Electronic Resources

New services are added to MAPL’s electronic resources regularly. Look for the 👉🏿 to discover recent additions!

Art

Creativebug – Creativebug offers high quality arts and crafts instructional videos. Learn how to paint, knit crochet, sew, bake, and more.

Udemy – Udemy features a collection of more than 3,500 online video courses taught by world-class instructors. To find the Art related offerings click on Categories, then select Personal Development | Arts & Creativity. There you will fiind a wide selection of courses on music, painting, photography, illustration and much more.

Biography

Biography in Context – Biography In Context offers authoritative reference content through magazine and journal articles, newspaper articles, primary sources, videos, audio podcasts, and images. Covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day newsmakers, it’s continuously updated to ensure researchers have access to the very latest information.

Business and Finance

Weiss Financial Literacy – (note – this resource is only available from inside the library) These services from Weiss Ratings were designed for anyone who wants to know more about investing but isn’t sure where to start. Titles include: Financial Strength Ratings: Banks, Financial Strength Ratings: Credit Unions, Financial Strength Ratings: Insurance, Investment Ratings: Stocks, Investment Ratings: Mutual Funds, Investment Ratings: Exchange-Traded Funds, Customized Medicare Supplement Insurance Buyer’s Guide, Online Access Module: Consumer Guides, Online Access Module: Financial Literacy Basics, Online Access Module: Financial Literacy: Planning for the Future, Online Access Module: Financial Literacy: How to Become an Investor.

Business Source Elite – The world’s definitive scholarly business database, providing indexing and abstracts for active, peer-reviewed, business related journals encompassing the 350 most important scholarly journals back to 1965 or the first published issue. This database includes searchable cited references for 1,205 journals.

Reference Solutions by Data Axle (formerly Reference USA) (View tutorial) – Provides detailed, current directory information on more than 12 million U.S. Businesses, 102 million U.S. residents, 683,000 U.S. healthcare providers, 1 million Canadian businesses and 11 million Canadian residents.

Small Business Reference Center – The Small Business Reference Center is a comprehensive resource for small business owners and those interested in starting a business, offering full-text periodicals and reports, sample business plans, U.S. tax forms, videos and reference books. It supports small business owners in all relevant areas from planning, financing and managing a business to exit strategies. Users also have the ability to search within specific ‘Business Topics’ and ‘Business Types’ relevant to their needs.

Career and Education

Momentrix – Mometrix provides study materials for over 1,500 standardized exams. They offer a wide range of study guides, flashcards, online courses, and practice questions for college admissions, nursing, teaching, and professional certifications.

Brainfuse CollegeNow – Brainfuse CollegeNow is an online service providing college admissions support, including live, expert help with applications, essays, financial aid, and admissions interviews, along with resources like SAT/ACT prep materials. It offers personalized guidance to help teens and adults navigate the college application process and typically accesses through a local library card.

NJ Drivers Test Practice – New Jersey DMV Practice Tests: Questions for 2025! These New Jersey DMV Practice Tests cover all the information you will need for the DMV written test. These practice tests are not just sample questions that you have seen before from other websites. They are written and reviewed by professional driving instructors and cover the same subject the real permit test questions do.

Northstar Digital Literacy – Test your computer skills! Northstar Digital Literacy defines the basic skills needed to use a computer and the internet in daily life, employment, and higher education, then provides training as needed. Online, self-guided assessments measure mastery of basic skills in each of 15 areas. When test takers are logged in to Northstar Online Learning, the Northstar assessment result page links to self-directed online learning practice for skills not yet mastered.

Udemy – Udemy features a collection of more than 3,500 online video courses taught by world-class instructors. The top-rated courses offer upskilling in the areas of business, tech, and personal development across 75+ different categories such as web development, cloud computing, leadership & management, finance & accounting, office productivity, and so much more.

Gale Presents: Peterson’s Test and Career Center – Peterson’s Test and Career Prep helps students and adults be better prepared down the road for both college and their career. Discover comprehensive test prep and career solutions from Peterson’s, a world-leading educational provider.

Brainfuse HelpNow – On demand, anytime, anywhere eLearning for all ages and levels. Brainfuse HelpNow™ provides differentiated learning solutions for users of diverse needs and background. Students communicate with live tutors using an interactive whiteboard to chat, write, draw, copy/paste text or images and graph homework problems.

