Arts & Science

Dive into our rich music, arts and science resources. 

This curated content collection includes traditional databases as well as streaming and downloadable film and music.

ArtistWorks

Man smiling while holding a French horn.

Unlimited access to master musicians.

ArtistWorks provides players world-class instruction from Grammy Award-winning music professionals. ArtistWorks for Libraries offers users a guided path of video lessons containing everything they need to reach their musical goals. All levels of player are welcome!

Features

  • Blues, Bluegrass, Jazz, Rock, Classical and More
  • Hundreds of hours of high quality video instruction
  • Studio quality play-along tracks
  • Downloadable written materials, tablature and sheet music

Creativebug

collage making with supplies such as sissors paste and tissue paper

You are more creative than you think!
Experience the joy of making with thousands of award-winning video classes taught by top designers and artists. By signing up for Creativebug you'll enjoy unlimited access to thousands of online art and craft classes. Watch our classes anytime, anywhere. Since our classes never expire, you can start and stop projects at your own pace. 

Featuring classes about:

• Knitting
• Crochet
• Art + Design
• Paper
• Sewing
• Quilting
• Jewelry
• Kids
• Food + Home
• Holiday + Party

Our instructors are impressive artists and creative experts. They bring with them a lifetime of practice, tried-and-true teaching methods, and the added gift of being able to articulate every step of how to knit, stitch, paint and create the projects you see throughout our site.

Academic OneFile

Academic OneFile

Features peer-reviewed full-text scholarly content across the academic disciplines. With millions of articles available in both PDF and HTML full-text, Academic OneFile is both authoritative and comprehensive, a terrific first-stop for research.

Includes full-text New York Times back to 1995.

Britannica Library Reference Center

Britannica Library

Use this online version of the Encyclopaedia Britannica to conduct research and work on special projects. You can even store your research in your own personal My Britannica account. 

Start with the encyclopedia and then move on to current magazines, recommended Web sites, an atlas, biographies, news, and more.

Watch this video to learn more about Britannica.

Calisphere

Calisphere logo

Discover California history! Photographs, documents, newspaper pages, political cartoons, works of art, diaries, transcribed oral histories, advertising, and other unique cultural artifacts — reveal the diverse history and culture of California and its role in national and world history.

Explora

Explora

Research magazine for full-text articles.

 

Find information here about:

Arts & Literature

Biography

Business and Careers

Current Events

Geography and Culture

Health

History and Social Science

Science and Math

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Searchable reference books provide online access high quality information for students and other researchers. Topics covered include Business, Education, Film, Health, History, Law, Philosophy, Religion, Science and Social Sciences.

Health And Wellness Resource Center

Gale Health & Wellness

Research a wide range of health issues here. You can look up medications, explore various diseases and conditions, and find information from the Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine.

hoopla digital

Hoopla

hoopla

Enjoy thousands of titles –books, music, audiobooks, and films - available to borrow for instant streaming or temporary downloading to tablets, computers and Android and IOS smartphones.

To begin, go to hoopladigital.com and:

1. Follow the fast and easy sign-up process using your library card.

2. If you want hoopla on the go, install the free mobile app on your iOS or Android device.

That's it! No holds, no waiting! You can borrow up to 10 items per month. Borrowing times are 21 days for audiobook, eBook and comics, 7 days for music, and 3 days for videos.

Questions? Check out https://www.hoopladigital.com/feedback

NOTE: Hoopla is not available through our OPAC terminals. Check out a Chromebook at any branch to use this resource.

JSTOR and ARTSTOR

JSTOR

JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, images, and primary sources.
With one search on JSTOR you can find academic research in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences.

How to Use JSTOR

With ARTSTOR you can explore collections of images and primary sources from libraries, museums, and archives around the world. Discover new avenues of research and gain deeper understanding of your topics with original materials including artworks, photographs, publications, recordings, and other artifacts

Literature Resource Center

portraits of famous authors

Find biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of novelists, poets, essayists, and journalists from every age and literary discipline.

MedlinePlus

Medline

Music Online from Alexander Street Press

Alexander Street Logo

More than 670,000 tracks from all genres of music are available to stream! 

