Toronto Reference Library Blog

AccessScience by McGraw-Hill

Winner of Library Journal's  Best Databases 2011 and Best in Media, AccessScience (McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology) is a great online encyclopedia that is simple to navigate and designed especially for students.

McGraw-Hill really takes advantage of the online environment and the way they prepackage information is impressive. The Image Gallery is fantastic for school projects. Accompanied by explanation, the incredible photos can be used on their own or downloaded as a PowerPoint slide show for use in the classroom.

The multimedia section contains videos and animation of scientific phenomena such as the steps in cloning a gene or a solar eclipse.

This encyclopedia contains more than 2700 biographies of scientists and these can be searched by subject as well as by type of prize awarded.

All of this is in addition to the 9000 articles. And the best part? You can access this database from home with your library card for those Sunday night science emergencies!

 

For more information read this AccessScience flyer or check it out yourself from the library home page. Select Find your way to Articles and Online Research. Enter your Library Card number and PIN number and scroll down to the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology.

 

 

Service Update - May 15, 2012

We have moved collections to serve you better!

As part of the revitalization program at the Toronto Reference Library, we have formed new subject departments by gathering all related subject material together (including periodicals) on a single floor in a way that reflects how they are used.  This makes it more convenient for you to access related materials.

New department arrangements:

Floor 2             Humanities & Social Sciences (including Urban Affairs and eventually, genealogy , maps                         and local history)

Floor 3             Business, Science & Technology

Floor 4             Languages & Literature

                       Special Collections (final home on the 5^th floor)

Floor 5             Arts

Some of the collections are still in a transition stage because of construction.  It will also take a while for the catalogue to reflect all the changes.  If you have questions or could not find a book, please ask staff for assistance.

There continues to be some service disruption due to construction:

For the week of May 14: 

While the Genealogy, Maps and Local History collections are still on the 4th floor, the re-location of the post 1920 map collection from the Special Collections Centre, 4th floor to the Humanities and Social Sciences Department, 2nd floor has begun. Before the map cabinets arrive on the 2nd floor, they will be painted.  The move will be done in stages, so only a portion of the map collection will be unavailable to the public at a time.

Currently, there are no public internet stations on the 5th floor due to relocation of the construction hoarding.  Parts of the Picture Collection may be inaccessible due to cabinet painting.

 The Languages collection has been moved from the 5th floor to the 4th floor.  However, some multilingual dictionaries and language learning materials remain on the 5th floor for now and will be moved soon. 

The Arthur Conan Doyle Room on the 5^th floor is temporarily closed. However, the collection is still accessible in the Baldwin Room in Special Collections on the 4^th floor.