Libraries & Librarianship

Massachusetts Libraries & Catalogs | Other Libraries & Library Catalogs
Current Awareness & Professional Organizations | Librarianship

Massachusetts Libraries and Catalogs

Springfield Library Catalog: Begin your online catalog search here. Full instructions are included.
C/WMARS Catalogs: C/W MARS is a network of public, academic, school, regional, and special libraries in Central and Western Massachusetts. Members share an online computer system and have combined collections of more than 6 million items. This link will take you to the catalogs of C/WMARS libraries in Western Massachusetts. To expand your search to all C/WMARS libraries, click on the C/WMARS Union Catalog button at the top of the page.
Cooperating Libraries of Greater Springfield: A consortium of academic and public libraries in the Greater Springfield area. Check here for links to member libraries and recommended academic websites.
Massachusetts Library System (MLS): Consortium of libraries throughout the Commonwealth, providing statewide delivery service, ILL, training, purchasing and more. Successor to six individual Regional Library Systems, on July 1, 2010.
Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries: Home page of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Law Libraries, which are housed in the courthouses across the state and are open to the public. Includes access to the law libraries' online catalog, recommended law-related sites, pathfinders or annotated bibliographies on a variety of legal topics, and access to consumer assistance and referral agencies. Note: The Hampden County Law Library is located in the courthouse at the corner of State Street and East Columbus Avenue in Springfield.
MBLC: Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners: This site provides information on libraries and library planning in Massachusetts, links to regional library systems and libraries throughout the state, and access to periodical indexes and union lists of magazines and journals where available, shared electronic databases, and the Masssachusetts Virtual Catalog.
Massachusetts Virtual Catalog via C/WMARS: The Virtual Catalog allows you to find books and other materials in multiple library catalogs with a single search. Library catalogs will continue to be added to the Virtual Catalog over the next two to three years until the majority of the online catalogs in Massachusetts is included. Choose your region (Western or Central) from the drop-down menu, enter your library card number (found on the back of your card) and choose a library for your pickup location from the menu. You may then enter the Virtual Catalog and request materials from libraries throughout Massachusetts. If you need assistance, please Askalibrarian. Please note: the Virtual Catalog should be used only when materials are not available in Western or Central Massachusetts through the C/WMARS catalogs.
Massachusetts Virtual Catalog via MBLC: Allows you to search the virtual catalog as a Guest.
Boston Public Library: Visit the largest (and oldest) public library in Massachusetts. Browse the catalog and other online resources, check out current exhibits, and investigate the other services offered.

UMass Amherst Libraries: Links to individual libraries on the UMass campus, research collections, library services and more.
Five Colleges Libraries Catalog: Search the library catalog shared by UMass., Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke and Smith Colleges. Search all five at once, or limit to one school at a time. You can search by author, title, subject or keyword.
MassCat: A single catalog of the holdings of member libraries that are not generally affiliated with one of the existing automated networks. This catalog will be used to identify and support the sharing of library resources between libraries in MassCat and libraries statewide, as part of the Virtual Library Catalog of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners.

Other Libraries and Library Catalogs

Internet Public Library: Check out the Web's first "virtual library," existing only in cyberspace. Includes reference materials, a children's room, learning resources, librarian's materials, and ongoing exhibits, including POTUS, online biographies of the Presidents of the United States.
Library of Congress World Wide Web (LCWeb) Home Page: The Library's homepage includes links to the online catalog, which can be accessed and searched by World Wide Web or telnet interfaces, the Copyright Office, research and reference sites, as well as special exhibits, such as "American Memory," an ongoing project to provide digital access to papers, photographs, audio, video, and other artifacts of American history.
Library of Congress Online Catalog: Direct link to LC's catalog on the World Wide Web. Search by title, name, or keyword, or use the various special search options.
Libdex: Worldwide directory of library homepages, web-based OPACs, Friends of the Library pages, and library e-commerce affiliate links.
Gabriel: Gateway to Europe's National Libraries: Includes links to the websites of national libraries in Europe, online exhibits, updated news and events, and access to online catalogs, national union catalogs, union lists, digital collections, and other services.

Current Awareness and Professional Organizations

MLA: Massachusetts Library Association: News and resources from the MLA. Also serves as the home for the Massachusetts Friends of Libraries, Inc.
American Library Association: Premier association of librarians in the US: public, academic, school and special.

PLUS: Public Libraries Using Spanish: Forms, documents, programming ideas, and other aids in Spanish translation for use by public libraries. Includes DDC in Spanish, translation aids, web links, and a reference shelf.
Library Support Staff: A site devoted to library paraprofessional support staff, with news, library organizations and journals, reference help, employment help, and more.
Top

updated : December 7, 2010