A to Z

Click on the titles below to access RPL’s digital resources. Click on the video to watch a short tutorial.

A

ABCmouse REMOTE
ABCmouse is a digital learning platform for children ages 2–8. Animated activities include math, science, art and colors, social studies, reading and writing, music, and more! Now available outside the library.

ADULT ONLINE HIGH SCHOOL
This nationally accredited program allows adult students the opportunity to earn an accredited high school diploma—not a GED—while gaining career skills in one of ten employment fields across a wide spectrum.

ARCADIA PUBLISHING AND HISTORY PRESS COLLECTION
This Arcadia Publishing and History Press collection features titles focusing on the history of Illinois towns and significant events in the state’s past. This collection of Illinois literature is available through Inkie.Org, which provides a suite of resources to all Illinois libraries and citizens free of charge.

AUTO REPAIR SOURCE
Auto Repair Source provides library users with the most accurate, authoritative and up-to-date “do-it-yourself” service and repair information for thousands of domestic and imported vehicles.

AHFS DRUG GUIDE
The AHFS Drug Guide located within Consumer Health Complete provides a quick and easy list of prescription drug-related information.

ANCESTRY LIBRARY (In-library access only)
Search U.S. Immigration records, birth records, marriage records, death records, and U.S. Census records to find ancestors. Includes Rockford City Directories from 1869-1960. To access these city directories from the Ancestry site, select Card Catalog under Search near the top of the screen. Then search by title for the U.S. City Directories. Then select the U.S. City Directories, 1821-1989 from the search results. On the right side of the screen, under Browse this collection, use the state, city, and year filters to access the Rockford city directory of your choice.

ARTICLE FIRST
Index of articles from the contents pages of journals covering medicine, business, humanities, popular culture, science, technology, and social science.
*Login using your library card number, then select this catalog from the drop-down list.

B

BLACK LIFE IN AMERICA
Black Life in America: Provided through NewsBank, Black Life in America archives the experience and impact of African Americans as recorded by the news media. Covering the early 18th century to the early 21st, it covers an array of topics including slavery and flights to freedom, voting rights and voter suppression and disenfranchisement, among many others.

C

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE HISTORICAL ARCHIVE
Images and full text of historical international, national, regional, and local issues and events, such as major wars and military actions, emerging nations, prohibition, Chicago gangsters, the Great Depression, and Chicago as the center of the Progressive movement. Full text of death notices and obituaries.

CLOUDLIBRARY
cloudLibrary is a downloadable audio and digital book service available to all RPL cardholders. All that is needed is to install the free reader software, and then enter an active RPL library card number to access. Titles automatically expire, so there are no last-minute trips to the library or late fees. They can be read or listened to from the convenience of home, work, or a portable device.

CLOUDLIBRARY KIDS
cloudLibrary is a downloadable audio and digital book service available to all RPL cardholders. Titles are available for kids as well as adults. Recommended titles of new children’s fiction are available for check out in easy-to-access lists.

CONSUMER HEALTH COMPLETE
This database covers a full range of health-related topics, such as aging, cancer, diabetes, drugs & alcohol, fitness, children’s health, men & women’s health, etc.

CREATIVEBUG
Creativebug provides unlimited access to thousands of online arts and crafts videos and classes, on both the web browser and the mobile app. There are projects for expert crafters as well as fun activities to do with kids for knitting, quilting, cooking, painting, and much more.

THE CRUSADER
The Crusader was produced by Mr. Joseph Scott Saunders, Jr specifically to bring balance to Rockford’s news offerings and to report about the African-American experience within the Rockford community, covering from 1951 to 1958.

D

DMV PRACTICE TESTS
Find official driving handbooks and practice tests that resemble the official DMV tests.

E

EBSCO
EBSCOhost is an intuitive online research platform containing articles, magazines, journals, and books. It is now used by thousands of institutions and millions of users worldwide. Users can quickly find information and easily choose between databases to perform detailed searches.

EBSCO ESPANOL
EBSCOhost is an intuitive online research platform containing articles, magazines, journals, and books. It is now used by thousands of institutions and millions of users worldwide. Users can quickly find information and easily choose between databases to perform detailed searches. Available in Spanish.

ELECTRONIC COLLECTIONS ONLINE (ECO)
ECO is a collection of scholarly journals, including topics such as agriculture, history, literature, and psychology.

ERIC
The Education Resources Information Center is an Internet-based bibliographic and full-text database of education research and information. Sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education.

EXPLORA FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES
Explora is EBSCO’s interface for Schools and Public Libraries. Explora supports both student research and classroom instruction by combining many of its research databases into one easy search, providing suggestions for topics and areas of study.

EXPLORA FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
Explora for Elementary Schools is a full-text database of carefully curated content for elementary school libraries. Combining all of its resources into an easy search, this platform includes full text for the most popular children’s magazines, e-books, and easy-to-read encyclopedic entries written specifically for kids.

