Databases
*The New York State Library currently provides free access to online resources through the New York Online Virtual Electronic Library (NOVEL NY). This statewide program is funded by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services through a Library Services and Technology Act grant. Additional databases are provided by the Onondaga County Public Library (OCPL) system.
Academic OneFile*
Over 12,000 journals and reference sources, many of which are peer-reviewed and full text. It has extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and more.
- See tutorials in General OneFile section, above.
Agriculture
Broad coverage of agriculture and its related fields, from practical aspects of farming to cutting edge scientific research in horticulture. Comprised of nearly 200 titles.
Ancestry Library
In Library Use Only
Provides access to a wide range of resources for genealogical and historical research. It includes all available records from the United States Census (1790-1940); military records; court, land and probate records; vital and church records; directories; passenger lists and more.
BookBrowse
An online magazine for booklovers - including reviews, previews, "behind the book" backstories, author interviews, reading guides, and much more.
Subscribe to the BookBrowse Newsletter
Tools for book groups: hundreds of reading guides, recommendations for discussion books, advice for starting and maintaining a book club, plus interviews and Q&As from other book clubs.
Brainfuse HelpNow
Brainfuse HelpNow
* Live tutors are available 24 hours a day *
Live Tutoring offers live tutor access for homework help, skills building and test preparation. Because HelpNow is personalized, both the student and the tutor can access quiz questions to do an intensive test prep which may include loading lessons on the whiteboard. All live sessions are saved and can be replayed as well as shared with friends and teachers by email. Using the CloudPack feature, students can store and upload MS Word, Excel, JPG, and other accepted file types directly onto the whiteboard.
Live Tutoring tutorial
SkillSurfer tutorial
The Writing Lab and the 24/7 Center features give patrons the freedom to receive assistance at any time of the day without connecting with a live tutor. Users can submit papers through the Writing Lab for detailed feedback. 24/7 Center is for non-writing assignments such as math or science.
Writing Lab tutorial
MEET allows students to schedule their own online sessions using the Brainfuse MEET whiteboard which is specifically designed for a group setting. Brainwave is a recordable whiteboard where students can draw, write on the whiteboard and chat then save and email it to others for feedback.
Meet tutorial
Brainwave tutorial
Adult Learning Center is the adult learners’ version of HelpNow™ where patrons can access High School Equivalency prep, US Citizenship test prep, resume assistance, Microsoft Office support, and Career Resources. The Writing Lab, Send Question, and Skills Building are also included in the Adult Learning Center suite.
Adult Learning Center tutorial
Britannica Academic
An accurate, current, and comprehensive resource for college-level learners, researchers, and faculty. Discover encyclopedia articles, full-text journal and magazine articles, primary sources, multimedia, and other unique resources and tools that make research easier and more productive.
Britannica Escolar
Encyclopedia that is universally trusted for accurate and age-appropriate content in Spanish. Two levels, Primaria for elementary and Secundaria for middle school, offer unique content that is of interest to every student. Search easily across levels by topic or subject area.
Britannica School
Thousands of up-to-date, curated and curriculum-relevant articles, images, videos, audio clips, primary sources, maps, research tools, recommended Web sites and 3 separate databases for elementary, middle or high school students. There is Read-aloud, a font size adjuster, and built-in translation tools support students with special needs and ELLs.
Business Insights
Provides access to accurate and up-to-date business, company and industry information and a wide variety of global business information in a single source. Efficiently research business case studies, competitive intelligence, company histories and financial reports and career and investment opportunities. This resource replaces the Gale Business & Company Resource Center. Use the links below to become more familiar with the enhanced search features and content.
Tutorials
Computer Science
Computer-related product introductions, news and reviews in areas such as hardware, software, electronics, engineering, communications and the application of technology.
Culinary Arts
Includes 150 of the major cooking and nutrition magazines. Coverage includes thousands of searchable recipes, restaurant reviews, and industry information.
Diversity Studies
Explores cultural differences, contributions and influences in our global community. Includes 150 full-text journals. Coverage begins in 1980.