Music Online is divided into 5 collections for easier browsing: 
American Song, 
Classical Music Library, 
Contemporary World Music, 
Jazz Music Library, and 
Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries.

NOTE: Music Online from Alexander Street Press is not available through our OPAC terminals. Check out a Chromebook at any branch to use this resource.

National Geographic Virtual Library

National Geographic Lobo
A complete archive of National Geographic magazine — every page of every issue from 1888 to the present day — along with a cross-searchable collection of National Geographic books, maps, images and videos.

Naxos Music Library

Naxos Music Library

Streaming access to 2.2 million tracks of classical music, Jazz, Access to a large music library.  Currently, it offers streaming access to more than 100,000 CDs with more than 1,500,000 tracks of both standard and rare repertoire. Over 800 new CDs are added to the library every month.

Naxos Jazz Music Library here and Naxos World Music Library here.

(NOTE: BPL does not have an access code for the NAXOS app.)

NOTE: Naxos is not available through our OPAC terminals. Check out a Chromebook at any branch to use this resource.

Naxos Sheet Music Publishing

Naxos Sheet Music Publishing

Browse this catalogue of high-quality sheet music editions available for download and print and MIDI.

The Naxos Sheet Music catalogues span a wide range of composers from the 19th and 20th centuries and present a unique collection of classical music to enjoy and perform.

Novelist Plus

person reclining and reading under a tree
Use this service to:
  • find titles similar to ones you have read
  • discover everything an author has written
  • figure out what order to read books in a series
  • explore books with specific settings, protagonists or plots

Learn more in this handy NovelList Handout.

 

Next Reads Newsletters

A hand reaching for a book on a tree branch.

Sign up for these email newsletters for new book lists and reading suggestions.Mystery, fantasy, biography, travel, books for kids and more.

 

OverDrive Digital Media

Libby

Overdrive provides a large and ever-growing collection of ebooks and digital audiobooks. Download the free Libby app, or visit the website libbyapp.com  then listen or read on your device. Please see this page for support. 

SimplyE can be used for Overdrive eBooks.

BPL card holders can now check out up to ten Overdrive items simultaneously!

Note: Libby's minimum iOS is iOS 10.

NOTE: OverDrive is not available through our OPAC terminals. Check out a Chromebook at any branch to use this resource.

Kanopy is now accessible through the Extras section on the Libby app. 

NOTE: The OverDrive app is no longer available.
• Libby help: How-to videos and step-by-step instructions on Libby Help explain how to use the app.
• Transition to Libby overview page: This informational page for users includes an overview about this change, FAQs, and training opportunities.
• Virtual training: Users can sign up for a virtual training session hosted by team OverDrive.

Overdrive Magazines

an illustrated girl behind a book

Overdrive offers instant access to the latest issues of your favorite magazines. All Overdrive magazines are always available with no wait lists or holds to manage. 
More than 3,000 magazines available, including top titles like:

  • US Weekly
  • The New Yorker
  • National Geographic
  • Vanity Fair
  • Rolling Stone

There is also a large selection of magazines in Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, German, French and more.

Magazines will check out for 21 days. You will have the option to renew a magazine within 3 days of the end of the lending period or you can borrow it again with no waiting.  Magazine use does not count against Overdrive checkout limits.

Download the free Libby app to read on your device. Please see OverDrive Magazine support.

BPL card holders can check out up to ten Overdrive ebooks and eaudiobooks simultaneously. SimplyE can be used for Overdrive ebooks and eaudiobooks.

NOTE: OverDrive/Libby is not available through our OPAC terminals. Check out a Chromebook at any branch to use this resource.

Physical Review Journals

APS logo of the letters APS with an orbiting electron or planet

 

in library access only to all online APS journals,  from the most recent articles back to the first issue in 1893, a collection including over 400,000 scientific research papers.

STEM

At Berkeley Public Library, we believe that STEM is for everyone, that doing science can be fun, and that engaging in STEM is something we do every day. Check here for information on upcoming STEM programs and events at the Library and beyond. You will also be able to find book and electronic resources related to STEM topics. Berkeley is a center for science learning and technological... Read More