Automotive Repair

Get all your automotive repair help here!

•  EBSCO Auto Repair Reference Center: Get all your automotive repair information here!  Repair procedures, service bulletins & recalls, wiring diagrams, labor costs and much more!  Bradley library card holders can access this resource from home using your library card number.

Bradley Library Book Club Reading Lists

 Book Club Reading Lists

 *Date above book jacket is the day the book club will discuss the book.

Scroll to bottom of page for PDF listings of past books read.

 

Monday Night Book Club

12/12/11                 1/9/211

 

 

Tuesday Morning Book Club

12/13/11               1/10/2011

 

Chatty Crafters Book Club

12/3/11            1/7/12             2/4/12

3/3/12              4/7/12              5/5/12

 

Middle Readers Book Club

12/6/11           1/3/12            2/7/12

3/6/12              4/3/12                 5/1/12

 

Sci-Fi Book Club

 1/17/12               2/21/12            3/20/12  

 4/17/12/                5/15/12

 

CineMagic Book Club

12/3/11         1/7/12              2/4/12

3/3/12            4/7/12               5/5/12

College & Jobs

Preparing for College

• Kankakee Community College
• Olivet Nazarene University
• Governor's State University
• 50states.com - Colleges and Universities
• Peterson's Guide to College and Universities
• Illinois Virtual Campus - Online Adult Education, University and Colleges, distance learning, online classes and training.
• IPEDS College Opportunities On-Line
• LearningExpressLibrary - Practice test, exercises, skill-building courses, and information you need to achieve the results you want; at school, at work, or in life.  Bradley library card holders can access this resource from home using your library card.  First time patron must first fill out New User registration - Username = Bradley Library Card Number then create your individual password so you may return to your individual account.
• Educational-Portal.com-  10 Education-Portal.com scholarships for high school seniors and university students
  Scholarships range from $500-$1,000 in ten different subject matters. Eligibility requirements, applications, and previous winners can be found on each individual scholarship page.
• ‘Best of’ Free OpenCourseWare from America’s Top Universities - Education Portal has meticulously reviewed and compiled the best free OpenCourseWare from America’s top universities including Yale, MIT, and Cal Berkeley on a variety of topics from best free math courses to best free literature courses. Our complete ‘Best of’ selection can be seen here to help students learn what subject matters are really like before enrolling.
• University Admissions Reviews by State - Admission reviews for several of the top colleges in every state
   

Jobs - These websites offer job listings available in Kankakee County, Chicago Area and the United States.

• Find books in the library by searching for "job hunting" in the catalog or by browsing in CAREER JOB SEARCH.
• Kankakee Daily Journal 
• Chicago Tribune 
• Chicago Sun Times
• Chicago Jobs
• Chicago Job Talk
• IDES: Illinois Dept. of Employment Security
• Illinois Skills Match
• Illinois Job Network
• Illinois Jobs
• USAJobs - The Federal Government's Official Job Site
• CareerOneStop- U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored Web site that offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses, and workforce professionals to foster talent development in a global economy.
•  Find books in the library by searching for "job hunting" in the catalog or by browsing in 650.15.
• Monster, CareerBuilder, and Yahoo! HotJobs
  These are the three biggest job sites on the internet. Register with each service to post your resume, search for jobs, and get advice on every aspect of job searching.
• Craigslist Search for jobs locally and nationally—especially good for finding jobs from small and mid-sized companies
• Indeed.com This search engine searches job sites, newspapers, associations, and company career pages.

Career Resource

• Workforce Board is part of a national network of organizations involved in workforce preparation and employment. Servicing Grundy, Livingston and Kankakee counties.
• Glassdoor.com gives you an inside look at company salary details, reviews, and interview questions for thousands of companies.
• Occupational Outlook Handbook - Reference about occupations from A-Z. Compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Includes a description of the work, training and education.
• O*Net Online - Occupational Information Network
• Illinois Career Resource Network
• Career Voyages - Collaboration between the U.S. Dept. of Labor and the U.S. Dept. of Education.  Provides information on in-demand occupations along with the skills and education needed to attain those jobs.
• Illinois workNet Center - Learn how to make the most of Illinois workNet to locate jobs, support services and education opportunities.
• Education-Portal Career Counseling and Job Search - Video Center - Free videos from a 20+ year career counseling veteran on important topics such as researching the job market, conducting informational interviews, and how to get your resume noticed.
   