Brainfuse JobNow – On demand, anytime, anywhere Brainfuse JobNow provides live interactive online help combined with online resources to guide you through the necessary tasks to get a job, resources to help you prepare for your interview, and the resources you need to craft a winning resume.

Brainfuse VetNow – Brainfuse VetNow helps veterans and their families understand and apply for the benefits they are eligible for from local, state, or federal programs. Veterans can get the help they need transitioning from military to civilian careers and assistance with preparing for college through a full suite of academic tools.

Fiero Code – Fiero Code (Previously Prenda Code Club) is a self-guided online software program that teaches you how to code through hundreds of coding tutorials and dozens of real-world projects. Fiero Code offers a gamified learning experience ― as you progress through the activities, you’ll earn clothes and accessories for your personal avatar.

Curriculum Resource Center – Curriculum Resource Center provides a library of printable teacher-handout material for the middle school, high school, and junior college curriculum.

Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center – Ferguson’s Career Guidance Center provides detailed profiles of more than 3,300 jobs and 94 industries, invaluable advice on career skills, more than 55,000 resource entries and much more!

Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports, formerly Consumers Union, is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to unbiased product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy.

Ebooks and Eaudio

eLibrary NJ (View tutorial) – eLibraryNJ offers access to eBook and audio book downloads to your computer or portable device with your Matawan-Aberdeen Library Card. Select “STELLA” as your library upon checkout. eLibrary NJ can be accessed usiing your mobile device with the Libby app, available at your app store.

How to download eBooks and audiobooks using…

Palace Project – The NJ State Library has launched the Palace Project, providing all NJ residents with free access to over 20,000 eBooks & Audiobooks through the Palace Project app on their favorite mobile device.

Freading (View tutorial) – Freading is a downloadable eBook service from Library Ideas and has over 8,000 titles with more being added each day. Freading eBooks are available with simultaneous access so there are no holds needed—an unlimited number of library customers may download a Freading eBook title at the same time. Freading offers fiction and nonfiction eBooks in all genres as well as a top download and new arrivals section. All you need is a library card.

*Please visit your device’s app store to download the Freading App to get eBooks and Audiobooks.*

Hoopla (View tutorial) –
Access thousands of movies, television shows, music albums and audiobooks, all available for mobile and desktop use. Digital content from Hollywood studios, major-label record companies and publishers can be borrowed for instant streaming to smartphones, tablets, and computers, or for temporary downloading to smartphones and tablets.
Visit www.hoopladigital.com to sign up for an account with your valid Matawan Aberdeen Public Library card number, or visit your device’s app store to download the free hoopla mobile app. Check out a maximum of 5 items per month (borrow audiobooks, ebooks, and comics for 21 days, music albums for 7 days, and movies/television shows for 3 days).

RBDigital Audiobooks –
RBDigital Audiobooks have moved to the Libby app. Get started with Libby.

Comics Plus – Read thousands of digital comics, manga, and picture books, segmented for readers of all ages. Explore a diverse selection of titles including Avatar: The Last Airbender; Awkward; Big Nate; Bone; Chi’s Sweet Home; Dance Class; Disney (Various); Geronimo Stilton; Minecraft; My Little Pony; Peanuts; Quince; Really Bird; Sheets; The Sisters; Sonic the Hedgehog; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and many more. Read in your browser with the links below, or download the app.

Comics Plus for Children (Ages 3-10)
Comics Plus for Teens (Ages 8-18)
All-Access Comics Plus

Want to read comics on your phone or tablet? Download the LibraryPass Comics app for iOS or Android.

Español

Transparent Language Online – Transparent Language Online le permite aprender en cualquier lugar, en cualquier momento, para cualquier objetivo lingüístico, en más de 100 idiomas.

Referencia Latina – Esta base de datos contiene fuentes en español organizada por áreas temáticas que facilitan el acceso a la misma.
Permite a los usuarios consultar artículos de publicaciones periódicas actualizadas diariamente que garantizan la disponibilidad de la infomración más reciente.

Mango Languages ESL – Mango’s online language-learning system also offers English lessons tailored to a selection of native languages.

English as a Second Language – A listing of ESL resources at local libraries and through other entities.

Little Pim – Stretch your child’s language skills and expand your cultural horizons with our immersive features.

