The staff of the BTL Reference Department welcome your inquiries in person or by telephone. Visit us upstairs or by calling 908-204-3031 X4 during the library's normal operating hours. The other services provided by this Department include the following:

Electronic Databases (plus remote access)
Internet access and Internet Policy
Interlibrary loans
Word processing workstations
Young Adult Center

Other Libraries' selected websites

Q and A NJ - Free, live reference service over the Web available 24 hours a day. Click on the link and follow the instructions. Q and A NJ is supported by the New Jersey State Library with Federal Library Services and Technology Act funds and administered by the South Jersey Regional Library Cooperative.

For a quick, possibly one-stop, Internet index try--
Librarians' Index to the Internet: a reliable and efficient guide to described and evaluated Internet resources.

Electronic Databases

To use these resources from home, click on a link (the underlined name of the database) and type in the barcode number on the back of your library card when prompted. Do not put in spaces, just the numbers, and press enter.

Magazine & Newspapers

EBSCO Masterfile -- Magazines and Newspapers: 2,700 periodicals, 1,000 full text also available remotely, through our website, with library card number

ProQuest Research Library -- Citations, abstracts and full text for over 2500 magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science, Monitor, USA Today, Boston Globe and Atlanta Journal/Constitution.

Custom Newspapers -- includes the New York Times (365 day rolling file), the Bergen Record (January 1996 to current), Times London (January 1997 to current and the Los Angeles Times (January 1996 to current) and much more.

INFORME -- Periodicals in Spanish from Infotrac

Star Ledger -- Full text coverage (excluding pictures) beginning May 10, 1989 and updated daily.
This database is available only within the Library (any MAIN Library).

ProQuest Historical Newspapers - New York Times --
The complete full-text of the New York Times from 1851-1999. Coverage will always end 2 years before the current year. This is a fully searchable file that allows users to view articles ( news stories, editorials, photos, graphics, and advertisements) in their original context. Users may choose to display the full page image of any page in any issue or just a particular article. This database is available only within the Library (any MAIN Library) but is well worth a visit.

Research Databases

Morningstar Investment Research Center -- All the fund and stock information necessary for in-depth research and smart portfolio construction. Comprehensive, up-to-date information on both mutual funds and stocks; each report loaded with critical data and decisive analysis. On-board tutorials and training programs for users.
Please use the "End Session" button in the top right corner to log out after you have finished using Morningstar.

**Your library card must be from the Bernards Township Library to access this database with this link.

Virtual Reference Library [Gale]-- Online access 24/7 to a generous collection of encyclopedias, almanacs and specialized reference sources in eBook format for multidisciplinary research. Just use your library card barcode number to login; you don't have to be in the Library to use these.
View and search a single title or search by topic, name, etc. across the whole collection. Includes the ability to print and email articles.
Topics included are:

• Arts
• Biography
• Business
• Education
• Environment
• General reference
• History
• Law
• Literature
• Medicine
• Multicultural Studies
• Nation & World
• Religion
• Science
• Social Science

Ancestry Library Edition -- A comprehensive online source of information for conducting genealogy and local history research containing over 1.2 billion records from 3,000 databases. Includes the digitized images of the U.S. Federal Census from 1790 forward, the American Genealogical Biographical Index, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index and much more.
This database is ONLY available for use IN the Library, on the Yellow network. Please ask at Reference if you need assistance.

Contemporary Authors -- An award winning reference resource that provides biographic details on approximately 112,000 modern novelists, poets, playwrights, nonfiction writers, journalists and scriptwriters. Current writers, as well as the most studied literary figures of the early 20th century, and authors from around the world are featured.
To search Contemporary Authors only, click Clear Checkmarks, then scroll down and put a check beside Contemporary Authors. Searches work best if Author/Creator field is selected from the Search drop-down list.

The Facts On File On-Line Database includes
  → American History Online
  → American Women's History Online
  → African-American History Online
  → American Indian History Online
  → Modern World History Online
  → Ancient & Medieval World History Online
  → World Atlas
  → Science Online
  → Health Reference Center
  → Curriculum Resource Center
  → Curriculum Resource Center: Junior Edition
  → Bloom's Literary Reference Online
  → Ferguson's Career Guidance Center
  → Personal & Business Forms

Virtual Reference Library [Gale]-- Online access 24/7 to a generous collection of encyclopedias, almanacs and specialized reference sources in eBook format for multidisciplinary research. Just use your library card barcode number to login; you don't have to be in the Library to use these.
View and search a single title or search by topic, name, etc. across the whole collection. Includes the ability to print and email articles.
Topics included are:

• Arts
• Biography
• Business
• Education
• Environment
• General reference
• History
• Law
• Literature
• Medicine
• Multicultural Studies
• Nation & World
• Religion
• Science
• Social Science

Find your next good read with Novelist Plus- Suggestions for books you'll enjoy, fiction and narrative non-fiction. Find plot summaries, background on authors, series titles, and match to similar books. Lists of recommended mysteries, horror, romance, adventure, and more.
Also Novelist K-8 Plus for the younger reader.

ReferenceUSA -- Once again provided by the State Library -- NJ Knowledge Initiative, and available through JerseyClicks.
Includes United States and Canadian businesses, US and Canadian phone listings; and Healthcare listings (physicians and dentists) and much more.
Click here for troubleshooting tips for RefUSA.

Quickly develop a focused group of companies by combining several criteria in one search. A summary list with key company information can be printed out. Individual company links display organization profiles. Click here for troubleshooting tips for RefUSA.

Directory Library (Gale)-- Authoritative directories on associations, publishers and media, and business information. Detailed reference works that once were accessible only in the Library, now available online from the Library or remotely 24/7 through the Library's website.

Titles included are:

• Encyclopedia of Associations: National Organizations of the U.S. 47th ed., 2009
• Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media. 145th ed. 2010
• Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources (2008)
• Business Ranking Annual (2009)

Accessible using library card number.

**Your library card must be from the Bernards Township Library to access this database with this link.

WorldBook Encyclopedia -- Articles, maps, pictures, sounds and video; up-to-date, reliable, authoritative, easy-to-understand information and an array of supplementary search tools and information sources.

Return to Reference Index

Access to the Internet is available currently at seventeen workstations upstairs and four in the Children's Library. Patrons are asked to limit their use of the Internet to one half hour if others are waiting. Click to view the Bernards Township Library Internet Use Policy.

Return to Reference Index

Word Processing Workstations

All the Library computers have Office software (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Publisher, etc.)loaded on them. Those on the Yellow network have Office 2007; those on the Orange Network have Office 2003. Two non-networked workstations near the study rooms have Microsoft Step by Step Interactive, a tutorial for Office 2000, on them. Printing is available from all Library computers on either Black & White or Color Laser printers.
Please ask for help at the Reference Center as needed.

Young Adult Center

The Young Adult Center is located on the upper level of the library. The focus of this center is on the interests and needs of middle and high school age patrons. Our Young Adult Services Librarian, with the help of a Teen Advisory Board, plans programs of interest to this age group and purchases books, magazines, videos and music CDs. Click here to see what's happening in Teen Services.

Other Libraries' Selected Websites

Morris County Library Reference

Rutgers University Libraries Research Guides

Somerset County Library Web by Subject

New Jersey State Library Cyberdesk

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