Social Networking

• LinkedIn Network with other professionals, and use LinkedIn’s job search to find job openings.
• Jobster Post your resume, search for jobs by keyword, and browse for jobs by field.
• BrightFuse Developed by CareerBuilder, BrightFuse is a social networking site that helps you promote yourself to job recruiters.

Resume Writing

• Find books in the library by searching for "resumes" and "cover letters" in the catalog or by browsing in CAREER RESUMES.
• LearningExpressLibrary - Practice test, exercises, skill-building courses, and information you need to achieve the results you want; at school, at work, or in life.  Bradley library card holders can access this resource from home using your library card.  First time patron must first fill out New User registration - Username = Bradley Library Card Number then create your individual password so you may return to your individual account.
• Monster.com: Resume & Letters
• 5 Tips for Better Resume Writing
• The Vault: Sample Resumes
• Eresumes.com Tips on writing resumes and cover letters, along with free sample resumes and cover letters.
• Emurse.com Use this free tool to create your resume, then print, save, and share it.
• Rileyguide.com/eresume.html Detailed instructions on preparing print and electronic resumes.
• Visual CV Use this free tool to replace or supplement the traditional one-page resume with a dynamic online webpage.
• Resumes, Cover Letters, and Employment-Related Letters Tons of advice from About.com

Interviewing

• Find books in the library by searching for "interviewing" in the catalog or by browsing in CAREER INTERVIEWS.
• Riley guide - Interviewing 
• Job Interview
• Getting Hired About.com has compiled a useful list of resources about preparing for interviews.
• Interviewing Articles on interviewing from Monster.com.
• Interview Preparation Articles on interviewing from Yahoo’s HotJobs.
• Company Boulevard Find profiles of companies in Company Boulvard, part of Monster.com

Volunteer Work

• Add
• Links
• Here

 

Community Links

Community Entities

• Village of Bradley
• Village of Bourbonnais
• Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional Chamber of Commerce
• Bourbonnais Township Park District
• Kankakee Valley Park District

Newspapers

• Kankakee Daily Journal
• Herald Country Market

Education

• Bradley Elementry Schools
• Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School
• Bishop McNamara High School
• St. George School
• St. Joseph School

Medical Care

• Provena St. Mary's Hospital
• Riverside Hospital

Tourism

• Convention & Visitors Bureau

 

Computer Self-Help

Computer Help

• HP Learning center - Free online tutorial classes 24/7.
• Computer tutorial for beginners - TLN Technology Committee
• Mousercise - From the Central Kansas Library System in Great Bend, Kansas, this tutorial covers basic functions of mouse use, but also provides exercises you can follow to improve your new skills. You can use the Mousercise tutorial to practice and hone the same skills you learned in the New User Tutorial above.
• Palm Beach County Library computer tutorial for beginners. This tutorial is designed to help people who have never used a mouse before. For those of you who have never used, or are unsure of how to use, a computer mouse, try this tutorial first! In this tutorial, you will learn how to hold a mouse, the basics of moving and clicking while using the scroll bar, inserting typed words, using drop-down menus, double-clicking, dragging, and closing a computer file. The tutorial also includes further exercises to refine your skills once you've mastered the basics.
• TypingWeb - This tutorial is designed to help people who want to improve their typing skills. TypingWeb is a free online typing tutor and keyboarding tutorial for typists of all ages. All skill levels will benefit from TypingWeb's free keyboarding lessons.
• Free online keyboard typing lessons
• CustomGuides - Free computer quick reference cheat sheets/guides.
• EduMax: Learn Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access, and more.
• In Pictures Computer Instruction: Learn With Pictures, Not Words. In Pictures online tutorials are based on pictures, not words.
• Learn That: Computers: Offers free online software tutorials in various topics, MCSE, certifications, popular computer software applications, finance, teaching, etc.
• Internet Tutorials - An excellent collection of beginners' tutorials for Internet users. There are close to two dozen tutorials under the categories Using and Searching the Web, Browsers, and Software Training.
• Learn The Net - Use this website to find guides to all aspects of Internet use including topics such as email, downloading, searching, and much more.
• Google Mail - Self-help tutorial videos.
• Yahoo Mail - Self-help tutorial videos.

 

Federal and State Income Tax Forms plus Tax Assitants

Forms

• Federal IRS Forms and Publications - Welcome to the forms and publications resource page, the official source of IRS tax products. The link provides access to acquire both electronic and print media. Additionally, the Search function provides basic and advanced search capabilities for published products available on IRS.gov.
• Illinois Revenue Tax Forms - Illinois tax forms that can be downloaded and printed.