F

FEDERAL STUDENT AID APPLICATION
Federal Student Aid, a part of the U.S. Department of Education, is the largest provider of student financial aid in the nation. Through it, users can understand aid, apply for aid, and manage their student loans.

FIERO CODE
Fiero Code is a self-paced learn-to-code software program for kids ages 8-18. Through fun and engaging tutorials and projects, Fiero Code teaches kids coding languages ― such as HTML, CSS, Python and JavaScript ― that they can use to build their own websites, video games, apps, animations and more.

FOUNDATION DIRECTORY ONLINE (In-Library Access Only)
Foundation Directory Online (FDO) is Foundation Center’s research tool to help nonprofits find the grantmakers most likely to fund their projects. It provides information and funding history for 140,000+ foundations, corporations, and federal agencies.

FREEGAL
The Freegal is a completely free and legal way to access a collection of almost 7 million songs via the Rockford Public Library. Freegal offers many of today’s top artists, a retrospective collection, and music from around the world.

FLIPSTER
Flipster is an easy-to-use digital magazine newsstand. Available across multiple devices, it offers top magazines that cover a variety of user needs and interests.

FUNK AND WAGNALLS NEW WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA
Funk and Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia provides access to over 25,000 records, including images and brief biographies, on an array of topics.

G

GALE BUSINESS: Demographics Now
Gale Business DemographicsNow connects users with a wealth of highly detailed demographic data on more than 24 million U.S. businesses and 206 million consumers. This allows users to easily produce a variety of compiled reports to help make informed decisions.

GALE BUSINESS: Entrepreneurship
Gale Business Entrepreneurship provides authoritative periodical and reference content to support prospective and current entrepreneurs as well as business students. it is divided into four key stages- plan, fund, start and manage.

GALE BUSINESS: Plan Builder
Gale Business Plan Builder is a step-by-step online planning tool for starting, managing, and optimizing a business or nonprofit. The program’s dashboard walks users through five areas of exploration to develop a business plan focused on long-term success.

GALE COURSES
Gale Courses provides more than 360 six-week-long, online programs taught by college instructors. These programs include content such as professional development, technology, and personal enrichment courses.

GALE LEGAL FORMS
Gale LegalForms offers a selection of state-specific legal forms that may be customized for the most common legal procedures. Includes wills, premarital agreements, bankruptcy, divorce, landlords and tenet agreements, copyrights, patents, licenses, and more.

Gale Presents Peterson's Test and Career Prep

GALE PRESENTS: PETERSON’S TEST AND CAREER PREP
Digital exam and career prep resources can help students and users be better prepared down the road for both college and their careers, using tools such as standardized test preparation, personalized career assessments, and more.

Gale Presents Udemy

GALE PRESENTS: UDEMY
With Gale Presents Udemy, users can access more than 12,000 video-based courses in business, technology, software, and personal development through a curated collection from one of the world’s leading online learning platforms.

H

HERITAGE HUB
Provided through NewsBank, HeritageHub includes over 300 years of historical newspapers, books, pamphlets, and government records. Search over 1,000 newspapers and find obituaries, birth and marriage notices, pension records, and more.

HERITAGE QUEST
Find ancestors using census records from 1790-1930, Revolutionary War files, Freedman’s Bank, and other resources.

HISPANIC LIFE IN AMERICA
Provided through NewsBank, Hispanic Life in America chronicles the experience and impact of Hispanic Americans as recorded by the news media, 1704 to today. This primary source collection portrays centuries of Hispanic American history, culture, and daily life – as well as the ways the dominant culture has portrayed and perceived people of Hispanic descent.

HOBBIES AND CRAFTS SOURCE
This database offers detailed “how-to” instructions and creative ideas to meet the interests of virtually every hobby enthusiast. Full text is provided from leading hobby and craft magazines.

HOME IMPROVEMENT SOURCE
Find detailed information and guides to undertaking a variety of home improvement projects. Includes articles about decorating, electrical, plumbing, outdoor, and remodeling projects.

HOOPLA
Hoopla is a groundbreaking digital media service offered by RPL that allows users to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, comics, and TV shows to enjoy on the computer, tablet, phone, and even the TV.

I

ILLINOIS COMPILED STATUTES
Users can find out information about laws in Illinois, current Senate and House members, and read the Illinois Constitution.

ILLINOIS JOB LINK
IllinoisJobLink.com is the state’s help wanted internet job board managed by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, featuring Resume Builder and Resunatee.

N

THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Rockford Public Library now offers free 24 hour access passes to all New York Times content for active library card holders. Wherever you are, get access to quality news, cooking, games, sports news, and more, on both the web browser and mobile apps.

When inside the library and connected to the library wifi, you can simply go to The New York Times website or download and open a New York Times app (including The New York Times Cooking, Audio, and Games apps). Once there, click “Sign In” in the top right and enter your information. You will be prompted either to sign in or create an account.

