Databases

The California State Library offers free access to library databases to California schools at no cost through their California Online Media Program for Access and Student Success. Use this helpful web code template to design an easy access webpage for your school after set-up.

Grab-and-Go Database Activities

Please see our COMPASS - Database Exploration Kit for more information, which includes Grab-and-Go Activities to help you and your students explore the databases, as well as our Database Matrix for links and at-a-glance information about the databases. Ask us if you'd like to schedule a professional development session for library staff on getting the most from the databases.

Britannica School (K-12) (Geo-location)

• Designed at different reading levels for K-6, middle school, and high school

• Covers all subject areas 

• General reference for entries, articles, images, videos, and biographies 

Britannica Escolar (K-8) (Geo-location)

• Provides similar content as Britannica School for K-6 and middle school in Spanish 

• Escolar articles are original works, not translations

Environmental Studies (9-12+) (Geo-location)

• Covers STEM and History-Social Science

  • • • Science and social environmental topics

• Reference entries, academic/news articles, case studies, websites, images and videos 

Interactive Science (6-12) (Geo-location)

• Covers STEM

  • • • Biology, chemistry, earth science, and human anatomy

• 200+ interactive lessons, interactive and printable 3D models, and in multiple languages

National Geographic Kids (K-5) (Geo-location) 

• Covers STEM and History-Social Science

  • • • Science, nature, geography, and social studies

• National Geographic Kids magazine, ebooks, videos, and images 

The linked titles below will only work on-campus if your school district has already set up automatic IP authentication. To set up auto IP authentication, or remote off-campus access logins, follow the ProQuest setup guide at this link. 

Culture Grams (K-12) (Setup Needed)

• Covers History-Social Science

  • • • Customs and cultural information on the countries of the world

• Articles, statistics and infographics, images, videos and slideshows, maps and flags, interviews, biographies, and recipes 

SIRS Discoverer (K-8) (Setup Needed)

• Covers History-Social Science and Research and Information Literacy Skills

  • • • Current events, science, health, technology, including biographies, animals, controversial issues, and country information and statistics

• Newspaper/magazine articles, images, book excerpts, and web resources 

SIRS Issues Researcher (6-12) (Setup Needed) 

• Covers History-Social Science and Civics

  • • • Pros and cons of relevant social issues curated from over 2,000 global sources

      • National and international issues that can support issue papers and debates for secondary school students 

• Newspaper/magazine and academic articles, book excerpts, images, websites, and government sources

eLibrary and eLibrary Guided Research (6-12) (Setup Needed) 

• Covers all subject areas

  • • • Multi-disciplinary research database on common/uncommon topics

• Newspaper/magazine and academic articles, maps, images, videos, book excerpts and web resources

Central Student (9-12+) (Setup Needed) 

• Covers all subject areas

  • • • Multi-disciplinary, scholarly research database brings together some of ProQuest’s most used databases in education, humanities, psychology, science, social sciences, and news

• Newspaper/magazine and academic articles, scholarly papers, images, videos, blogs, podcasts, web resources, and government documents 

Research Companion (9-12+) (Setup Needed) 

• Covers Research and Information Literacy Skills

• Interactive multimedia tools and self-guided learning modules to aid students in key information literacy and research skills; finding, evaluating, and using information

School and Educators Complete (K-12) (Setup Needed) 

• This must be set-up per district

• All subject areas

• Ebook subscription - includes content on all subjects though much of the content is already public domain or available elsewhere on the internet

PBS Video Collection (K-12) (Setup Needed) 

• Covers all subject areas

• Videos and documentaries on all subjects such as Ken Burns' Civil War and PBS shows such as Finding Your Roots, American Experience, Nova, and Arthur

TeachingBooks/OverDrive (K-12) (Geo-location)

• Covers English Language Arts/English Language Development and History-Social Science

• Emphasis on resources for teaching literature and diversifying libraries, collections, and reading choices 

• Excellent resources, lesson plans, and activities for teaching books and literature at all levels