Tax Assistants

• AARP - Tax-Aide A non-profit program providing tax assistance to people of all ages ( a limited preference is given to those over 59 years of age).
• Taxpayer Help and Information - from the IRS Includes addresses and phone numbers to local IRS offices and information for the Taxpayer advocate Service.
• Nolo Press: Taxes & Audits Information on how to handle Federal tax returns and problems such as audits and high tax bills.
• SmartMoney: Taxes Tax columns providing tips and answers to common tax questions.
• Turbotax: Tax tips An online tax guide created by the publishers of Quiken financial management software.

Online Tax Calculators

• Tax Estimator This free income tax estimator is provided by H&R Block.  The page also includes several other useful calculators.
• Tax Calculators Free tax calculators from the publishers of the TurboTax tax prepration software.

Tax Law

• FindLaw: Tax Law A comprehensive directory of Tax Law sites on the Web.
• IRS: Recent Tax Law Changes Highlights newly-enacted tax law for various issues.
• Nolo Press: Tax Problems Law Articles for those with problems related to their tax returns, such as audits and late payment penalties.

Foreign Language Instruction

Learn a foreign language with these helpful resources

• BYKI: Bradley Public Library is pleased to introduce the online language learning system Byki, short for "Before You Know It."  Byki has over 70 languages and 12 ESL modules to choose from.  Byki can be used at the library or at home.  Byki includes a full range of learning systems including Advanced Pronuciation Analysis and progress tracking.  Byki also has Facebook, Twitter, language blogs, and mobile access.
• BBC Languages:  Learn languages in your own time with interactive courses, videos and audio clips: essential facts, holiday phrases, games and worksheets.
• Discovery Education World Languages: A resource provided by Discovery Education to guide students and provide World Languages Homework help to students of all grades.
• FSI Language Courses: Public domain versions of language courses from the Foreign Service Institute.
• How to Learn Any Language: Website devoted to teaching yourself a foreign language.
• Internet Polyglot: Learn foreign languages. Free resources and community for learning English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese, Russian, Dutch, Japanese, etc.
• Livemocha: Learn online with award winning courses and practice with native speakers.

Government and Law Resources

Federal Government

• The White House - Official website to the President of the United States
• The United States House of Representatives
• The United States Senate
• The United States Supreme Court
• FirstGov - A search engine that searches only in government databases
• Core Documents of United States History - Includes full text of the Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution, Decleration of Independence, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Important Supreme Court decisions, and others.
• Republican National Committee
• Democratic National Committee
• GPOAccess: Catalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP)! The CGP is the finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online. Users can search by authoring agency, title, subject, and general key word, or click on "Advanced Search" for more options.

Illinois Government

• Illinois State Police - Agency overview, recruitment information and contact data.
• Illinois Government Information - The official website for the State of Illinois
• Illinois Governors Office - The official website for Illinois State Governor
• Illinois Gateway - The official website for Illinois Secretary of States Office.
• Illinois State Treasurer - The official website for Illinois State Treasurer
• Illinois Attorney General - The official website for Illinois State Attorney General
• Illinois Comptroller - The official website for the Illinois State Comptroller
• Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
• Illinois State Board of Elections
• Illinois Democratic Party
• Illinois Republican Party
• Illinois General Assembly
• Illinois Courts - Official website to Illinois Supreme, Appallete and Circuit Courts
• Illinois Public Records - Search Illinois public records statewide for vital information such as death, birth and marriage certificates with official government websites. Get property information, conduct a business search, verify professional licenses and many other public records available online
• Illinois State Bar Association - devoted to providing timely, accurate information about Illinois laws and your rights. Here you'll find free legal info for Illinois residents.
• Illinois Guardianship & Advocacy Commission - Provides Power of Attorney forms for health and property.

Local Kankakee Government

• Kankakee County - Official website to Kankakee County
• Kankakee County Government - Provides links to Kankakee County Governement departments

General Topics

• Martindale.com - Find a lawyer by name, firm, location, or area of practice or lawyers associated with a specific corporation or government agency.
• Nolo - Law for All - Free information on personal, consumer, and business law including estate planning, marriage and divorce, landlord and tenant, debt, taxes, and more.
• Legal Form Archive - Over 2,000 legal forms available for personal use, most free. some include tips on other forms you may need in order to complete a legal transaction.