When outside of a library you can activate a 1-day pass using the link below. Offsite access requires the creation of a New York Times account using a valid email address. After your pass expires, you can re-authenticate your access to The New York Times again. Get a 1-Day pass to The New York Times. 

NEWSBANK
The electronic editions of local, regional, historical, and national U.S. newspapers. Newspapers from all across the United States are updated daily. Includes international newspapers covering historical and modern events.

NOVELIST
NoveList is a comprehensive readers’ advisory resource, providing information about award winners, read-alikes, expert recommendations, complete series, and discussion guides.

NOVELIST K-8
NoveList K-8 is a database of book recommendations for younger members of the community. It provides information about read-alikes, complete series, reading levels, recommended reading lists, and resources for parents.

P

PAPERS FIRST
Papers First is an index of papers presented at conferences worldwide.
*Login using your library card number, then select this catalog from the drop-down list.

PROCEEDINGS
An index of worldwide conference proceedings.
*Login using your library card number, then select this catalog from the drop-down list.

ProDemand (MITCHELL REPAIR)
ProDemand® delivers complete OEM repair, estimating & maintenance information, along with exclusive real-world knowledge in a single lookup, to help automotive technicians repair vehicles more accurately and efficiently.

PROQUEST NEWSSTAND
Search current and archived coverage of issues, events, people, government, sports and more with the largest collection of full-text U.S. newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune.

R

REFERENCE SOLUTIONS
Formerly known as ReferenceUSA, Reference Solutions by Data Axle has information on over 70 million U.S businesses and over 89 million households. Users can search for jobs, locations, and industry opportunities.

ROCKFORD HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS ARCHIVE
Digitized Rockford newspapers dating back to 1871. The database includes Daily Register, Daily Register-Gazette, Morning Star, Register Star, Register-Republic, Republic, Rockford Journal, Rockford Weekly Gazette, and Rockford Weekly Register-Gazette.

ROCKFORD REGISTER STAR
Find full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people, and much more from current and archived issues of The Rockford Register Star. Updated daily, it includes obituaries, editorials, announcements, sports, real estate, and more.,

RPL’s CATALOG
An index of all of our library resources, in print and digital.

RPL RESUME BUILDER
A free resource to help users quickly and easily build their resumes.

S

S&P CAPITAL IQ
The S&P Capital IQ database features market investment news, including detailed screening options for companies and equities, as well as market outlook and analysis articles, industry surveys, comparison charting, and investment advice.

SCIENCE REFERENCE SOURCE
Science Reference Source provides high quality videos and images as well as the full text for hundreds of science magazines, journals, and reference books. The database also contains science experiments and curriculum-aligned lesson plans.

T

TEACHER REFERENCE CENTER
A complimentary research database for teachers, Teacher Reference Center (TRC) provides indexing and abstracts for more than 230 peer-reviewed journals.

TUMBLEBOOK LIBRARY
TumbleBook Library is a curated database of children’s eBooks, designed specifically for kids three to six. It has over 1100 titles, and includes unique animated talking picture books, read-along chapter books, national geographic videos, and more!

U

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
Covers all types of U.S. government documents, including Congressional reports, hearings, debates, and records; judiciary materials; and documents issued by executive departments.

UNITED STATES TAX FORMS AND PUBLICATIONS
Tax forms are made available through the Internal Revenue Service.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MANUAL
As the official handbook of the Federal Government, the United States Government Manual provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches.

V

VALUE LINE INVESTMENT SURVEY
The Value Line Investment Survey is an independent research survey of the United States stock market, covering approximately 1,700 stocks. They have information on companies, industries, markets, and economies to help users make informed investment decisions.

W – Z

WEISS FINANCIAL RATINGS
Weiss Financial Ratings is an independent financial rating company that assesses the value and security of stocks, mutual funds, banks, credit unions, Medigap supplemental insurance plans, and insurance companies. They also provide free Merck Manuals guiding users on a variety of financial topics, like initial investing, home ownership, and more. Users can create personal accounts for customized watch lists and searches.

WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA
World Book Encyclopedia Online is an online database that provides scholarly articles, primary and secondary source documents, eBooks, images, videos, and more on a variety of subjects.

WORLDBOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR KIDS
With thousands of articles, multimedia content, and a collection of biographies, World Book Kids is designed to encourage the young learner to be curious. The carefully curated content also supports STEM/STEAM instructional initiatives.

WORLD BOOK ONLINE MOBILE
Contains more than 25,000 encyclopedia articles as well as magazine articles, a dictionary, pictures, sounds, and videos.

WORLDCAT
WorldCat.org lets users search the collections of libraries in their community and thousands more around the world. Through WorldCat, it is possible to search and request popular books, music CDs and videos, audiobooks, and eBooks.

WORLDCAT MOBILE
An extensive online catalog of books, audiovisual items, Internet resources, and other materials held by libraries worldwide.

YOUR MONEY AND ADVICE
Provided by the Better Business Bureau of Chicago & Northern Illinois in cooperation with the Financial Planning Association of Illinois, this guide offers various information on financial services.