6 Free Online Resources for TESU Students at the New Jersey State Library

October 18, 2019 Thomas Edison State University
nj state library building

"There is no problem that a library card can’t solve," said author Eleanor Brown.

And she’s right, especially for TESU students working on their next assignment or looking to expand their knowledge.

The New Jersey State Library (NJSL) is an affiliate of TESU. And as an affiliate, all TESU students, whether in or out of state, have electronic access to most of NJSL’s resources, including databases, online journals and articles, career assistance sites, ebooks, audiobooks, programs and more.

The first step is to obtain a library card. It’s easy and free. TESU staff, students and mentors need only register as borrowers with NJSL. Simply visit njstatelib.org and select "Get a Library Card" from the top of the page to get started.

Apply for an NJSL card online and solve your scholarly problems with these unique, free resources and services.

1. Research Databases

The State Library provides access to a wide array of databases and most are available for remote searching by TESU staff and students with a New Jersey State Library card. Databases include:

Business

  • Business Source Premier
  • First Research
  • Mergent Intellect
  • Mergent Online
  • Mergent Archives (historical corporate information)

Health and Medicine

  • CINAHL Complete (nursing and allied health)
  • MEDLINE Complete (medicine, nursing, dentistry, veterinary medicine, behavioral sciences, bioengineering, etc.)
  • Ovid Nursing Full Text Plus
  • PsycINFO (preeminent source for literature on psychology)

Law and Politics

  • CQ Press Electronic Library (U.S. legislative news, in-depth analysis of current and controversial issues of the day, historical analysis of voting behavior)
  • HeinOnline (full text of 1600 law journals, U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register, state session laws, etc.)
  • ProQuest Congressional (Congressional reports, hearings, bills, laws and member information)

Multidisciplinary — Thousands of peer-reviewed, full-text journals in a wide variety of subject fields:

  • Academic Search Complete
  • Academic OneFile
  • OmniFile Full-Text Select

Newspapers

  • NewsBank (more than 1,100 full-text U.S. news sources plus television news transcripts)
  • Newspaper Source Plus (more than 800 full-text newspapers, plus television and radio news transcripts)

Statistical Information

  • Policy Map (mapping tool with U.S. statistical data from federal, educational and institutional sources)
  • ProQuest Statistical Insight
  • Statistical Abstract of the U.S.

2. Newspaper Databases

With your NJSL borrower’s card for access, search the full-text content of thousands of newspapers and news sources.

The collection includes more than 1,300 U.S. newspapers, including 50 New Jersey newspapers and assorted weeklies from around the state, such as:

  • Burlington County Times (12/11/2002+)
  • Gloucester County Times (12/22/2004-11/5/2012)
  • Jersey Journal (1/16/1999+)
  • The News of Cumberland County (7/31/2004-11/3/2012)
  • The Press of Atlantic City (1988+)
  • The Record (1985+)
  • South Jersey Times (11/5/2012+)
  • The Star-Ledger (5/10/1989+)
  • The Trenton Times (3/16/1993+)
  • Today's Sunbeam (12/19/2004-11/8/2012)
  • The Trentonian (4/5/2000+)

The collection also includes:

  • New York Post (11/21/99+)
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer (1981+)
  • The Philadelphia Daily News (1978+)

In addition, News Source Plus and NewsBank allows you to search the full text of 1,400 newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), The Times (UK), Toronto Star, USA Today, The Washington Post and The Washington Times (DC). The NJSL databases also include television and radio news transcripts, such as ABC News (American), ABC (Australian), CBC (Canadian), CBS News, CNBC, CNN, CNN International, FOX News, MSNBC, National Public Radio and PBS.

3. eBooks and Audiobooks

More than 15,000 nonfiction ebooks are available in the NJSL’s EBSCOhost collection. Most can be downloaded to your computer or to an eReader compatible with Adobe Digital Editions.

As a participating member of eLibraryNJ, the NJSL has more than 17,000 downloadable fiction and nonfiction eBooks, and more than 7,200 digital audiobook titles.

All that’s needed for access is your State Library borrower card.

4. Research Guides

State Library staff have created research guides on a variety of topics that can be useful for students, including Information Literacy for TESU Students, which covers everything from how to start a research project to citing sources and discussion forum best practices to online tutoring resources. Meanwhile, the Fact Checking & Media Literacy guide can help you determine any website’s credibility and if the article is false, misleading, clickbait-y and/or satirical.

5. Archives Tutorials and Webinars

Students can access a collection of archives, tutorials and webinars at any time, including how to locate nursing literature, download ebooks and audiobooks and more on the Tutorials and Webinars page. 

6. Staff Subject Specialists

A knowledgeable staff of subject specialists can provide assistance on your next paper, project or assignment: