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Research Tools A – Z

The Library subscribes to research tools that allow you to discover reliable, accurate information sources, including newspaper and magazine articles. You will need your Bellingham Public Library barcode and PIN (usually the last 4 digits of your phone number) to login to most of the tools. To find tools by subject, please choose a subject from our Research & Learn page.

Full-text coverage of regional and national current events from news magazines including The Atlantic, Newsweek, National Review, Popular Science, and more.

Visit America’s News Magazines (NewsBank)

Remote access to Ancestry ends after Dec. 31, 2021. We will be adding Heritage Quest in 2022 to provide remote access to a genealogy resource.

Resources for genealogical and historical research in the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. Includes census, vital, church, court, and immigration records.
Visit Ancestry Library Edition

Jan. 29, 2024 – The Bellingham Herald now publishes two print issues per week. The Image Edition available via Newsbank is currently only available for print issues, so there will only be two Image Edition issues weekly. The Text edition will continue to provide daily updates from the articles published on the Herald’s website.

Find full-text articles from the Bellingham Herald for Sept. 1999 to date. Coverage includes local news, business news, sports, letters to the editor, some obituaries, and much more.
Search 1999 – current: Visit Bellingham Herald (NewsBank)

Read recent issues: Visit Bellingham Herald (NewsBank) Image Edition

Bellingham Herald is indexed from July 1, 1992 to December 31, 2005. The Bellingham Business Journal is indexed from January 1999 to December 2005. A print index for the Bellingham Herald covering January 1988 through June 30, 1992 is available at the Bellingham Public Library. (This is only an index. Searches do not search or retrieve full text articles.)
Visit Bellingham Herald Index

Some historic editions of the Bellingham Herald dating from 1903-1923 are available in the database Newspapers.com – West Collection.

Newspapers.com – West Collection

Browse or search full-text articles on local news, issues, events, people and more from current and archived issues.

Visit Cascadia Daily News – Full-text, one-day embargo. Coverage starts Jan. 23, 2022

Full-page images of weekly print edition – one-week embargo. Coverage starts Oct. 12, 2022

Find detailed maintenance, service, and repair information for thousands of domestic and imported vehicles. Includes step-by-step information, videos, diagrams, close-up photos, maintenance schedules, labor estimates, and ASE text prep quizzes for the most popular certification exams.
Visit Chilton Library

Search for Bellingham property information and create custom maps which include photos, property boundaries, location of utility services and more.
Visit City IQ Online Map Viewer – City of Bellingham

Features product ratings and reviews, buying advice and articles from the latest issues of Consumer Reports Magazine.
Visit Consumer Reports

CultureGrams has information on places and cultures, covering history, customs and lifestyles, family, recipes, economy and more. Use the World Edition for countries, States Edition for US States, Provinces Edition for Canadian Provinces, or Kids Edition for a kid’s-eye view of the world. Includes statistics, photographs, maps, biographies, video and audio.
Visit CultureGrams

ConnectED accounts must logon with the letters in their barcodes in ALL CAPS.

Content covering issues related to race in society today. Essays, articles, reports and other reliable sources provide an in-depth look at the history of race and provide critical context for learning more about topics associated with race, ethnicity, diversity and inclusiveness.

Visit Exploring Race in Society

Available only at Central Library; access is not available from home.

Foundation Directory Online provides information about grants, and about sources and recipients of grants.

Visit Foundation Directory Online [Central Library only]

Funded by a grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation

Temporary remote access to Foundation Directory Online Essential ended May 31, 2022.

Available only at Central Library; access is not available from home.
Education, scholarships, and research grants for individuals. Come to the Central Library to use Foundation Grants to Individuals, then download or email your search results.
Funded by a grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation
Visit Foundation Grants to Individuals

Available only at Central Library; access is not available from home.
A data visualization tool that is the easiest way for nonprofits and grantseekers to see who is funding what and where around the world Create maps and lists revealing patterns of funders, recipients, and grants given in all areas of philanthropic interest. Come to the Central Library to use Foundation Maps, then download or email your search results.
Funded by a grant from the Whatcom Community Foundation
Visit Foundation Maps

Gale Business: Entrepreneurship: Learn how to start, finance, or manage your small business. Includes sample business plans, how to guides, articles, and more.

Visit Gale Business: Entrepreneurship

Gale Business: Insights allows you to research global companies and industries with in-depth analysis through current news, statistical data, and comprehensive reports.

Visit Gale Business: Insights

Gale OneFile: Business helps you understand the activities of companies and industries worldwide through leading business and trade publications. Updated daily.

Visit Gale OneFile: Business

Gale OneFile: Economics and Theory covers content useful for starting a business, marketing a product, developing policy, analyzing trends, and more.

Visit Gale OneFile: Economics and Theory

Gale OneFile: Hospitality and Tourism offers well-rounded coverage of both the historical and current state of affairs in the hospitality and tourism industries.