Legal Aid

• Findlaw.com - Find a local lawyer and free legal information.
• Kankakee County Legal Self-Help Online - Illinois Legal Aid Online, Helping Illinois residents solve their legal problems.
• Findgreatlawyers.com - Find Chicago lawyers, the place for Illinois lawyer referrals and legal guidance on Illinois laws.
• ABA Family Legal Guide - Useful information form the American Bar Association on how the law affects everyday life.  Question and answer format.  Includes chapters on family law, home ownership, consumer law and more.
• AARP Legal Issues - A brief introduction to estate planning and a self-help guide on how to prepare a will.
• Wills and Estate Planning from Nolo Press - Advice on choosing an appropriate estate plan, writing a will, avoiding probate, appointing a executor, living trusts, taxes, life insurance, arranging a funeral, health care directives and power of attorney.

 Statutes, Codes, and Regulation

• Federal Register 1994-present - Published every business day, the Federal Register contains, rules, regulations, and other legal notices issued by federal administrative agencies.  Search by keyword, citation, title and/ or valume.
• State Statutes by Topic - State statutes organized by subjects such as family law, health, insurance, labor, and more.
• United States Code - Text of the statutes enacted by Congress, searchable by title, section, popular name, or subject.
• United States Code of Federal Regulations - Federal agency regulations found by keyword, citation, and title/volume.  Links to other federal law related sites.

Homework Help

Link to more Homework Help

Magazine & News Articles

Online archives and search engines for finding articles from magazines and newspapers.

(Items marked with ** require your library card number and catalog PIN for access from home.)

• ArticleFirst via FirstSearch **: Index and archive of articles from magazines and journals. Many articles are available as Adobe PDF files, which look the same as photocopies from the print publications. For most publications, libraries which own them are listed.
• BNET Research Center: (Formerly called FindArticles.com.) Index of magazine articles which doesn't require a login. Many articles are available online for free, but "premium" articles carry a pricetag. Subjects covered include: arts, autos, business, health, home and garden, news, sports, and technology.
• Google News: Search for articles from newspaper, TV news, newswires, and other reporting websites.
• Topix: Find local news published on websites and blogs.

Readers Advisory & eBooks

• MyMediaMall downloadables - Use MyMediaMall to download eBooks, audio books, and videos to your home computer. You will need your library card number to download materials, and this service is open to Bradley Public Library cardholders only.
• Fantastic Fiction - Over 25000 bestselling author bibliographies with all the latest books, covers, and descriptions.  Need to know what the next book in a series is?  Find it here!
• HistoricalNovels.info - A guide to historical novels and authors of historical fiction; books organized by setting, with information on literary style and genre.  Over 5000 historical novels listed by time and place.  Including more than 300 reviews.
• Kent District Library "What's Next" -  "What's Next" books in series database helps you search series fiction.
• The Best Children's Books - Guide to children's books by topic and reading level, created by teachers.
• Figment -A free online community for teens and young adults to create, discover, and share new reading and writing.  Users can read amateur and professional content, engage with their favorite authors, discuss literature with their peers, and create their own unfiltered writing to share across web and mobile platforms.

 

Travel Resources

Link to all your travel needs.

 Air Travel

• Expedia: Plan a trip, book cheap airfares, purchase airline tickets, make hotel reservations, and find vacation packages, car rental & cruise deals.
• GaryChicago International Airport
• Kayak.com: Find and book cheap flights, hotels, vacations and rental cars with Kayak.com. Hotel, flight and travel deals. Search hundreds of travel sites at once.
• Midway Internationl Airport
• Orbitz: Book cheap airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, vacations and travel deals.
• O'Hare International Airport
• Priceline: Get deep discounts on hotels, flights, rental cars, vacations and cruises. Exclusive travel deals you won't find anywhere else.
• Travelocity: Book travel for less with specials on cheap airline tickets, hotels, cruises, car rentals, and flights.
• Yahoo: Airlines: Find official sites of national and international airlines including American Airlines, Southwest, British Airways, United, and many others.

Maps & Directions

• Google Maps: Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions.
• MapQuest: For driving directions and maps. See local traffic and road conditions, find nearby businesses and restaurants, plus explore street maps.
• Rand McNally: Get online driving directions from Rand McNally. Download maps, plan trips and vacations, and view our travel guides and videos.
• Yahoo Maps: Yahoo! Maps, Driving Directions, Satellite View and Traffic. Rated the best online mapping experience. 

