around the country. Only available in the library.

Auto Repair Reference Center (ARRC) is the most comprehensive collection of automobile repair reference information and contains repair and maintenance information on most major manufacturers of domestic and imported vehicles. New repair procedures, TSBs and updates are added to the product on a regular basis. All of the content in ARRC has been created by ASE certified technicians.

Scholastic BookFlix is a new online literacy resource that pairs classic video storybooks from Weston Woods with related nonfiction eBooks from Scholastic to build a love of reading and learning.

Almost three million images from top international collection, rights-cleared for educational use.

Charity Navigator helps charitable givers make intelligent giving decisions by providing information on over thirty-four hundred charities and by evaluating the financial health of each . Includes article and blog on wise and effective charitable giving.

Planning major or minor repairs to your house this summer and need to find someone to do the work?  Looking for a reliable Air Condtiioning contractor?  Need your basement waterproofed? For information about Chicago-area service providers, without the expense of subscribing to Angie’s List, use your Evanston Public Library card to access Chicago Consumers’ Checkbook, and find ratings, comments and advice on services from Accountants to Window Washers and everything in between.  (You can even find ratings on physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other health care practitioners.)  Do you want to rate a firm or leave your own comment?  You can do that, too.  Consumers’ CHECKBOOK/The Center for the Study of Services is an independent, nonprofit consumer organization founded in 1974 with the help of funding from the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs.  Their purpose is to provide consumers information to help them get high quality services and products at the best possible prices.

Contains the full text of the Defender from 1989 to the present.

The Evanston Public Library is pleased to announce a new online history resource aimed at expanding the public’s knowledge of local and African American history. The Chicago Defender, one of the most respected and well–known black news sources, chronicles decades of events and stories relevant to Chicago and Evanston’s African American community. Now, Evanston residents have direct access to the early and mid-century Chicago Defender issues online.

The complete full text of this legendary paper, from 1910-1975, including every obituary, photo, advertisement and article, is available to any Evanston resident with a library card.
For any questions, please email klanigan@cityofevanston.org or call the Reference Desk at 847-448-8630.

Read the full text (minus photos and illustrations) of today’s Chicago Tribune, or browse issues back to 1980.

Chicago Tribune Historical Archives are also available.

Select Chicago Daily Tribune in the “Publications” drop-down box to search the Tribune from the 1850s-1986. Includes display ads, classified ads, obituaries, and more.

Provides content covering all key areas of health and wellness, from mainstream medicine to the many perspectives of complementary, holistic and integrated medicine. Also contains dozens of articles on a variety of teen health topics from smoking and sexting to dealing with anger and coping with divorce. “TeenTalk” articles are aimed at teens, while “How to Talk to Teens” articles provide tips to parents on starting difficult but important conversations.

The Evanston Public Library now brings you Consumer Reports Online, in addition to thousands of ratings of consumer products, you can find expert reviews and buying advice; product comparisons and video clips, and even user reviews. New and used car ratings and recommendations are also here.  Information is updated frequently, and quick recommendations are provided on most products.  Search for information about specific products and brands, or browse through the site for valuable information on all kinds of consumer goods.

Get expert product reviews free from Consumer Reports, PC Magazine, and dozens of other sources. Product categories include electronics, sports, office, kitchen, health and beauty, cars, and baby products.

Search and view the full text of eBooks on a variety of subjects.

A portal to all the Ebscohost Research Databases.

Encyclopedia Britannica online gives you three sites in one: Children; Young Adults; and the Reference Center for older students and adults. Choose the age-appropriate level that works best for you or your school age children, and conduct research, complete homework assignments, and work on special projects.  You can even store your research in your own personal “My Britannica” account. Use Britannica at home or in the library, and on any device—PC, laptop, tablet, or smart phone.  And to add colorful, sharp photos to your term paper or project, look no further than Britannica’s Image Quest.  From the aardvark to the zebra, from the abacus to the zither, you’ll find an image here.

You can also search the Spanish-language version of Encyclopedia Britannica by using Enciclopedia Moderna, or the product created just for students, Britannica Escolar.

Encyclopedia Britannica Spanish Reference Center  le ofrece recursos de referencia en español en dos interfaces exclusivas — cada una con una enciclopedia adaptada a las necesidades del lector: Enciclopedia Moderna para los estudiantes de preparatoria y universidad y Britannica Escolar para estudiantes de primaria y secundaria.

Free online version of the award winning reference work on Chicago’s history and culture.

Evanston City Directories are located in the Evanstoniana Room in the Reference Department, 3rd floor. These directories list names of residents alphabetically with occupation and names of family members living at the address. Businesses are listed alphabetically and by type of business. Most have reverse listings by street name and number.

• The Evanston Directory 1880-1905 (missing 1885, 1887 and 1889)
• Bumstead’s Evanston City and North Shore Directory 1909-1921
• Polk’s Evanston City and North Shore Directory 1922-1939 (odd years only), 1948, 1962, 1963 (last year printed)
• Directories also available online at the Internet Archive

The library’s online Evanston Review Index included in the Evanston Public Library catalog covers the years 1999-2004 with selective article indexing from 2004-2009. Obituaries, death notices and Evanston wedding/engagement announcements from current editions and articles from earlier years are continuously being added. Articles from 1925 and 1966-1972 are currently included in the index. A card file index to the Evanston Review, covering the years 1972-1999, and an obituary index, covering the years 1925-1999, are located in the Reference Department of the library.

The largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world. From the Church of Latter Day Saints Family history Library.

Gateway to several periodical databases and library catalogs, including OCLC’s WorldCat catalog of library holdings nationwide.

Foundation Directory Online and Foundation Grants to Individuals Online are databases of grant information produced by the Foundation Center. They are available for use only within the Main library at every Internet and Reference workstation, and over the WiFi network on a user’s own laptop or tablet.

Foundation Directory Online and Foundation Grants to Individuals Online are databases of grant information produced by the Foundation Center. They are available for use only within the Main library at every Internet and Reference workstation, and over the WiFi network on a user’s own laptop or tablet.

This database provides over 25,000 encyclopedic entries covering a variety of subject areas.

Search across multiple directories simultaneously. Titles include Gale Directory of Early Stage Investment, Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media, and Encyclopedia of Governmental Advisory Organizations, and many more.

More than 3,600 encyclopedias and reference sources. Topics covered: world history and culture, medicine and health, statistics, literature, business and science.

Guidestar includes information about U.S. nonprofits (including foundations) taken primarily from organization tax returns. Some foundations include links to their most recent tax return, where they are required by law to list grant recipients and the amount of funding given.

Includes family histories, genealogical serials, local histories, the U.S. Federal Census, 1790-1930, and primary sources in full images.

Offers full text from more than 1,620 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books, cover to cover full text for more than 150 leading history periodicals, nearly 57,000 historical documents, more than 78,000 biographies of historical figures, more than 113,000 historical photos and maps, and more than 80 hours of historical video.

Choose from hundreds of thousands of movies, full music albums, ebooks, audiobooks and more.  EPL cardholders can checkout 6 items per month from hoopla. New to hoopla? Read our complete, step-by-step guide to getting started with hoopla.

Searchable full-text of Illinois Issues, Illinois History, Illinois Municipal Review, Illinois Parks and Recreation, and other magazines published by the State of Illinois.

Reference ebooks for middle schoolers.

Practice tests for real estate, elementary-high school skills practice, citizenship exams, and SAT, ACT, LSAT, MCAT, GED, TOEFL, ASVAB, etc.

Providing exclusive online full text for many of the top consumer legal reference books, Legal Information Reference Center contains more than 225 full-text publications and thousands of legal forms, with more content being added on a regular basis. A majority of the full-text legal reference books are provided through Nolo, the nation’s oldest and most-respected provider of legal information for consumers and small businesses.

Features an expansive collection of author biographies, plot summaries and full-text essays from leading publishers. Also includes literary reference books and monographs; cover-to-cover full text for literary magazines; book reviews from the most prestigious publications; poems from hundreds of sources; short stories, classic texts, author interviews and much more.