Visit Gale OneFile: Hospitality and Tourism

Gale OneFile: Insurance and Liability lets you discover information about physical and intellectual asset protection, from individuals to multinational corporations.

Visit Gale OneFile: Insurance and Liability

Gale OneFile: Leadership and Management has authoritative periodical content covering topics like organizational dynamics, adult learning, and more. Updated daily.

Visit Gale OneFile: Leadership and Management

Gale OneFile: Vocations and Careers lets you research a vocation, find an appropriate institution of learning, and get assistance on job searches and maintaining a career.

Visit Gale OneFile: Vocations and Careers

Explore a database of encyclopedias, reference sources, and travel books within the Gale eBooks platform.

Visit Gale eBooks

Gale Health & Wellness offers access to 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.

Visit Gale Health & Wellness

Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine has up-to-date information on a range of health care topics. Best for students, researchers, and health care professionals.

Visit Gale OneFile: Health and Medicine

Gale OneFile: Nursing and Allied Health: Research full-text titles cited in CINAHL and other resources to support specialized care, treatment, and patient management.

Visit Gale OneFile: Nursing and Allied Health

Gale OneFile: Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine has academic journals and magazines covering the fields of physical therapy, physical fitness, and sports medicine.

Visit Gale OneFile: Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine

Gale OneFile: Psychology lets you find authoritative periodical content supporting research in all fields of psychology.

Visit Gale OneFile: Psychology

The Gale In Context databases present a wide variety of age-appropriate information in multiple formats – text, images, video, including primary sources. They are a great source for homework.

Gale In Context: Elementary

Gale In Context: Middle School

Gale In Context: High School

Gale In Context: College

Gale In Context: Global Issues

Access literary works and authors throughout history, including full-text poems, plays, short stories, speeches, and more.

Visit Gale Literature: LitFinder

Search across full-text Spanish- and Portuguese-language scholarly journals and magazines from and about Latin America.

Visit Gale OneFile: Informe Académico

Gale OneFIle: News offers access to major U.S. and international newspapers online to search articles instantly by title, headline, date, or other fields. Includes the New York Times, Washington Post, and 2,300+ titles not available in other Gale collections. Updated daily.

Visit Gale OneFile: News

Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines includes the most searched magazines across Gale OneFile focusing on current events, sports, science, and health issues.

Visit Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines

Available only at Central Library; access is not available from home.

GuideStar is a searchable database of nonprofit organizations, from Candid.

Visit GuideStar [Central Library Only]

HeritageQuest Online offers remote access to a collection of genealogy resources. It offers Census records from the US, Canada, and the UK; the Social Security Death Index; over 22,000 digitized books on local and family history; City Directories from 1821-1989; a collection of Will and Probate records from 1668-2005; records from the Freedman’s Bank, 1865-1871; extracts from the US Serial Set covering acts of Congress that impact individuals; historical maps and photos; and much more!
Visit HeritageQuest Online

Library Elf is a free service for Bellingham Public Library cardholders that sends you text or email reminders when items are due or overdue, or when you have holds ready for pick-up. You can also manage multiple accounts to make things easier for families.
Learn more on BPL’s Library Elf page.

Visit Library Elf

News from sources around the world! Sources include a variety of news media featuring newspapers, videos and web-only content.

Visit Access World News – World

Visit Access World News – USA

Visit Access World News – Washington State

Newspapers.com – West Collection provides access to historic newspapers, a tool that can be very helpful for family history and genealogy research. Ancestry and HeritageQuest search results include records from Newspapers.com.

The West Collection has newspapers from these states:

AK, AZ, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, WA, WY

Includes the Bellingham Herald from 1903 – 1923.

Visit Newspapers.com – West Collection

Database of fiction and nonfiction offering enhanced subject access and full-text reviews, Author Read-alikes, awards, theme-oriented book lists, Book Discussion Guides, Book Talks, and Feature Articles.
Visit NoveList Plus

Database of fiction and narrative nonfiction titles for students in grades K-8.  Search by subject, age, awards won and Lexile reading levels; read reviews and learn about the author.
Visit NoveList K-8 Plus

ProQuest’s US Newsstream includes current coverage of over 400 US newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, LA Times, and Chicago Tribune. For some titles coverage goes back into the 1980s.

Visit ProQuest US Newsstream

Business and residential contact information for U.S. and Canadian businesses, organizations, agencies, and individuals.  Pick one of the databases in the directory, and then use the “Custom Search” options to modify your searches.

Formerly called ‘Reference USA’
Visit Reference Solutions

The Seattle Times from 1985 – current.

Visit The Seattle Times (NewsBank)

Independent evaluations for tens of thousands of financial institutions and investments, including stocks, bonds, banks, credit unions, and life insurers. Also includes Consumer Guides on a variety of financial topics such as Medicare Supplement insurance and Variable Annuities, and several financial planning tools including a Medicare Prescription Drug Primer.

Visit Weiss Financial Ratings