Research Databases and Websites by Subject
Arts
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The Australian Music Centre (AMC) is the national service organisation dedicated to the promotion and support of art music in Australia. The AMC houses and curates the most comprehensive catalogue of Australian music, a living collection of scores, recordings, research papers, teaching kits, classroom materials and aggregated media.
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Find a variety of information from major cooking and nutrition magazines as well as key reference titles.
Books, Reading and Literature
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Looking for a good book? Answer the age-old question, 'What do I read next?'.
Search and match reading interests to books, authors, genres, or topics.
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Find book reviews and recommendations, and keep track of your reading on this popular free website.
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Gale Literature Resource Centre is a comprehensive database that allows users to find up-to-date biographies, overviews, full-text criticisms, audio interviews, and reviews on writers from all eras.
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National Library of Australia's combined catalogue of Australian library collections: books, images, historic newspapers, reports and more.
Consumer Issues
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In-Library use only.
CHOICE was founded in 1959 with one clear mission: to ensure the consumer voice is heard loudly and clearly. CHOICE empowers consumers to get the most out of all their purchasing decisions by providing a mix of advocacy and advice.
Ask for a username and password from the library service desk, then the visit the Choice Magazine website.
Encyclopedias
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With one search you can find journals, websites and more, with results from:
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- Encyclopedia Student Britannica
- Encyclopedia Junior Britannica
- Encyclopedia Concise Britannica
- Journals, websites and videos!
Health
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Get free information about drugs, alcohol and the law from the State Library of NSW.
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Find up-to-date information on a range of health care topics. Best for students, researchers, and health care professionals.
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Access full-text medical journals, magazines, reference works, multimedia, and much more. This comprehensive consumer health resource provides authoritative information on the full range of health-related issues, from current disease and disorder information to in-depth coverage of alternative medical practices for researchers of all levels.
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NSW Health is the major provider of health services to people in New South Wales. They work to provide people in NSW with the best possible health care that not only meets today’s health needs but also responds to the health needs of the future.
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Nursing and Allied Health – Gale Onefile
Research full-text titles cited in CINAHL and other resources to support specialized care, treatment, and patient management.
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Health Resource Directory connects people diagnosed with a health condition with information and resources. The information is developed from the clinical guidelines GPs use in south western Sydney.
History
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The NSW heritage inventory database has listings for more than 20,000 heritage buildings and items on statutory lists in Sydney and NSW.
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Search Sands Sydney Directory (1859–1932) for Sydney householder and business names.
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National Library of Australia's combined catalogue of Australian library collections: books, images, historic newspapers, reports and more.
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Uncover information on hundreds of the most significant people, events, and topics in world history from a variety of sources.
Legal Information
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Get free information about drugs, alcohol and the law from the State Library of NSW.
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Free legal information for the Community of NSW.
Choose a pathway to get started with your legal research. It's easy to navigate and it's written in plain English.
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Hot Topics is a plain language series about recent changes and current debates in the law.
Topics cover: Domestic Violence, Courts and Tribunals, Voting and Elections, You and Your Lawyer, The Australian Legal System, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.
Local and Family History
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Cyndi's list of major resource with links to information arranged by country and by specific topic area.
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The District Reporter is an independent, locally owned and operated country newspaper distributed weekly. Archived editions from April 2009 to present are available.
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A free online Historical Index to births (1788-1909) and Deaths (1788-1979). To search for a Marriage record (1788-1959), go to the Marriages Search page link at bottom of the page.
Start searching NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
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Several searchable databases, including convicts and assisted immigrant indexes, deceased estate files, 19th century child welfare records and naturalisation records.
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Explore the archives of the The Picton Post newspaper (NSW : 1907 - 1954).
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The Ryerson Index is an ongoing project that indexes death, funeral and probate notices and obituaries in current Australian newspapers. The index covers 1,937,847 notices from 142 different Australian newspapers (as of January 2009).
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The Wollondilly Street Name Register allows the public to search all existing road names within the Shire and view the history behind the name. The public can contribute to the Street register by providing/submitting additional or missing historical information, including photos. The public can also suggest new road names for future developments within our Shire so we can continue to preserve our local history within road names for future generations.
Multi-subject Research Databases
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Access general interest magazines and key serials in a single resource. Best for general research.
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Gale In Context: Global Issues can help us to analyze important global issues and events through topic overviews, international viewpoints, news, and multimedia content.
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Access major newspapers online to search articles instantly by title, headline, date, or other fields. Includes Australian News Limited and Fairfax newspapers.
Newspapers
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The District Reporter is an independent, locally owned and operated country newspaper distributed weekly. Archived editions from April 2009 to present are available.
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Access major newspapers online to search articles instantly by title, headline, date, or other fields. Includes Australian News Limited and Fairfax newspapers.
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Explore the archives of the The Picton Post newspaper (NSW : 1907 - 1954).
Online Learning
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Learn the basics of using digital devices and engaging with the internet with a series of free online lessons. An Australian government initiative. Sign-up to track your progress. No library card required.
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Learn a new language for free!
Mango is the award-winning online language resource giving you access to more than 70 world languages.
Mango Languages will teach you the practical grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and cultural skills of some of the world's most popular languages.
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Niche Academy videos can teach you how to start using e-books and e-audio platforms such as BorrowBox and Libby, Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and Snapchat. Gmail, Word, Excel and Powerpoint, Ancestry.com and other databases available in the Library.
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Studiosity is an ethical student tutorial service that provides advice about academic writing, referencing, sentence structure, study skills, exam preparation, online search skills, numeracy, statistics, accounting, and more.
Free for Wollondilly Library members.
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Tech Savvy Seniors provides a range of online training videos that cover topics such as smartphones, apps and Zoom in multiple languages.
Sciences and Environment
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Access leading business and technical publications in the computer, telecommunications, and electronics industries.
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Understand environmental issues that affect people globally through topic overviews, journals, news, and multimedia content.
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Find millions of articles on the practical and scientific aspects of horticulture studies. For all horticultural enthusiasts.
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Explore amazing adventures in science, nature, culture, archaeology, and space with digital books and magazines, videos and more.
Packed full of facts, pictures and activities designed to inspire and educate young minds, National Geographic Kids is available online for all Wollondilly Library Members.
Best for children aged 6–14.
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Explore this cross-searchable platform for research insight from journalism's most trusted name in exploration and discovery.
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Understand context for hundreds of science topics through overviews, journals, news, interactive experiments, and more.
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With Gale Interactive Science you can manipulate 3D interactive models to visualize and understand concepts in biology, chemistry, earth, and space science.
Social Science
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Discover the world's most influential people by searching narrative biographies, news, magazine, and multimedia content.
Training video - Using the topic page.
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The Cultural Atlas is an educational resource providing comprehensive information on the cultural background of Australia’s migrant populations. The Atlas is a collaborative project between SBS, International Education Services (IES), and Multicultural NSW. This resource aims to inform and educate the public in cross-cultural attitudes, practices, norms, behaviours and communications.
Statistics
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ID Community Statistics provides demographic and economic statistics for the Wollondilly local government area.
Community Information
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Australia's only national institution focused exclusively on the diverse history, cultures and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia.