To research countries, states, provinces, and their cultures, there are several databases with resources for students of all ages. Here's our guide to where to start, by age group.
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Places and cultures
Nations, states, cities, multicultural studies

Builds all four core skills of a language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. 100+ languages to choose from, and English lessons for speakers of over 25 different languages. Track progress through lessons. Kid-friendly lessons in 6 languages. Mobile app available. Provided by the Tennessee Electronic Library.

Hundreds of volumes of encyclopedias and other ebooks covering all subject areas. Gale eBooks is included in Gale Power Search which searches the content of the ebooks along with magazines and other resources. If you want to browse the ebooks as books, this Gale eBooks interface is the better choice.
Format: Database of books

Contains dictionaries for place names and first and last names. This is a subcollection of Oxford Reference.
Format: Database of books

A collection of tens of thousands of ebooks and videos on essential and high-demand topics for business, coders, educators, makers, gamers, and those simply looking to grow personally and professionally. Books are fully searchable and always available, no "on hold" waiting.
O'Reilly for Public Libraries was purchased for the Library through the Shelton Bequest and Friends of the Library.

A growing collection of resources for history, geography, and social issues (such as guns, criminal justice, Internet, LGBTQ, education, politics, etc.).
Format: Database of books

Covers fables, superstitions, mythology, folklore, food and sports. This is a subcollection of Oxford Reference.
Format: Database of books
Maintained by the CIA, this website provides information on the history, people, and governments of countries around the world with facts, maps, and flags for each.
Format: Website
An encyclopedia covering mythology, folklore, and religion.
Format: Website
Art, artifacts, books, video and sound collections from galleries, libraries, archives and museums all over Europe.
Format: Digital archive
The planning commission's annually published brochure is a descriptive text and statistical summary of local physical, social, cultural, government, and economic conditions in the Knoxville area.
Format: Website

Provides maps, historical aerials, address searches and property owner reports, school zones, voting districts and elected officials, and more. Use the options under the Online Tools tab to access the desired search function. Ready-to-print maps show political districts, school zones, zip codes, watersheds. A Historic Districts and Pre-1865 Structures theme makes it easy to find old architecture. Knoxville-Knox County Planning has an application for viewing current and past cases such as zoning change requests.
Format: Website
A detailed portrait of Canada and its complex identity.
Format: Website
TNMap serves as the portal for accessing a wide variety of downloadable Geographic Information Systems datasets, web applications, and web services related to Tennessee. Applications include:
- General Map Viewer
- Property Map Viewer
- Civil War Battlefields
- Historical Commission
- Locate Childcare Services
- Tax Rate Lookup
- Locate Registered Sex Offenders
- Voter Registration Information
- Lookup TDEC Water & Lands
- Connected Tennessee’s Interactive Broadband Inventory Map
Format: Website
Internationally-comparable data on education, science, culture and communication.
Format: Website
Data about development in countries around the globe.
Format: Website

This resource is temporarily available remotely. Maps the history, growth, and development of Tennessee cities, towns, and neighborhoods.
Format: Database of maps