Film and Television

Kanopy – Stream feature films, award-winning documentaries, film festival favorites, indie and classic films, and world films with collections from The Criterion Channel, Music Box Films, Samuel Goldwyn, The Orchard, The Great Courses, PBS, BBC and thousands of independent filmmakers. Films can be streamed via matawan.kanopy.com or the Kanopy mobile app. Cardholders are entitled to five checkouts per month and each checkout is active for a three day period.
Visit matawan.kanopy.com to sign up for an account with your valid Matawan Aberdeen Public Library card number, or visit your device’s app store to download the free Kanopy mobile app.

Hoopla (View tutorial) – Access thousands of movies, television shows, music albums and audiobooks, all available for mobile and desktop use. Digital content from Hollywood studios, major-label record companies and publishers can be borrowed for instant streaming to smartphones, tablets, and computers, or for temporary downloading to smartphones and tablets.
Visit www.hoopladigital.com to sign up for an account with your valid Matawan Aberdeen Public Library card number, or visit your device’s app store to download the free hoopla mobile app. Check out a maximum of 5 items per month (borrow audiobooks, ebooks, and comics for 21 days, music albums for 7 days, and movies/television shows for 3 days).

Geography

World Geography and Culture Online – A global approach to facilitate the study of countries, places, peoples, and geography concepts and skills.

Genealogy

Fold3 Library Edition – (In Library Use Only) – Provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served. Fold3 has content from the Revolutionary War onward and is an invaluable research resource for historians, genealogists, researchers, military enthusiasts, veterans, teachers, and battle reenactors.

Ancestry Library (In Library Use Only) – Genealogical and historical information from census, military, church, vital, court, land and probate records, passenger lists and more.

HeritageHub – The largest and most comprehensive collection of newspaper obituaries and death notices. Extensive editorial review of all newspaper sections ensures thorough selection of obituaries for easy access. An easy-to-use interface allows searching by name, date range, or text such as institutional name, social affiliation(s), geographic location(s), philanthropic activities, etc.

HeritageQuest® Online – HeritageQuest® Online is a comprehensive database of American genealogical sources—rich in unique primary sources, local and family histories, and finding aids. Start to discover the amazing “history of you” with this essential collection of genealogical and historical sources—with coverage dating back to the 1700s—that can help people find their ancestors and discover a place’s past.

Health & Home

☞ Library Chef – Live Cooking Classes — Enjoy three live cooking classes each month for adults, and two live classes each month for families: one for kids (ages 5-9) and one for teens (ages 10+). Experience hands-on cooking fun and skill-building activities!

Health Reference Center – Health Reference Center provides clear and comprehensive information on conditions and diseases, health and wellness, mental health and the human body.

Health Source: Academic/Nursing Edition – Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition is a trusted full-text database covering nursing and allied health topics, including pediatric nursing, critical care, mental health, nursing management, medical law and more.

Health Source: Consumer Edition – This rich collection of consumer health information provides access to full-text consumer health magazines and reference books. It also includes searchable full text for current health pamphlets.

Magill’s Medical Guide – Magill’s Medical Guide covers diseases, disorders, treatments, procedures, specialties, anatomy, biology, and issues in an A-Z format. The guide’s entries are written and compiled by experts in the fields of life sciences, medicine, and biopsychology who tailor the language so it is accessible for students, patients, and their caregivers.

Psychology & Behavioral Health – Salem Health provides information in behavioral, mental, and psychological health.

History

African-American History – Provides expansive and in-depth information on the people, events, and topics important to the study of African-American History.

American History – Spans more than 500 years of political, military, social, and cultural history, highlighting the important people and events of the American experience.

American Indian History – Offers thorough access to more than 15,000 years of Native American culture, history, and heritage.

American Women’s History – Covers the important people, events, legislation, and issues relevant to the study of women’s history in the United States.

Ancient and Medieval History – Explores the pre-modern world with in-depth focus on Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Asia.

Modern World History – Covers the people, places, and events in the broad expanse of history from mid-15th century to the present.

History – Salem Press – Salem Histroy provides award-winning content in history covering everything from the middle-ages to the 21st century. Learn about the people, places, and events that occured throughtout the years.

Local History Archives – Information and photos of local history including cemeteries, books. newspapers, and much more.

Language

Transparent Language – Transparent Language Online empowers you to learn anywhere, anytime, for any language goal — in 100+ languages.

Mango Languages (View tutorial) – Mango is an online language-learning system that can help you learn languages like Spanish, French, Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Mandarin Chinese, Greek, Italian, Russian and more. Also offers English lessons tailored to a selection of native languages.
*Please visit your device’s app store to download Mango Languages for Mobile.*

☞ Little Pim – Change your child’s life with the power of a second language. Stretch your child’s language skills and expand your cultural horizons with our immersive features.

English as a Second Language – A listing of ESL resources at local libraries and through other entities.

Legal

Legal Information Reference Center – Providing exclusive online full text for many of the top consumer legal reference books, Legal Information Reference Center contains more than 225 full-text publications and thousands of legal forms, with more content being added on a regular basis. A majority of the full-text legal reference books are provided through Nolo, the nation’s oldest and most-respected provider of legal information for consumers and small business.

Literature

Bloom’s Literature – Bloom’s Literature examines great writers, important works, memorable characters, and influential movements and events in world literature.

Literary Reference Center – Literary Reference Center is a comprehensive database that provides users with a broad spectrum of information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes.

Novelist (View tutorial) – NoveList is a comprehensive online readers’ advisory tool used to search hundreds of thousands of popular fiction and nonfiction titles, and also retrieve author read-alikes, book lists, book discussion guides, and more.

Novelist K-8 – Focuses on nonfiction reading materials that support the school curriculum, as well as the recreational reading interests of children and students from preschool through middle school.

Select Reads – Select Reads is an innovative book list service that allows you to sign up for automated newsletters that keep you informed about the books you are interested in (as well as possible new favorites) throughout the library’s catalog. Not only can you pick the book categories you prefer, you can receive author spotlights on your favorite creators, get alerts about new titles and ebooks, or even create entirely custom, subject-based book shelves that match your preferences exactly!

Magazines and Journals

eLibraryNJ Magazines – Libby Magazines, the world’s largest newsstand, offers full color, interactive digital magazines for your enjoyment. Browse from your library’s collection of popular titles with no holds, no checkout periods, and no limit to the number of magazines you can download.

Here is a list of MAPL Print Magazines 2023

MasterFile Elite – Provides full text for magazines (including Consumer Reports), reference books, and primary source documents. This database also provides an Image Collection containing photos, maps & flags.

Comics Plus – Read thousands of digital comics, manga, and picture books, segmented for readers of all ages. Explore a diverse selection of titles including Avatar: The Last Airbender; Awkward; Big Nate; Bone; Chi’s Sweet Home; Dance Class; Disney (Various); Geronimo Stilton; Minecraft; My Little Pony; Peanuts; Quince; Really Bird; Sheets; The Sisters; Sonic the Hedgehog; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and many more. Read in your browser with the links below, or download the app.

Comics Plus for Children (Ages 3-10)
Comics Plus for Teens (Ages 8-18)
All-Access Comics Plus

Want to read comics on your phone or tablet? Download the LibraryPass Comics app for iOS or Android.

Music

Freegal (View tutorial)- Freegal® Music is a free music service from your library. Freegal offers 3 downloads per week and NOW OFFERS 24 HOURS A DAY STREAMING! The catalog includes over 16 million songs, millions of albums, hundreds of curated playlists, the ability to create your own playlists, thousands of audio books and thousands of music videos. In total the collection is comprised of music from over 40,000+ labels with music that originates in over 100 countries. Free apps are available at the App Store and Google Play.

Hoopla (View tutorial) – Access thousands of movies, television shows, music albums and audiobooks, all available for mobile and desktop use. Digital content from Hollywood studios, major-label record companies and publishers can be borrowed for instant streaming to smartphones, tablets, and computers, or for temporary downloading to smartphones and tablets. Note: Streaming requires continuous access to an Internet connection via wireless, ethernet, or cellular data plan.
Visit www.hoopladigital.com to sign up for an account with your valid Matawan Aberdeen Public Library card number, or visit your device’s app store to download the free hoopla mobile app. Check out a maximum of 4 items per month (borrow audiobooks, ebooks, and comics for 21 days, music albums for 7 days, and movies/television shows for 3 days). No overdue fees; items are automatically returned to the library at the end of the lending period.

News and Newspapers

The New York Times – Patrons can now access the New York Times (NYT), founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18, 1851. It has won 112 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other news organization. The New York Times covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews.