Full text of the Gale 19th Century, 20th Century and Contemporary Literary Criticism volumes. Thousands of essays and commentaries on contemporary and classic literature.

Are you planning a trip abroad?  Will you need to learn some key phrases in a new language?  Do you need to brush up in a language you’ve already studied?  Mango Languages can help.  Mango’s conversational approach teaches practical, relevant content focused on four key areas of language learning: vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and culture.  Choose from more than 50 languages and get started today. You can even download the Mango app to your iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device.

Mango also provides several full-length feature films to help you immerse yourself in a new language.  Use your Evanston Public Library card to access Mango from home, or on the go.  Call the Reference Desk for help, or for more information, at 847-448-8630.

Designed specifically for high school libraries, this database contains full text for nearly 500 popular, high school magazines. MAS Ultra – School Edition also provides more than 360 full text reference books, 85,670 biographies, over 107,000 primary source documents, and an Image Collection of over 510,000 photos, maps & flags, color PDFs and expanded full text backfiles (back to 1975) for key magazines.

Provides full text for nearly 1,700 periodicals with full-text information dating as far back as 1975. Also contains full text for nearly 500 reference books and over 164,400 primary source documents, as well as an Image Collection of over 592,000 photos, maps & flags. This database is updated daily.

Mergent Archives contains the full, digitized text of Moody’s Manuals, dating back to 1909.  Research is simplified through extensive screening options and linked tables of contents for every manual, allowing you to go right to the information that matters to you.  The Archives also contain annual reports dating back to 1925, and stock analyst  reports provided by Ford Equity Research.

Mergent Intellect is a database providing basic company facts on over 20 million North American companies and over 70 million global companies, including company locations; estimated sales and number of employees; industry analysis; Dun & Bradstreet data including D-U-N-S identifier numbers, credit ratings, and corporate “family tree” details; and executive contacts and biographies.

Mergent Online provides business and financial information for over 23,000 U.S. and international companies. 30 years of historical stock prices are available. SEC filings (real-time and archived to 1993) are included for the 10,000+ NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ exchange companies. Financials for 15 years are “as reported” and can be downloaded to spreadsheet software such as Microsoft Excel.

Everyone is familiar with Morningstar’s expertise in analyzing mutual funds.  But the Morningstar Investment Research Center provides much more than mutual fund information.  You can find analysis of stocks, ETFs, and the markets in general, including market indexes, market sectors, and specific industries.  You can also access all four of Morningstar’s most popular newsletters: Morningstar DividendInvestor; Morningstar FundInvestor; Morningstar StockInvestor; and Morningstar ETFInvestor.  Back issues are available for one year.

In addition to Morningstar’s powerful stock, mutual fund, and ETF screening tools, you can also use the Portfolio tools to learn about asset allocation and goal-based investing, or to assess the amount of risk in your current investment portfolio.

Access three academic articles every two weeks thru JSTOR’s Register and Read program.

Download ebooks and eaudiobooks to your computer, phone or MP3 player.

Read the full text (minus photos and illustrations) of today’s New York Times, or browse issues back to 1980.

Select New York Times from the “Publications” drop-down box to search and print the complete text and images from the American newspaper of record from 1851-2002.

Reviews, reading guides and reading lists for all interests, covering fiction and nonfiction titles.

Novelist K-8 Plus allows you to discover fiction and nonfiction titles that are popular with young readers.

Featuring reference content and commentary by renowned scholars in areas such as global Islamic history, concepts, people, practices, politics, and culture, Oxford Islamic Studies Online brings together the best current scholarship in the field for students, scholars, government officials, and community groups to foster a more accurate and informed understanding of the Islamic world.

Additionally, the Evanston Public Library, along with about 1000 libraries nationwide, participated in a winning grant project, Bridging Cultures: Muslim Journeys that added 25 books and 3 DVDs on Muslim culture and history to our collection.

Contains 400 topics, each with an overview (objective background / description), point (argument) and counterpoint (opposing argument). Each topic features a Guide to Critical Analysis which helps the reader evaluate the controversy and enhances students’ ability to read critically, develop their own perspective on the issues, and write or debate an effective argument on the topic. Points of View Reference Center strive to provide a balance of materials from all viewpoints

Provides full text for more than 70 popular, magazines for elementary school research. All full text articles included in the database are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles), and full text information dates as far back as 1990.

Offers over 800 titles, local, regional, national and international. Included are the full text of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, and LA Times, These national titles are highly regarded and cover the nation’s news daily.
ProQuest Newsstand also has full text coverage of the Chicago Defender, Crain’s Chicago Business, and La Raza.

Create lists of new homeowners, new business licenses, foreclosures and bankruptcies anywhere in the 7 county Chicagoland area.  Outside Library, use this link

ReferenceUSA is an electronic resource that is useful for finding businesses by name, address, city, state, phone number, or type of business. You can also find 120 million residential listings here.  Who can benefit by using ReferenceUSA? Job seekers looking for companies and contact names; salespeople looking for leads or conducting market research; entrepreneurs searching for business opportunities or suppliers; consumers locating out-of-town companies; vacationers finding motels, restaurants and attractions in other cities; and anyone looking for residential or commercial telephone numbers and addresses, will all find information here. Video tutorials and webinars are available from the ReferenceUSA Learning Center.

ReferenceUSA is available from home to Evanston library cardholders, and is available to anyone visiting the library in person.

A comprehensive Spanish-language resource offering 49,000 encyclopedia entries, 50,000 images, 2,500 health reports, a Spanish-English dictionary and the full text of over 100 hundred reference books and dozens of general interest magazines in a broad array of subject areas. Its intuitive, theme-based Spanish-language interface is designed to make content readily accessible to Spanish speakers with limited online research experience. Daily updates ensure availability of the most current articles from a dozen prominent newspapers from 10 Latin American countries.

Complete text of the Salem press encyclopedias, Genetics and Psychology and Mental Health.

Includes Salem’s American history series, “The Decades,” from 1940-2000; Great Events from History, from ancient times to the present; and Milestone Documents in American History, a collection of primary source material.

E-books containing the full text of Literary Survey of Long Fiction, by Salem Press.

Complete text of Salem’s Encyclopedia of Global Resources and Encyclopedia of Global Warming.

Contains full text for nearly 640 science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, etc. Topics covered include: biology, chemistry, earth & space science, environmental science, health & medicine, history of science, life science, physics, science & society, science as inquiry, scientists, technology and wildlife.

African-American history on Chicago’s North Shore. Full-text of the only publication devoted to the history of Evanston’s African-American community. Also has a map of Evanston African-American historic sites.

Comprehensive resource for small business owners and those interested in starting a business, offering full-text periodicals and reports, sample business plans, U.S. tax forms, videos and reference books. It supports small business owners in all relevant areas from planning, financing and managing a business to exit strategies. Users also have the ability to search within specific ‘Business Topics’ and ‘Business Types’ relevant to their needs.

The ProQuest Statistical Abstract of the United States is the authoritative and comprehensive summary of statistics on the social, political, and economic conditions of the United States.

Donors Forum is the premier resource for leadership, education, research, and action on behalf of philanthropy and nonprofits in Illinois. Donors Forum enables the philanthropic and nonprofit sector to address community concerns with comprehensive information, skilled leadership and the resources necessary to build institutions and affect change.

An extensive site with an index to philanthropic literature, basic information for over 50,000 foundations, and links to the home pages of over 900 foundations.

Women’s Magazines Archive comprises the full backfiles of 14 leading women’s interest consumer magazines. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through 2005 and permits the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period.  Titles are scanned from cover to cover in high-resolution color.  Search for subjects, stories and even advertisements, or select a publication and date, and start browsing cover to cover.  Included in this resource are Better Homes and Gardens ; Chatelaine; Cosmopolitan; Essence; Good Housekeeping;  Harper’s Bazaar; Ladies’ Home Journal; Parents;  Redbook;  Seventeen;  Vogue;  WIN News;  Woman’s Day; WWD

Learn more about your family history and genealogy by searching through more than 4.2 billion records.