 Ground Travel

• Amtrak: Official site includes schedules, fares, promotions, and reservations.
• CTA: Information about CTA bus and train service. Stay up-to-date with our system status and alert system; plan your trip with our built-in trip planner.
• Illinois Department of Transportation: The official site of the department. Includes information on construction projects and information about doing business with the department.
• Illinois Tollway Authority: Information on the system, including the I-Pass electronic toll collection system.
• Metra: Northeast Illinois commuter rail system. Overview of services plus maps, schedules, fares, ticket information, on-line ticketing, regional travel guide.
• Pace Bus: Pace Suburban Bus Service of the RTA is the local public transportation agency for the Chicago area suburbs.
• River Valley Metro:
• Yahoo: Automobile Rentals:

 Lodging

• Expedia: Plan a trip, book cheap airfares, purchase airline tickets, make hotel reservations, and find vacation packages, car rental & cruise deals.
• Kayak.com: Find and book cheap flights, hotels, vacations and rental cars with Kayak.com. Hotel, flight and travel deals. Search hundreds of travel sites at once.
• Online Hotels: Choose from luxury to cheap, B&B to 5 star hotels.
• Orbitz : Book cheap airline tickets, hotel reservations, car rentals, vacations and travel deals.
• Priceline: Get deep discounts on hotels, flights, rental cars, vacations and cruises. Exclusive travel deals you won't find anywhere else.
• Travelocity: Book travel for less with specials on cheap airline tickets, hotels, cruises, car rentals, and flights.

 Travel Reviews & Recommendations

• Fodor's Travel Guides: Read Fodor's reviews to find the best travel destinations, hotels and restaurants. Plan your trip online with Fodor's.
• Frommer's Travel Guides: Brings you cheap airfares, bargain rate cruises, discounted hotel rooms, budget car rentals and money-saving advice.
• LocalHikes: See pictures, topo maps, elevation profiles, and ratings for great day hikes and hiking trails near U.S. Metropolitan Areas.
• Lonely Planet Guide: Travel advice and information on destinations from around the world.
• Mobile Travel Guide: Reviews and ratings of hotels, restaurants, spas and other destinations.
• TripAdvisor: Hotel reviews, photos and travel advice for hotels and vacations.
• Uptake: Search travel sites throughout the United States and International destinations.
• Virtual Tourist: Insider travel tips, reviews and photos posted by real travelers on over 72000 travel destinations.
• Yahoo Travel
• Yelp: User Reviews and Recommendations of Top Restaurants, Shopping, Nightlife, Entertainment, Services and more.

 

Website Guides

These sites are directories of websites which have been selected and recommended by librarians. They are excellent starting points when you need good information about almost anything.

• Illinois CLICKS!: Links picked and organized by volunteer librarians in Illinois.
• Librarians' Internet Index: "Websites you can trust."
• Internet Public Library: Searchable directory run by a group of library schools.

 

Consumer Help

Find product and auto reviews, shopping tips, information about recalls, and consumer-protection agencies.
 
Buying Guides & General Advice

• Consumer Reports: A lot of free and useful information is available, but a paid subscription is required for product reviews and ratings.
• ConsumerSearch: "Reviewing the reviews." Compiles and analyzes product reviews from magazines and websites. Great starting point.
• Epinions.com: Products rated by people who bought them.
• BudgetWorksheets.org:  Free printable budget worksheet for family budgets, travel budgets, and household planning. Household budget planner and budget calculator.
   

Cars & Trucks

• Car & Driver: Includes the magazine's road tests and reviews, interactive vehicle comparisons, and Kelley Blue Book values.
• Edmunds.com: Reviews, comparisons, price and value information, and tips for buying new or used vehicles.
• The Truth About Cars: Detailed reviews, written with a sense of humor.
• Autotropolis:  Searching for a New Car or Used Car? Offers you Prices, Reviews, Auto Listings, Car Dealer Locator & more.

Consumer Protection & Complaints

• AnnualCreditReport.com: The place to get a no-obligation, free copy of your credit report from all three major reporting companies.
• Better Business Bureau: Includes complaints against companies, fraud alerts, and general tips.
• Consumer Protection Division: Part of the Illinois Attorney General's office.
• Recalls.gov: Product recalls and safety information from the federal government.

 

Health Information

Reputable sources for information about health and medicine.
 (Items marked with ** require your library card number and catalog PIN for access from home.)
 