Note: From inside the library visitors can create an account and have full access by clicking on the main link above. For access to the NYT when you are not at the library, use this off-site access link. For a video tutorial on using off-site acceess see this short YouTube video.

The Star-Ledger – The Star-Ledger, a leading newspaper in New Jersey, has a history dating back to The Newark Daily Advertiser, founded in 1832. The paper is based in Newark, considered to be the Gateway to New Jersey. It is the financial, commercial, transportation, and cultural hub of the Garden State. Newark offers a mixture of entertainment, dining, culture and sports. With the development of the Train-to-Plane, Newark also boasts one of the most efficient transportation systems in the world. The Star-Ledger is the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for its news reporting. Sections of the Star-Ledger include News, Sports, Travel, Perspective and Business.

The Wall Street Journal – Patrons can now access America’s most trusted news source, WSJ.com, while they are in the library or from the comfort of their own home. Matawan Aberdeen Library patrons with a valid card can create an account with the Wall Street Journal and start using wsj.com immediately. Access to the Journal will initially be available for 3 days, after which, simply return to the personalized link that you will receive via email and login as an existing user with the same username and password you originally created for another 3 days of access. Patrons can repeat this process as many times as desired.

Newspaper Source Plus – Newspaper Source Plus provides a full-text digital collection of the world’s major news content. It includes millions of articles from newspapers, newswires and news magazines. In addition, it offers television and radio transcripts and ongoing daily updates from popular news sources.

Access World News (NewsBank) (View tutorial)- The most comprehensive collection of full-text newspapers globally, Access World News provides extensive coverage at every level—international, national, regional, state and local. This fully searchable Web-based resource features news content from all 50 U.S. states as well as more than 5,900 international news sources from 172 countries. News content may be included in its original published language or translated into English.

New Jersey News – Electronic editions of New Jersey newspapers including the Star Ledger (1996 – current) and the Record (1985 – current). Also includes Special Reports coverage of U.S. and international news, business, lifestyle, entertainment, sports, and science and technology.

Matawan Journal – The Matawan Journal offers online access to its back issues printed from 1870 through 1973.

The Independent – The Independent offers online access to its back issues printed from 1972 through 2000.

The Glenwood Gazette – We have digital copies of the Glenwood Gazette (Matawan, NJ) from 1889 to 1892.

The Strathmore Observer – We have digital copies of the Strathmore Observer (Matawan, NJ) from 1963 to 1967.

Reference

AtoZ World Food – AtoZ World Food contains more than 7,000 traditional recipes from 174 countries, along with thousands of ingredient, food culture, and reference articles, making it the largest food database of its kind.

Academic Search Premier – Academic Search Premier is one of the best databases for high school and college research papers. This database provides full text for more than 4,500 publications.

Gale Virtual Reference Library (View tutorial) – Gale Virtual Reference Library is a collection of multidisciplinary eBooks including encyclopedias, educational study guides, reference materials, and travel guides.

Points of View Reference Center – Points of View Reference Center is a full-text database designed to provide students with a series of essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides 200 topics, each with an overview (objective background/description), point (argument) and counterpoint (opposing argument).

Military and Government Collection – Offers current news pertaining to all branches of the military and government through full text, indexing and abstracts for hundreds of journals and periodicals.

World Book Early Learning/World Book Kids – This is a great resource for kids ages 3-10 years old. For the younger ones there are videos, games, stories, activities and print coloring pages. Older kids can research different topics, play games, and learn how to make science experiments at home!

Science

Science Online – Science Online presents a broad range of scientific disciplines through extensive definitions, essays, diagrams, biographies, and experiments.

Principles of Science – This series provides high school students and undergraduates with a solid foundation to the study of several popular fields of science.

Forensic Science – Forensic Science contains 500 alphabetically arranged articles written from five different perspectives of the forensic sciences. The perspectives include investigators and specialties, scene of the crime, the American legal system, specific historical subjects, and forensics in the media. There is also a Guide to Internet Resources and a list of television programs in which forensic science figures prominently.

GreenFILE – Provides information covering all aspects of human impact to the environment in a collection of scholarly, government and general-interest titles. Some titles are full text, the rest are abstracts only.

Yearbooks

Matawan Yearbooks – The Matawan Regional High School yearbooks are now online. Check out the yearbooks from 1953-2011.

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