Hobbies, Travel, and Leisure
Global Road Warrior – an extensive country-by-country resource for learning about culture, customs, history, and language worldwide. Currently covers 174 countries. Great for school reports as well as business, leisure, and armchair travel
New York Times Cooking – an inspiring cooking guide, innovative and interactive kitchen tool, and diverse recipe collection that helps home cooks of every level! Your 24-hour access code unlocks this popular website and mobile app.
ComicsPlus provides unlimited access to thousands of digital comics, graphic novels, and manga from more than one hundred publishers. Every title is available 24/7 on your computer, tablet, or phone. No holds or waitlists required.
Please note, this collection includes adult content; there is also a Children’s Collection curated for ages 5-14.
Transparent Languages – Learn over 110 languages using any Internet-connected device. The Transparent Languages online app requires activation before it can be used.
General Research and Learning
America’s News (Newsbank) UPDATED COLLECTION NOW AVAILABLE! News and information from reliable news sources spanning the U.S., including over 50 local Massachusetts newspapers. Includes browser-friendly “Hot Topics” and “Special Reports.”
See the Magazines and Newspapers page for additional links.
Britannica Library is a multi-level encyclopedia for everyone from grade school students to business professionals and lifelong learners. Includes dictionary, thesaurus, videos, images, primary sources, e-books, world atlas, and more. For Spanish language content, try Britannica Moderna.
EBSCOhost includes access to: MasterFILE Premier, Business Source Premier, and Health Source. Select a specific database, or search them all simultaneously.
EBSCO Discovery Search allows you to search our physical catalog items and digital resources such as e-books, magazines, journals, videos and more, at the same time.
Gale Databases are shared throughout the state and include access to Academic OneFile and General OneFile, as well as a wide variety of subject specific databases.
Educational Resources
MassLINKS Adult Education Online is a FREE DESE-funded statewide adult education program for residents of Massachusetts. Students can choose from High School Equivalency (GED and HiSet) preparation classes or English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL/ESL) classes. Classes are offered fully online with evening and morning options to help you work around your schedule.
Peterson’s Career Prep (Gale) supports building resumes, job hunting, and discovering new careers.
Peterson’s Test Prep (Gale) Search thousands of college and graduate schools, identify scholarships, take practice tests, and use test prep eBooks.
LearningExpress Library (available with a free BPL ecard) est preparation materials and practice exams for K-12 subjects, high school equivalency, college and graduate admissions, military, U.S. citizenship, and professional licensing and certification exams. Includes the Job & Career Accelerator to help you achieve your career goals, and the Computer Skills Center to learn popular software and computer basics.
Database Tutorials
Books and Reading Resources
Visit our Discover and Borrow page.
Genealogy
Visit our Local History Page.
Consumer Information
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provides up-to-date information and resources to help you protect and manage your finances. Includes a guide for those preparing for or recovering from a natural disaster.
Consumer Reports (ConsumerReports.org) provides full ratings and recommendations on thousands of products and services. Including appliances, cars, electronics and computers, home and garden, health and fitness, babies and kids, food, personal finance, and travel. Log in with your Topsfield Library card.
ConsumerSearch.com – site editors editors personally research every product category to recommend the best choices.
Fueleconomy.gov – The official U.S. government source for fuel economy information. Compare vehicles online, or download the 2022 Fuel Economy Guide.
Gale Legal Forms – Thousands of legal forms with more forms being added daily. Official, State Specific, Federal, Business, Personal, Real Estate, and General forms covering hundreds of legal subjects and issues. Warning: Public users should consult an attorney in their state for serious legal matters.
USA.gov / Consumer Issues – Learn how to be a safe consumer, what to do when a purchase or service goes wrong, and more.
2022 HUD Housing Resource Guide for Massachusetts – This guide is designed to help you navigate some of the key programs that are funded by HUD that involve rental assistance, homeownership, homelessness, housing counseling, and fair housing. Additional information on any of HUD’s programs can be accessed online at www.hud.gov.
2024 Massachusetts Municipal Guide – This guide includes a directory of public officials and agencies in the Commonwealth.
Health and Science
Health and Wellness Resource Center (Gale) – carefully compiled and trusted medical reference materials.
MedlinePlus – health information from the National Library of Medicine (free online).
Mayo Clinic Diseases and Conditions (free online) – comprehensive guides on hundreds of conditions.
ProQuest Science Journals – for students in academic research environments, this collection of scientific journals (dating back to 1986) features over 1,145 titles—with more than 965 available in full text.
Science in Context (Gale) – an engaging online experience for those seeking information on hundreds of today’s most significant science topics.
History and Current Affairs
Biography in Context (Gale) – full text magazine articles, images, and hand-picked web site links. Includes material from Contemporary Authors.
Global Issues in Context (Gale) – international viewpoints on a broad spectrum of global issues, topics, and current events.
History Reference Center (EBSCO) – entries from over 1,500 reference books, encyclopedias and non-fiction books, as well as nearly 57,000 historical documents.
Opposing Viewpoints (Gale) is a cross-curricular resource that provides informed, differing views help learners develop critical-thinking skills.
Points of View (EBSCO) covers almost 400 topics, each with an overview, background, arguments and counter-arguments. Also included for each topic is a Guide to Critical Analysis for help in evaluating controversial subjects and opposing viewpoints.
Salem Press – online versions of selected works in the Topsfield Library’s Reference collection.
The Topsfield Times is the library’s local history wiki, a work-in-progress.
U.S. History in Context (Gale) – contextual information on hundreds of the most significant people, events, and topics in U.S. History.
World History in Context (Gale) – for those seeking information on hundreds of the most significant people, events, and topics in World History.
See also our Magazines and Newspapers page.
Young Researchers
Britannica Fundamentals is designed for pre-K through 2nd grade, featuring interactive learning games about numbers, letters, sounds, geography, and more.
Britannica School is updated continuously and closely correlated to all curriculum standards. Spanish version is available as well (Britannica Escolar).
Explora is a web portal to EBSCO’s databases, specially designed for school-age students and educators.
Gale Student Edition has content geared towards high school level projects.
Kids InfoBits (Gale) is specially designed for the K-5 set.
Looking for more?
If you can’t find what you’re looking for through our network, try the Boston Public Library. Any MA resident may access their downloadable collections by signing up for a free BPL ecard.
