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What are electronic resources?
These are collections of information (example: games, stories, articles from magazines, encyclopedias, pamphlets or other published resources) that are accessed on a computer. They often include sound and animated graphics - pictures, movies, etc. and interaction with the user.
They can be on the computer hard-drive, on CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, or online.
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The Library has a number of electronic resources available for you to use in our Libraries for free
We have a mixture of high-quality electronic resources freely available for anyone who is in our Libraries (online databases, Free access websites, CD-ROMs ...)
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The Roadcode Testdrive
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genealogy resources
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health information
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See the list of Full list of electronic resources to find out what you can use in our Libraries, and which online databases Library members can use from home via the info2go service.
Paid access to Email and Internet
We provide pay-for-use computers with access to the email, internet, word processing and more, and offer free tutorials on how to use a selection of electronic resources.
More information about internet access in the Library.
Other electronic resources:
- We have lending CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs and MP3s
- And we also have an Xbox 360 and a PS3 machine in the Youth Zone
- You can issue your own books and magazines on one of the three Selfcheck machines we have on the First Floor of the Central Library.
- Or record your own sounds in the Beatbooth, our recording studio.
- Additional resources
What is an online database?
An online database is an electronic resource that is accessed via the Internet.
The Palmerston North City Library subscribes to many pay-to-access online databases. Because we've paid the subscription fees anyone can use these for free in our Libraries.
And a large number can be accessed by Library members from their homes or on any internet-connected computer in the world, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This home access to online databases is called info2go.
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Subjects covered by the online databases include: health, sciences, business, arts, music, women's issues, biographies, literature and novels, world history, cultures, food, sports, international and local information, current events, and much more.
See the list of online databases to find out what you can use in our Libraries, and which ones Library members can use from home via the info2go service.
You can also see our guide to which online database to use to help you decide which one to use for your search.
Electronic resources versus printed material
One advantage of using an electronic resource is easy information retrieval.
Other advantages include:
- the ability to do full text searching across a huge number of resources in one go
- the currency and timeliness of the information
- the ability to download, print, or send the desired document or segment instantly
- animation of graphics
- the ease of skimming and searching
and also:
- convenience of accessing articles any time from your desktop computer (see info2go)
- ability to link to additional information
- ability to create personal collections
- unique, time-saving features
- improve workflow and save time
The online databases provide us with many more resources in addition to our physical resources.
- In effect we are adding to our collections thousands of resources: books, journals, newspapers, pamphlets, reports …
- And a majority of them are ones that we don’t have in print form.
- The total number of the journals that we have access to via the online databases is over 12,000.
- Lots of the reference books are large in-depth multivolume sets.
The online databases are fantastic resources – they take their content from high quality publications, and more content is being added in all the time.
There is something there for everyone – huge range of subjects, interests, and levels covered.
Isn't everything on the Internet anyway?
I use Google and other search engines - isn't that good enough?
- No. Some materials are not available in their entirety, or require a paid subscription to access them. Other materials, due to copyright constraints, are never published online.
The Palmerston North City Library subscribes to many online databases. Library members can use most of these via the info2go service. They can be used any time of the day, from any internet computer in the world. This means you no longer have to be in the Library to have access to magazines, reference books and other high quality resources.
The info2go databases cover such subjects as health, business, women's issues, world history, biographies, literature, exploration, inventions, music, arts, science, cultures, food, international and local information, current events, and much more.
The information found in online databases is not usually found on the ‘free' Internet. With online databases, editors and publishers have already reviewed the information before it is published.
This editorial process usually guarantees the quality of the information, so you don't have to double-check the facts. With other websites you must evaluate them to discover whether they contain useful and reliable information.
Evaluating web pages
In the research process you will encounter many types of resources including books, articles and websites. But not everything you find on your topic will be suitable. How do you make sense of what is out there and evaluate its authority and appropriateness for your research?
Can I read the whole article online?
Some databases include the full text of all, or some, articles; others provide just a citation and/or abstract (summary). A citation is also known as a ‘reference'. It contains the basic information you need to find a particular article, such as:
- article title
- author of article
- source title (magazine/newspaper/book article appears in)
- date of source publication
- volume, issue and page numbers
A typical citation might look like this:
Searching tips
See the User guides and help page for basic searching tips, and instructions on how to use individual online databases.
Consolidated searching - learn how to search multipule database at the same time.
Terms and Conditions of Use
The online databases are protected by copyright. They are provided by Palmerston North City Library for use by individuals who are registered Palmerston North City Library patrons for the purposes of personal use or for research in a corporate, business, academic or government setting. By accessing these databases you agree to these terms and conditions of usage. Your continued access to and usage of these databases indicates your agreement to abide by these terms and conditions.
info2go - home access to online databases
A number of these electronic resources can be accessed from home by Library members (the info2go databases).
info2go access
For licensing reasons, only current members of Palmerston North City Library can access the info2go databases from outside our Libraries, though some exclusions do apply.