General

• MEDLINE via FirstSearch **: Archive and index of articles from medical journals. Subjects include: clinical medicine, nutrition, dentistry, pathology,education, psychiatry, experimental medicine, toxicology, health services administration, veterinary medicine, and nursing.
• MedlinePlus: A medical super-site from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Includes extensive information and links on hundreds of conditions and health issues, drug descriptions, a medical encyclopedia, surgery videos, and more.
• HealthFinder.gov: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' guide to health information.
• NIH SeniorHealth: Information for older adults, from the National Institutes of Health.
• Illinois Health & Wellness: Official guide to state government programs and resources.
• Health-E Illinois: Directory of healthcare providers, facilities, and services.
• Health Touch: Resource that brings together drug, pharmacy and health information form a variety of sources.
• Healthcare 411: Created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Healthcare 411 offers audio and video programs on current consumer health issues.
• Kids Health: Health information for parents, kids, and teens with seperate age appropriate contents.
• Lab Tests Online: Designed to help patients and family caregivers to better understand clinical lab tests and interpret test results.
• Mayo Clinic: Quality health information written by health professionals at the Mayo Clinic on diseases and conditions, healthy living, drug information and more.
• Merck Manual of Medical Information: Online version of the Merck Manual.  Users can find information on drugs, diseases, disorders, health issues, accidents, injuries, and much more.
• National Institute of Health: Provides links to consumer health publications, health topics, research studies, drug information, and health literature references.
• NOAH: New York Online Access to Health: Site contains full text medical information from a variety of sources on many topics written in both English and Spanish.
• Pub Med: NLM's database contains references to articles published in biomedical journals.
• Senior Navigator: Provides information about local services and resources for seniors.  Includes health, legal, financial health, housing facilities, health facilities, and community center services information.

Diseases and Disorders

• American Heart Association: Search for information on heart diseases, conditions, warning signs, and information on healthy lifestyles.  Also find American Heart Association events and classes happening in your area.
• Cancer Net: Find links to sources on coping with cancer, types of cancer, treatment, support, cancer literature resources, prevention, and screening.
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Highlights current diseases information in the news.  Provides an alphebetical listing of health topics and also traveler's health related information on specific destinations, cruise ships, and air travel.
• Mental Health Net: Covers a wide range of mental health disorders and topics.  One can also view the latest news on various mental health topics.
• Office of Rare Diseases: Site provides information and links to sites about rare diseases.  Contains links to clinical trials, support groups, patient and travel lodging, genetics information research resources, and news.

Directories

• AIM Association of State Medical Board Executive Directors:  Directory of participating state licensing providers.  Contains background and disciplinary action including medical malpractice, hospital discipline, and criminal conviction information on medical practitioners.
• AMA Physician Select On-Line Doctor Finder:  Provides an online physician directory of basic professional information including over 690,000 doctors.  Users can search by physician name or medical specialty and can limit search by city and state.
• ATSDR Agency For Toxic Substance and Disease Registry: Site devoted to providing information to the public to protect against harmful exposure to diseases and toxic substances.  Lists hazardous substances, emergency response contacts, hazardous waste sites, and environmental health information.
• Center Watch Directory of Clinical Trials:  Directory of over 41,000 industry and government sponsored clinical trials, drugs currently in clinical research, and drugs recently  approved by the FDS.
• Clinical Trials:  Provides patients and family members current information on clinical trials sponsored by the NIH, federal agencies, and pharmaceuticals.  Users can search by keyword, specific disease, or sponsor.

Statistics and Data

• National Center for Health Statistics: Find statistics on diseases, accidents, births, deaths, and a variety of other information.
• Illinois Department of Public Health: Users can find links to a variety of Illinois health resources and departments.

 
 

Library Catalogs & Libraries

If you have a Library Card, we'll borrow items from other libraries for you! Delivery from most Illinois libraries is free.

(Items marked with ** require your library card number and catalog PIN for access from home.)

• PrairieCat: Catalog for approximately 200 libraries in northern Illinois and eastern Iowa.
• WorldCat via FirstSearch **: A catalog of more than a billion items in libraries worldwide.
• WorldCat.org: An alternate way to search most of the WorldCat catalog, with no login required.
• Every Library in ILLINET (ELI): Directory of hundreds of Illinois libraries, with links to many libraries' websites and catalogs.
• Digital Illinois: Catalog of electronic collections of documents, photographs, etc., made available online by Illinois libraries.
• Open-Access Text Archive: Thousands of public-domain books and other free books, for online viewing or downloading in plain text or scanned formats. Part of the Internet Archive site.
• Library of Congress Digital Collections: A large number of pamphlets, letters, historic documents, pictures, early films and recordings, and other items are available online.
• Putting Illinois on the Map: Find the address and location of your nearest public library.

