Databases

Find global information on business, education, the environment, health, jobs and careers, people, politics and government, social issues, sports, STEM and more including newspapers, videos and web-only content featuring Cumberland Times-News, Herald-Mail, The Sun, USA Today, international sources and more.

The Ancestry Library Edition collection has approximately 4,000 databases including key collections such as U.S. Federal Census images and indexes from 1790 to 1940; the Map Center containing more than 1,000 historical maps, American Genealogical Biographical Index (over 200 volumes); Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage (over 150 volumes); The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1630; Social Security Death Index (updated monthly); WWI Draft Registration Cards; Federal Slave Narratives; and a strong Civil War Collection.

Remote Access to Ancestry is available until December 31, 2021.

AtoZ Food America contains recipes in all course categories (appetizers, soups, salads, breads, main courses, side dishes, desserts, snacks, and beverages) for six US regions, all 50 states, and 33 ethnic cuisines.

AtoZ Food America also covers food culture for the above regions, states, and ethnic cuisines with articles such as Classic Dishes, State Foods, Top Agricultural Products, Special Occasion Foods, Ethnic and Geographic Influences, Special Ingredients, and Food Trivia.

AtoZ World food is the only food database that contains traditional recipes for international cuisine from 174 different countries! In addition to recipes and articles about unique ingredients, the database covers food culture in six different categories: National Cuisine, Regional Cuisine, Daily Meals, Dining Etiquette, Special Occasion Foods, and Food Trivia. Fully searchable by country, ingredient, or keyword, this database will answer all your international cuisine and culture questions. Happy cooking!

Beanstack is a free service provided by your local library to help families discover books and apps based on your child's age and interests. Our goal is help prepare your child for school and ensure that he or she is reading at or above grade level by third grade. All books recommended are available for free at your library.

• Access for Allegany County Library - http://alleganycountylibrary.beanstack.org (Ends June 30, 2018)
• Access for Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County - http://relib.beanstack.org (Ends June 30, 2018)
• Access for Washington County Free Library - http://washcolibrary.beanstack.org

Select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.

Scholastic BookFlix is a new online literacy resource that pairs classic video storybooks from Weston Woods with related nonfiction eBooks from Scholastic to build a love of reading and learning. The engaging way to link fact and fiction, BookFlix reinforces early reading skills and introduces children to a world of knowledge and exploration.

Guide to thousands of 2- and 4-year schools in the U.S. and Canada. Covers the expected listings and detailed descriptions, degree programs offered, scholarships, and occupational education programs.

College Navigator is your direct link to nearly 7,000 colleges and universities in the United States. If you are thinking about a large university, a small liberal arts college, a specialized college, a community college, a career or technical college or a trade school, you can find information on all of them here.

Reference eBooks are the same books that rest on our shelves, but in an electronic format. You can access them here through our database page or through our catalog by clicking chain link when you see it in the catalog record.

General OneFile provides access to more than 14,000 periodicals, newspapers, reference books, and multimedia sources, along with over 163,000 images, 6,400 audio files, and 1.3 million videos. The database is particularly useful to users conducting general reference queries, business searches, and current event research.

Brainfuse’s “HelpNow” is a comprehensive suite of tutoring services designed for a range of academic needs; whether it’s tackling a tough homework problem, learning an academic skill, or writing a term paper. “HelpNow” is available for students in grades K through Adult Learners in the following subjects: Math, Science, Social Studies, English/Language Arts that includes writing assistance and Reading Comprehension/Grammar/Vocabulary Skills Building, English Literature and Foreign Languages.

HeritageQuest Online is designed specifically for patrons in public libraries who are either just beginning their family research or who after years of work are still uncovering their past.

Access to this website must be done through the individual library website. Access for this URL will only work for Washington County Free Library users.

This newspaper index for the Civil War years, 1860 – 1865 is part of The Historic Newspaper Indexing Project which is a subject and personal name index to local and regional news, legal notices, obituaries, marriages, and advertisements published in Hagerstown, Maryland newspapers from 1790 - 1844 and 1860 - 1865. The regions covered in the index are Frederick, Washington, Allegany and Garrett Counties in Maryland; Cumberland, Adams, Fulton and Franklin Counties in Pennsylvania; and Berkeley, Jefferson and Morgan Counties in West Virginia.

hoopla is a groundbreaking digital media service offered by your local public library that allows you to borrow movies, music, audiobooks, ebooks, comics and TV shows to enjoy on your computer, tablet, or phone – and even your TV! With no waiting, titles can be streamed immediately, or downloaded to phones or tablets for offline enjoyment later. We have hundreds of thousands of titles to choose from, with more being added daily. hoopla is like having your public library at your fingertips. Anytime. Anywhere.

Checkout limit per user is 5 per month. (Not available for county Student cards.)

Access to more than 30,000 Films, for FREE! The popular on demand film streaming service Kanopy is now available for FREE at Ruth Enlow Library. Library card holders can access Kanopy and sign up to start streaming films on instantly. Films can be streamed from any computer, television, mobile device or platform by downloading the Kanopy app for iOS, Android, AppleTV or Chromecast.

