Library Card Required
Research Help
EBSCOhost Research PlatformAccess credible, reliable, and scholarly abstracts and articles from three different journal databases. Citations and some full texts are available.
ProQuestComplete access to seven different databases, including over five-million digitized pages of news, ads, images and more that showcase BC’s heritage, accessing 125-plus years of news archives of The Province (1894-2010), The Times Colonist (1884-2010), and The Vancouver Sun (1912-2010).
Literacy & Learning
Access thousands of ebooks, digital audiobooks, and emagazines for free with your library card. Get these same materials on your iOS or Android device with the Libby app!
Choose from thousands of online courses to learn in-demand skills from real-world industry experts! Learn skills that will help you in school, personal, and work life for free with your library card.
Looking for the perfect novel to suit your mood? Want to find reliable book reviews? Desperate to find other authors that are similar to your favourite? Check out NoveList, a robust database of books and authors, recommended reading lists, book discussion ideas, and book reviews for all ages to find your next great read!
Help and Tutorials
Open Access Websites & Local Resources
Research
Reliability and bias ratings for numerous news sources, articles, television programs, and podcasts.
Actively works to help you to understand the role media bias plays in the news and information you consume, as well as how to combat bias.
Canadian Historical Association
Digitized and free-to-download PDF version of booklets written by members of the Canadian Historical Association between 1953 and 2015.
Search the digital collections of libraries, archives, and museums from across Canada, as well as access 60 million pages of Canadian digital documentary heritage.
Provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts, and court opinions, all from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities, and other web sites.
Historical Photographs Collection
Ever-growing digital collection of historical photographs, hosted and maintained by the Vancouver Public Library.
Library and Archives Canada provides access to published and archival heritage material that represents First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation experiences and contributions to Canada. One may also view the First Peoples’ Map of BC.
Plagiarism is a common (and often misunderstood) problem that is often the result of a lack of knowledge and skills. Learn what plagiarism is and how to avoid it with a comprehensive set of resources to help students write with integrity.
A collection of over 200 million pages of digitized historical documents made available by Cengage and three BC Universities. Any British Columbian connected to the internet in BC has barrier-free access to these primary sources.
Search nearly five-million digitized pages of news, ads, images and more that showcase BC’s heritage, accessing 125+ years of news archives of The Province (1894-2010), The Times Colonist (1884-2010), and The Vancouver Sun (1912-2010). This online access is made possible through a collaboration of academic, public, and school libraries across BC.
Public Library of Science – Journals
PLOS publishes a suite of influential Open Access journals across all areas of science and medicine. Rigorously reported, peer reviewed, and immediately available without restrictions, promoting the widest readership and impact possible.
A free, full-text archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature at the US National Institutes of Health’s National Library of Medicine (NIH/NLM) with contributions from professionals world-wide.
Royal BC Museum – Learning Portal
A place for learners of all ages to explore British Columbia’s natural and human history through the Royal BC Museum collections.
The Lab is a free, interactive platform for discovering millions of authentic digital resources, creating content with online tools, and sharing in the Smithsonian’s expansive community of knowledge and learning.
Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, the Social Media Lab is a multi- and interdisciplinary research laboratory at Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University. Conducts research studies, as well as provides research tools and resources for both educators and learners.
UBC – Evaluating Information Sources
This guide will help you to evaluate resources you use for research, whether it is an online or print journal article, a website, a book, a newspaper article, or other source that you want to cite.
An online variety of historical regional newspapers from around the province.
Post-Secondary Planning
BC Ministry of Education Scholarships, Bursaries, and Awards
Learn more about eligibility and how to apply.
Advice, information, and resources to help you plan your educational journey. Apply to post-secondary schools on-site!
Undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and post-doctoral scholarships, awards and bursaries.
School District 5 – Mount Baker Secondary
Discover School Library and District Resources to help with education planning, research, career planning, and scholarships.
Literacy & Learning
Numerous online or in-person programming workshops, free of charge. Different workshops for all ages and types of learners, on every topic from website design, to artificial intelligence, to internet safety and more! Includes resources for educators.
Help with essay planning, structure, and basic writing. Has information on types of essays, presentation writing, business writing, and scholarships.
Discover resources and training from the federal government to help you become financially literate.
Excellent essay editing and literature studies resources.
Offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. Topics include math, science, computing, history, art history, economics, etc., as well as grades K-14 and test preparation (SAT, Praxis, LSAT) content.
Over 200 free, online tutorials on a large variety of topics in numerous languages from the Goodwill Community Foundation.
Great resources to support digital and media literacy in kids and teens.
TED-Ed is TED’s youth and education initiative. Includes resources for students, educators, and parents.
Health & Wellness
Provides young adolescents around the globe with medically accurate, age-appropriate, affirming, and honest sex education they can access directly online—regardless of where they live or what school they attend. Also assists parents, guardians, educators, and health care providers around the globe to communicate effectively and honestly about sex and sexuality with the children and adolescents in their lives.
Age-appropriate information to guide you through separation and divorce. Be sure the information is correct for your province. Select your age group and explore content in other sections too.
Your health is important. Get the facts on smoking, drugs, sex, mental health, and more.
Mental health is part of overall health. Just like it’s important to be informed about your health, it’s equally important to be informed about your mental health. Mental Health Literacy aims to take the best available scientific evidence in mental health and make it easy to understand and accessible for everyone.