 

Illinois, Local History & Genealogy

Online documents, photos, articles, and other information about the history of Illinois and the local area, plus genealogy resources.

Genealogy

• Ancestry.com: Discover your ancestors with the world's largest family history website. Start a family tree, browse census records and more online at Ancestry.  Ancestry.com is an in library use only database 
• HeritageQuest Online: HeritageQuest Online™ combines digital, searchable images of U.S.federal census records with the digitized version of the popular UMI® Genealogy & Local History collection and other valuable content. Bradley library card holders can access this resource from home using your library card number.
• Castle Garden: CastleGarden.org is an educational project of The Battery Conservancy. This free site offers access to an extraordinary database of information on 11 million immigrants from 1820 through 1892, the year Ellis Island opened.
• Catholic Cemeteries Archdiocese of Chicago:
• Cemetery Junction:
• Chicago Genealogical Society: The Chicago Genealogical Society was begun in 1967 as a not-for-profit educational organization devoted to collecting, preserving and perpetuating the records of our ancestors, and to stimulate an interest in all people who contributed in any way to the establishment of Chicago and its surrounding area.
• Cook County Genealogy Online: The Genealogy Unit of the Cook County Clerk's Bureau of Vital Records provides non-certified versions of birth, death and marriage records for the purpose of genealogical research. Records found on this site are for Chicago and Cook County dating back to 1872.
• Ellis Island Foundation: Search to find your immigrant ancestors arriving through Ellis Island.
• FamilySearch:  Search for family ancestors. Billions of free family tree, family history, ancestry, genealogy and census records.
• wiki.familysearch.org: Free family history research advice for the community, by the community.
• Family History Archive: A collection of published genealogy and family history books and periodicals.
• Footnote: You'll be able to view, save, and share original images of historical documents available for the first time on the internet.
• Illinois Digital Archives: A portal to online exhibits and collections from libraries and museums across the state. A project of the Illinois State Library. Additional online collections are searchable through the Digital Illinois catalog.
• Illinois Harvest:  Is a free public website developed at the University of Illinois Library that brings together and organizes digital resources about Illinois, written by Illinois authors, or included among the growning digital collections of the University of Illinois Library.  Includes links to maps, books, photographs, journal articles, posters, and manuscripts from libraries and museums around the world.
• Illinois History Resource Page: Dozens of links, compiled by the Illinois State Historical Society.
• Illinois Newspaper Project:  Web-based searchable database of all newspapers discovered and preserved through the project. All microfilm produced for INP is made available to Illinois citizens through interlibrary loan.
• Illinois State Genealogical Society: Individuals with home page that has an Illinios connection and has genealogical content.
• Illinois State Archives Genealogy Research: State and Related Federal Government records in the Illinios State Archives.
• Immigration Ships Transcribers Guild: Firm that searches, copies, deciphers, and types passenger lists. Some passenger manifests posted on the web, from RootsWeb.
• Ireland Roots: Irish Roots - gateway to a message board to help you find your Irish ancestry.
• Kanakakee County Genealogy: Genealogical information for Kankakee County.
• Kankakee Valley Genealogical Society: Information on genealogical research in Kankakee County, Illinois. Includes Publication List, Membership Form, and other Details about KVGS.
• National Genealogical Society of America: A service organization that leads and educates the national genealogical community and assist members in tracing family histories.
• Newberry Library: Independent research library with a focus on the humanities is privately funded, but free and open to the public.
• Origins Network British and Irish Genealogy and Research:  Source for online British and Irish genealogy research, featuring subscription access to a wealth of unique records.
• Polish Genealogical Society of America: Headquarters in Chicago, exists as a non profit organization to collect, disseminate and preserve information on Polish and Polish-American family history and to help its members use that information in their own research.
• Rootsweb: Genealogical resource with searchable databases.
• USGenweb Project: Free genealogy and family history online made possible by the USGenweb Project volunteers. Search free genealogy websites for your ancestors.
  Digital Past:  Provides free online access to over 100,000+ historical items, including photos, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, silent movies, oral histories, and 3-D objects.  These items hightlight the cultural richness of the state of Illinois.
• Cyndi's List - Illinois: Directory of genealogy and history websites. Also includes links for specific Illinois localities.
• Relatively Curious About Genealogy:  Blog site devoted to learning about genealogy, useful research tips and links to genealogy related websites.
• Allen County Public Library Genealogy:  Large genealogy library containing more than 300000 printed volumes and 314000 items of microfilm and microfiche. Includes guides and request forms.

History Resources

• BBC Country Profiles: Instant guide to history, politics and economic background of countries and territories, and background on key institutions.
• Best of History Websites: Contains annotated links to over 1000 history web sites as well lesson plans, activities, and more.
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: Enhancing access to America's historic newspapers. This site allows you to search and view newspaper pages from 1860-1922.
• CIA World Factbook: Provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities. Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, and a Standard Time Zones of the World map.
• Guinness Book of World Records:
• History.com: Explore history shows, watch videos and full episodes, play games and access articles on historical topics at History.com.
• Infoplease.com: A comprehensive reference source that combines the contents of an encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, and several almanacs loaded with statistics, facts, and historical records. A single search engine allows you to search all these sources at once.
• PBS: History: Explore the best of PBS programs about history. Watch full length episodes of your favorite PBS history shows like NOVA and American Experience.
• POTUS: Presidents of the United States: Comprehensive site on the American presidency includes biographies, speeches and writings, election results, odd facts and presidency.
• Shmoop: U.S. History: Study guides and teaching resources for American history.
• The American Presidency Project: Contains the most comprehensive collection of resources pertaining to the study of the President of the United States.

Local History Resources

• Abraham Lincoln Presidental Library and Museum: Premier repository for materials relating to the life of Abraham Lincoln and the history of the Prairie state.
• American Memory Project Library of Congress: American Memory provides free and open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. It is a digital record of American history and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historical events, people, places, and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.
• Chicago History Museum: Devoted to collecting, interpreting, and presenting the rich multicultural history of Chicago and Illinois.
• I&M Canal History:
• I&M Canal History Collection Lewis University: Howard and Lois Adelmann Regional History Collection.
• Illinois Historic Preservation Agency:
• Illinois National Historic Landmarks (Wikipedia):
• Illinois State Historical Society:
• Joliet Historical Museum: Experience how people lived, worked, traveled and built the foundation for today’s thriving community.
• Kankakee County Historical Society & History Museum:
• Landmarks Illinois: To preserve, protect, and promote architectural and historic resources in Illinois through advocacy and education.
• Library History Buff:
• National Archives - Great Lakes Branch: Directions, hours and information about the National Archives Regional facility in Chicago, with public research.
• Veterans Oral History Project Library of Congress: Collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.
• Will County Historic Preservation Committee:
• Will County: Preserving History's Heritage:

 

Find Facts Fast

Encyclopedias, almanacs, dictionaries, statistics, and other sites for quickly looking up facts.

(Items marked with ** require your library card number and catalog PIN for access from home.)

• WorldAlmanac via FirstSearch **: Includes Funk & Wagnall's New Encylopedia, the World Almanac and Book of Facts, the World Almanac of the U.S.A., the World Almanac of U.S. Politics, and the World Almanac for Kids.
• Infoplease.com: Information Please Almanac, atlases, and more.
• Wikipedia: "The free encyclopedia that anyone can edit."
• OneLook Dictionary Search: Look up words in almost 1000 online dictionaries at the same time.
• IllinoisAtlas.com: A collection of Illinois and U.S. statistical maps.
• World Factbook: The CIA's book of country profiles.
• Countryreports.org:  A collection of stastical information related to country's around the world. (Use from home or at the library; in house library use provides greater access to further articles and information.)
• Salem Press Online Database: Milestone Documents in American History, Great Lives from History and Great Events from History. (Use from home or at the library; Bradley card holders can access database from home using library card number.)
• Wolframalpha.com:  Enter your question or calculation, and Wolfram|Alpha uses its built-in algorithms and growing collection of data to compute the answer.   Based on a new kind of knowledge-based computing.
• Earth Portal:  a comprehensive resource for timely, objective, science-based information about the environment. It is a means for the global scientific community to come together to produce the first free, expert-driven, massively scaleable information resource on the environment, and to engage civil society in a public dialogue on the role of environmental issues in human affairs.
• eHow: What do you want to do today? No matter what's on your list,eHow can help.  With more than 30 categories that cover just about everything.  Have you ever asked "How do you....?"  eHow is your one-stop online resource for life's challenges and questions.