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Online Reference Room

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A Lexington Public Library card is required to access some resources outside the library. A few resources are only available from computers at a library location.

For additional assistance, please see the database troubleshooting guide. If you are encountering errors when trying to access the databases below, click here for assistance.

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Combined Search

Search multiple databases with one click!
The LPL Quicksearch allows you to search eight databases at once!

Books and Literature

Bowker’s Books In Print Available only at library locations
Find information and reviews on books, audio books and videos. Available only to customers inside the library.
Literature Resource Center
Articles on thousands of books, authors, and literary genres from authoritative reference sources.
LitFinder
Use the Litfinder to find the full text of thousands of poems, short stories, plays or essays, as well as author biographies and explanations.
Novelist KYVL
Search over 70,000 fiction titles to find new books to read based on your interests. Provided by the Kentucky Virtual Library.

Business and Investing

Business & Company Resource Center
Company profiles, company brand information, rankings, investment reports, company histories, chronologies, and periodicals. Search this database to find detailed company and industry news and information.
Mergent Online
Business and financial information for U.S. and international public companies, including, annual reports; company histories and SEC filings.
Reference USA
Business directory information including the size, key executives and credit ratings for millions of businesses. (Click here for Norton Internet Security configuration instructions.)

Education

LearningExpressLibrary
Use these interactive practice exams to prepare for the GED, SAT, ASVAB and other academic, civil service, military and professional exams.
Live Homework Help
Students stumped by tough homework assignments are now able to receive free help from professional tutors from 2 p.m. to midnight every day.

Genealogy and History

Ancestry Library Edition Available only at library locations
Large genealogy database includes census images, vital statistics, family trees and historic records.
Biography Resource Center
Biographies of hundred of thousands of individuals, from all fields of interest and throughout history.
HeritageQuest Online
Research your family's history online using census records and rare published family and local histories. Includes PERSI, Periodicals Source Index, for genealogical and local history research magazines.

Government

CQ Researcher
The CQ Researcher is your complete source for in-depth analysis reporting on the most current and controversial issues of the day.
CQ Supreme Court Collection
CQ Supreme Court Collection blends historical analysis with timely updates and expert commentary of Supreme Court decisions, biographies of Supreme Court justices, Supreme Court institutional history, and the U.S. Constitution.
CQ Washington Information Directory
The CQ Washington Information Directory brings together contact and descriptive information on more than 10,000 federal government offices, regulatory agencies, congressional committees, judicial offices, public interest groups, nongovernmental organizations, and international organizations.

Health and Medicine

Health & Wellness Resource Center
Use this database to research topics in health and medicine, medications, and wellness. Includes encyclopedias, directories, medical dictionary, magazines, journals, and newspapers.

Kids

Searchasaurus Available only at library locations KYVL
Searchasaurus is the friendly blue dinosaur and children''s interface for EBSCO''s Primary/Elementary Search and Middle School Search databases. Provided by the Kentucky Virtual Library. Available only to customers inside the library.
TumbleBook Library

Law

CQ Supreme Court Collection
CQ Supreme Court Collection blends historical analysis with timely updates and expert commentary of Supreme Court decisions, biographies of Supreme Court justices, Supreme Court institutional history, and the U.S. Constitution.
Thomson Gale Legal Forms
A wide selection of Kentucky (and some multi-state) legal forms across the most popular legal areas, including real estate contracts, wills, pre-marital agreements, bankruptcy, divorce, landlord tenant and many others. Also included is an attorney state directory and a dictionary of legal definitions explained in laymen''s language. *DISCLAIMER:* All forms in this database are provided without any warranty as to their legal effect. Library staff are not qualified to give legal advice, including selecting the correct form for your case. Please consult an attorney if you have any questions. The products offered by Thomson Gale Legal Forms are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.

News

Facts.com
News and current events information including photographs, maps, articles and documents from 1980 to the present.
Newsbank
Searchable full-text archive of selected national and regional newspapers, including the Lexington Herald Leader and the Louisville Courier-Journal. An index of Obituaries and Death Notices is also available.

Ready Reference

Kentucky Encyclopedia Web Edition
The Kentucky Encyclopedia was commissioned to mark the bicentennial of statehood in 1992. Its 2,000-plus entries are the work of more than five hundred writers. Their subjects reflect all areas of the commonwealth, and this standard reference tool pulls together facts about the people, places, things, and events of the Bluegrass State. The web edition of The Kentucky Encyclopedia contains all the entries in the print edition enhanced for the online environment. It was created and is maintained by the University Press of Kentucky and Morehead State University.
Kentucky Virtual Library KYVL
Access to library catalogs and 40+ databases, including encyclopedias. Designed to support the KY Virtual University, but helpful for college and high school students and citizens of Fayette County.

Periodical Indexes

EBSCO Host KYVL
Search for full text and abstracts of periodical articles covering the fields of sociology, religion, psychology, education, agriculture, health and more. Provided by the Kentucky Virtual Library.
InfoTrac
Periodical indexes with many full text articles from thousands of magazines. Covers general interest, business and health.
OCLC FirstSearch KYVL
Search tool for the OCLC FirstSearch databases, provided by the Kentucky Virtual Library.