Offering what the New York Times calls “a garden of cinematic delights,” Kanopy showcases more than 30,000 of the world’s best films, including award winning documentaries, rare and hard to find titles, film festival favorites, indie and classic films, and world cinema with collections from Umbrella Entertainment, Madman Entertainment, Under the Milky Way, SND Films and thousands of independent filmmakers. Kanopy is free for users with a library card from one of our Western Maryland Libraries:

• Allegany County Library System
• Ruth Enlow Library of Garrett County
• Washington County Free Library

10 play credits per month.

LearningExpress Library features online tutorials, practice tests, and e-books to help patrons of all ages. It offers job search and workplace skills improvement, skill building in reading, writing, math, and basic science, career certification and licensure exam prep, college and grad school entrance test prep, GED® test prep, and more.

Please use the access links from your local library website.

The purpose of the Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage Project is two-fold. First, the MDCH Project is a collaborative effort to digitize Maryland-related historical documents, images, audio, and video for Maryland's public libraries and cultural heritage institutions. Second, the MDCH Project website provides centralized, one-stop access to these culturally significant items that will benefit the patrons and staff of the libraries and cultural heritage institutions, as well as future generations, by promoting research, education, and tourism.

Mango Languages creates engaging language-learning experiences for individuals, libraries, schools, corporations, and government agencies across the continent and around the globe.

Casual, cultural, and conversational learning

Speak like a local in 70+ languages with practical, conversation-based language lessons for web, iOS, and Android. Learn Spanish, French, German, and more — download the free Mango app to get started.

Access should be done through your local library.  The link provided for this resource will only work inside Washington County Free Library.

MedlinePlus will direct you to information to help answer health questions. MedlinePlus brings together authoritative information from NLM, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other government agencies and health-related organizations. Pre-formulated MEDLINE searches are included in MedlinePlus and give easy access to medical journal articles. MedlinePlus also has extensive information about drugs, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, interactive patient tutorials, and latest health news.

In addition to locating books to read, users can learn more about books and authors through Feature Articles, Book Discussion Guides, and Book Talks.

NoveList K-8 contains materials for all K-8 grade levels and includes picture books, children's "chapter" books and young adult titles. Updated monthly, NoveList K-8 is your starting place for learning about the books that you and your students need and will want to read!

Browse hundreds of downloadable audiobooks! Check out and download best-selling titles to your PC, then transfer to a supported device or burn many titles to CD to enjoy anytime, anywhere.

Reference Solutions (formerly ReferenceUSA) has vital information on every business & consumer in the United States & Canada. It assists business executives in finding valuable sales leads, conducting market research or competitive analysis, and provides an avenue for businesses to do effective marketing & outreach. Students are able to reference this data for research projects and job seekers may find gainful employment. Reference Solutions provides data on businesses, consumers, healthcare providers, new movers & homeowners, as well as historical business information.

Digital Sanborn Maps, 1867-1970 provides access to more than 660,000 large-scale maps for more than 12,000 American towns and cities. Sanborn fire insurance maps are the most frequently consulted maps in libraries, and are valuable historical tools. In electronic form, Sanborn maps allow users to easily manipulate the maps, magnify and zoom in on specific sections, and layer maps from different years.The Western Maryland Sanborn Maps subscription ended on June 30, 2021. While not all of the maps are included, some maps are provided through the Library of Congress website.
Resource guide: Fire Insurance Map Research Guide

Provides more than 4,200 sources of education-related financial aid and awards at all levels of study. Includes a section on federal financial aid that features a quick summary of programs sponsored by the federal government. Also includes a state-by-state listing of agencies that users can contact in their home state.

TrueFlix™ is the only online resource that leverages the award-winning True Books content to help students hone literacy skills, build knowledge of subject-area content, and cultivate 21st Century skills through the inquiry process.

Browser Check:

Please click on the following link to make sure your computer meets the necessary technical requirements* and has the proper plug-ins installed: http://go.grolier.com/browsercheck

*TrueFlix Technical Requirements

TrueFlix streaming video and animations require a T1 connection or higher and Macromedia Flash Player 9 or higher (this is a free download at www.adobe.com).  

For PC:

• At minimum a Pentium II processor with 128 MB of RAM with Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows XP operating system.
  
• Browsers: IE 6.0 (7.0 for Windows XP) and Firefox 2.x.
  
• 15-inch monitor with the resolution set at 1024 x 768 for best viewing (will operate fine at 800 x 600) with high 16-bit colors or higher selected.

For Mac:

• Macintosh OS
  
• XBrowsers: Safari 1.0 or higher and Firefox 2.x.
• 15-inch monitor with the resolution set at 1024 x 768 (will operate fine at 800 x 600) with "thousands of colors" selected.

 TrueFlix includes numerous audio features and therefore requires speakers or headsets.

e-Books for e-Kids

Investment information and analysis to meet the changing needs of investors.

Free,  live,  online  academic  and  job  assistance  for  veterans  transitioning  to  civilian  life.

Resources include:

• Resume Review
• Job interview coaching
• Standardized test practice
• Live academic tutoring

To access VetNow remotely, you must use your local library website.

Allegany, Garrett, and Washington Counties in Western Maryland have a rich and diverse history. View images from the collections of the libraries, historical societies, and individuals in the three counties. There are photographs, newspaper articles, and indexes, rare books and more.

Features the content of The World Book Encyclopedia, plus 16 additional databases, which include an online atlas, Spanish-language encyclopedia, teacher resources, World Book Kids, images and sounds, current events, and an online version of the World Book Dictionary.