Homework Help
Having trouble with your homework? Here is a list of databases available to help you from home arranged by the type of assignment. If you need a live person to help you with your homework, check our program calendar for homework help at different library branches. If you can't find what you are looking for, please call your local branch. If you are a teacher and would like to arrange for a librarian to come to your school and show how to use any of these resources, teach information literacy skills, or talk about online safety, please call 560-0111 or email kmakens@dconc.gov.
Biographies for Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Native American History, or Women's History Month
Credo 
If you know the name of the person you are looking for and only need a short article from a reliable source, this may be a good choice. Credo will generate APA, MLA or Chicago Manual citations.
Controversial Topics
Do you have an assignment where you need to argue your point of view on a controversial issue such as gun control, then these two databases will give you many reliable sources.
CQ Researcher 
Explains both sides of controversial issues in the news and gives reliable facts to let you decide for yourself how you feel about a topic. These are the same articles which appear in the print version of CQ Researcher. This database will also generate its own citations in APA, Bluebook, Chicago Manual or MLA format.
SIRS Knowledge Source
A comprehensive portal offering centralized access to all SIRS products which target the needs of students with best-of content selected to support research, study, and homework in key curricula subjects.
Countries and Cultures
Do you need information about how life was during a certain time period, and/or a certain country? Do you need quick facts about a country?
Funk & Wagnalls New World Encylopedia
Reliable, factual information about a country.
Daily Life Online
See what life was like in different countries and different time periods from the 4th century CE. Includes clothing, food, holidays, religion, stories and most other aspects of life.
Learning a Foreign Language
Transparent Language Online
Formerly known as Byki, Transparent Language Online is a rapid learning system employing spaced interval repetition. The learning method takes users through a series of simple steps to memorize words and phrases in a new language, including their meanings and proper pronunciation, in the shortest possible time.
Credo
Do you need a foreign language dictionary? Get dictionaries in nine different languages translated to English. Click on bilinguals after entering Credo to see the foreign language dictionaries.
Literary Criticism
Literary Reference Center
Provides scholarly articles and criticism, biographies, author interviews, a history timeline, and the full text of public domain novels, short stories, and poems.
Magazine and Newspaper Articles
If you need an article from a local paper from 1990 to the present, or from the New York Times from 1980 to the present, you can start here. If you need an older article, come in to the Main Library on the second floor for help. This is a small list of what is available, if you need more help, please come in or call your local branch.
Magazine and Journal Title List
Check here to see if NCLive carries a particular magazine or journal title that you would like to read online. If you can't find the right title, ask a librarian or call 560-0110 for help.
MAS Ultra - School Edition
Contains full text for more than 500 popular, high school magazines including America’s Civil War, American Heritage, American History, Archaeology, Astronomy, Bioscience, Careers & Colleges, Civil War Times, Congressional Digest, Discover, Economist, History Today, Nation, National Review, New Republic, New Scientist, Popular Science, Science News, Scientific American, Smithsonian, World War II, etc. All full text articles are assigned a reading level indicator (Lexiles).
Newspaper Source Plus
Provides cover-to-cover full text for 149 national & international newspapers, including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Times (London), The Age, The Australian, The Toronto Star, The Irish Times and others. The database also contains selective full text for more than 410 U.S newspapers, including The Chicago Tribune, The Detroit Free Press, San Jose Mercury News, etc.
In addition, full-text television & radio news transcripts are provided from CBS News, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, National Public Radio (NPR), etc.
Wall Street Journal
Includes the full text of the Wall Street Journal from the 1984 to the present.
North Carolina and Local History
North Carolina Collection 
Durham County Library has a large archive which can help with many local history questions. While some of the collection is available on the website, some things are only available in the building. Please call 560-0171 if you have any questions.
North Carolina Encyclopedia
This is a good place to get reliable information about the state of North Carolina. Maintained by the North Carolina State Library.
Science Fairs
Credo
Contains the full text articles from many different reference books devoted to all areas of science including astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, geology, physics and more. While you will not find suggetions for science experiments, you can find the background information you need for your project after you have decided on your topic.
Gale Virtual Reference Library
Contains the Gale Encyclopedia of Science, Encyclopedia of Biomes, and more. This is a good place to get quick, reliable information about most science topics.
NetLibrary
Not sure what you want to do for your science fair project? This is a good place to start. NetLibrary has science fair project books for students in elementary school through high school. Just click on subject in the search box, and type science projects for your search.
Test Preparation
Learning Express
Are you going to take the SATs, ACTs, or AP exams, or are you struggling in school and need to practice skills for the North Carolina End of Course Exams? This database has free online classes and practice exams to help you score higher?
Last Update: November 29, 2012
