Online Articles & Research

Use our electronic collections of newspapers, magazines, journals, encyclopedias, eBooks, audiobooks, research reports, images and multimedia to research any topic. To gain access to these resources, you'll need your Oakville Public Library card (14 digit barcode with no spaces) and PIN (usually the last four digits of your phone number)..
Browse Databases By Topic
- All
- Academic Research and Education
- Biography
- Books and Literature
- Business and Careers
- Canadian Resources
- Consumer Information and Leisure
- eBooks
- Encyclopedias and Reference
- French Resources
- Genealogy, Local History and Community
- Government, Law and Statistics
- Health and Wellness
- History and Social Science
- Kids
- Languages
- Music
- News and Current Affairs
- Science and Technology
- Streaming Digital Content
- Teens
CANADIAN RESOURCES
A
Academic OneFile
Millions of peer-reviewed, full-text articles from the world's leading journals and reference sources with extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and other subjects. Updated daily.

A fabulous resource for anyone doing genealogical or historical research. ALE offers 200+ billion images in 7,000 unique databases from North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and other international collections that continue to grow. Records include census data, vital records, directories, photos, and more with some information dating back to the early 13th century. Access to this resource has been temporarily expanded to library cardholders working remotely, courtesy of ProQuest and its partner Ancestry.
B
Bibliothèque de Référence Virtuelle

La Bibliothèque de référence virtuelle est une source d'information thématique et fiable particulièrement axée sur les contenus canadien et ontarien.
C
Canadian Business Online
Downloadable directory information on more than 1.5 million Canadian businesses, primarily in the wholesale, retail and manufacturing sectors. Great for market research and sales prospecting.


Complete text and multimedia of the Canadian Encyclopedia courtesy of Historica. Also includes the Youth Encyclopedia of Canada and the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada.

Many full-text Canadian magazines and newspapers, including selected articles from the Globe & Mail


More than 60 million pages of centuries of Canadian history from 30 different library, museum and archive collections.
D
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

Historical information on Canada's inhabitants and their culture courtesy of Library and Archives Canada. Biographical information is provided for persons who died between the years 1000 and 1930 or whose last known date of activity falls within these years.


Developed and managed with resources from the Toronto Public Library, Digital Archive Ontario provides free access to digital material of historical importance to Ontario and Canada. It is a unique and vast digital collection of high quality images including Ontario maps, fire insurance plans and views of towns and cities over time, culled from the Library's collection and dating back to the 1880s.
G
G1.ca: Free G1 Practice Tests

G1.ca is designed for Ontario learner drivers to help you pass your G1 test. The site provides free practice tests that simulate the official G1 test in terms of question structure and grading standards. The tests provide detailed question-level feedback and unique ‘hints’. This is a privately owned website that is not owned by or affiliated with DriveTest or any other government agency.


An extensive variety of Government of Canada and Statistics Canada publications are indexed on this site. Over 70,000 full-text electronic documents are freely accessible, with 500+ new titles added monthly.
H
Halton Community Services Database

Search for local community services by subject, keyword or organization name.


You can search all online Oakville/Halton databases at once! This service takes you to over 500,000 records for Halton region. Included are: Births, Marriages and Deaths, Census, Cemetery, Land Records, Surrogate Court Records, Military Records, Business Directories, Photographs, Newspaper Articles, Books, Documents and Maps. The information is drawn from over 20 local databases.
N
Naxos Music Library
Streaming access from any computer, anytime, anywhere for more than 79,000 discs and 1 million tracks of classical, jazz, blues, relaxation, world and contemporary music, as well as spoken word and folk tales, with more than 1,000 CDs added each month. This resource may also be accessed using the Naxos Music Library app.

Children can search by author, title, series name or plot/subject to find their next new fiction title.
O
Oakville Beaver and other Oakville Newspapers

Browse or search local newspapers, including the Oakville Beaver, Daily Journal Record and many others.
T
TeenBookCloud
An online collection of over 600 titles for middle school and high school students. This collection contains Young Adult/Teen novels, classics, poetry, short stories, Young Adult/Teen audiobooks , graphic novels, and educational videos from National Geographic.

Interactive eBooks for children; follow along as your favourite book comes to life with graphics and sound in English, French, and Spanish. If you have an iPad, look for the “iPad Books” link found in Story Books, Read-Alongs and Non-Fiction Books.