From the Director...
Our website receives over 40,000 visits per year, so we know that many of you take advantage of the information and resources it has to offer. We're very pleased that our site receives so much traffic, but I'd like to take this opportunity to remind you of all that's also available to you online through iCONN, (www.iconn.org) which is provided by the Connecticut State Library. iCONN is an extremely useful tool. It serves as an online catalog for over 400 libraries located in our state including most of the public, and many academic, institutions. As a result, you can use iCONN to search through more than 3.5 million records of items located in libraries throughout the state that, in most cases, you can request to borrow through inter-library loan right from your home computer. iCONN also gives you access to databases that enable you to search dozens of newspapers and thousands of both popular and scholarly magazines for articles on any topic you can think of. Several special databases can also be utilized through iCONN. For example, if you're interested in genealogy you can use HeritageQuest which, among other services, provides access to every US Census taken from 1790 to 1930. History buffs can take advantage of the Connecticut Digital Collection which includes court documents, photographs, maps and other materials. The Hartford Courant - Historical database contains the text and scanned originals of every article printed in the Courant from 1764 to 1922. Finally, you can also download audiobooks through the iCONN site. All of these services are free of charge - all you need is your Essex Library Association card. If you need help using iCONN, or have questions about it, please call us or stop in - we'll be happy to assist you.
