Research

Uncover your African American roots, empowered by excellent resources and devoted researchers, who have been in your shoes. Experience the satisfaction of discovering your unique story to share with everyone in your family.

Discover your family tree for free with the most popular online family history resource! Piece together your unique story searching hundreds of millions of newspapers. Discover census, immigration, and military service information. You can even find passenger lists! In-library use only.

Get the biggest bang for your buck when you arm yourself with unbiased “Consumer Reports” reviews for free! Break down your decisions on a car, laptop, refrigerator, and more to fit your budget and your lifestyle needs. With more than 8,000 expert reviews, this is one of the smartest stops to make on your buying journey.

CultureGrams® is a leading reference resource for reliable cultural information on the countries of the world. CultureGrams goes beyond basic facts and figures with local perspectives on more than 200 countries and territories, detailing daily life and culture, including history, customs, and lifestyles. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, each concise, reliable, and up-to-date report is written and reviewed by local experts, providing users with unique, intimate cultural details from a real insider’s perspective.

Specifically designed with the needs of middle school students in mind, Explora for Middle Schools includes full-text articles from popular, vocational, and trade magazines, full-text newspaper articles, along with images, videos, and primary sources.

If you are involved in educating elementary students, you can find the most popular children’s magazines, e-books, and easy-to-read encyclopedic entries here. Find material to supplement your curriculum or stimulate student interests. Full text.  Peer reviewed.  Updated daily. 1985-present.

Your students can easily find what they need for homework help or research projects right here.  Explora features reliable content from the world’s leading magazines and reference books on thousands of topics covering a wide range of subjects including art & music, literature, language arts, geography, history, social studies, world cultures & languages, science, technology, engineering, mathematics, health, and sports.

Could you have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War? Are you researching hometown heroes to honor for their service?  Your first stop for answers is the Fold3 database. Not only can you easily access military records. You can also find stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served.  

Discover fascinating history and empower your search for your family roots with free access to Ohio newspaper archives. You can read nearly 700 newspapers, dating all the way back to the 1700s. Search for family obituaries, marriages, historic events, and more! There are even newspapers in foreign languages, giving insight into the ethnic groups that form our state.

Interested in volcanoes, astronomy, or scientists like Einstein? Research to your heart’s content in hundreds of science encyclopedias, reference books, periodicals, and other sources.  Full text.