Driving Education Program - Practice Tests
Your Driver Education program contains the following state-specific information:
- 10 car practice tests
- 6 motorcycle practice tests
- 3 CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) practice tests
- 3 online driver’s manuals (car, motorcycle, CDL)
- An FAQ section with detailed answers to 100+ DMV-related questions
Educators Reference Complete
Resource for educators and education students. Provides access to periodicals covering pre-school to college and most educational specialties. Also contains federal and international reports and publications, including full-text for many titles cited in ERIC.
Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather
Over 330 entries, the Encyclopedia covers essential topics that include the processes that produce weather, the world's climates, classification of climates, important scientific concepts used by climatologists and meteorologists, as well as the history atmospheric sciences, biographies of noteworthy contributors to the field, and significant weather events from extreme tropical cyclones to tornadoes to hurricanes.
Entrepreneurship
Available to Central, City, Suburban
Find over 280 subject-appropriate full-text periodicals. Perfect for business schools and entrepreneurs.
Provides insights, tips, strategies and success stories.
Environmental Studies & Policy
Provides Instant access to the multiple viewpoints of this volatile field of study, including perspectives from the scientific community, governmental policy makers, as well as corporate interests. More than 175 journals covered.
Gale Business: Entrepreneurship
Learn how to start, finance, or manage your small business. Includes sample business plans, how to guides, articles, and more.
Gale Health & Wellness
Search a full range of health-related issues, from current disease and disorder information to alternative medical practices.
Gale In Context: Elementary
Look here for trusted information on topics in social studies, science, language arts, and more. Access videos, magazine and news articles, images, and books in an age-appropriate resource with tools designed to develop research skills. Elementary supports literacy, enhances learning, and encourages exploration.
Tutorial for teachers: https://support.gale.com/doc/itke-video2
Gale in Context Middle School
Resource for students in grades 6 to 8. Offers magazines, newspapers, primary sources, over 12,000 videos and more on a variety of topics. Supports national and state curriculum standards in language arts, social studies and science.
Gale Legal Forms
New York State Legal forms for bankruptcy, wills, divorce, landlord tenant agreements, name changes, power of attorney and more. This resource also links to DMV forms, absentee voting ballotts, and NYS Department of Health forms. It has a Legal Q & A, an attorney directory and tax forms for all U.S. states.
Gale Literature: Books & Authors
Answer the age-old question, 'What do I read next?' Search and match reading interests to books, authors, genres, or topics.
Video Tutorial
https://support.gale.com/doc/bna-video1
Gale New York Times
Full coverage is from 1/1/1985 – current. The paper is published 7 days a week.
The International Edition has full coverage from 11/2/2013 – current.
The paper is published 6 days a week.
Includes:
- The New York Times Book Review
- The New York Times for Kids
- The New York Times Magazine
- Sports Blogs
- Wordplay: The Crossword Blog of The New York Times and more
Gale OneFile Fine Arts
More than 100 full-text magazines and journals including the Wilson Art Index and RILM. Supports research in areas such as drama, music, art history, and filmmaking.
Gale OneFile Gender Studies
Balanced coverage of this significant aspect of our culture, covering such topics as gender studies, family and marital issues, health aspects, and many more. Coverage from 30 full-text journals begins in 1980.
Gale OneFile Health & Medicine
Over 2800 journals and magazines, many of which are full text. It contains nursing and allied health journals, other medical journals, newsletters and consumer health magazines. It contains nursing and allied health journals, other medical journals, newsletters and consumer health magazines.
Gale OneFile News
Access full text articles from more than 2,300 major U.S. regional, national, and local newspapers. It also includes thousands of images, radio and TV broadcasts and transcripts. Search articles by title, headline, date, author or newspaper section.
Tutorials
Gale OneFile Psychology
Access to 200 subject-appropriate full-text periodicals.
Gale OneFile Science
Provides coverage of all scientific endeavor, including particle physics, quantum theory, advanced mathematics, and biotechnology from more than 275 academic journals and general science-focused magazines.
Gale OneFile: Educator's Reference Complete
Google is usually everyone’s go-to for research, but not all the results are accurate. Our library provides Gale OneFile collections to connect you to trusted, up-to-date content from leading magazines, newspapers and scholarly journals. These collections are easy to access, and with integrated tools, you can save, download and share.
Gale OneFile: High School Edition
Search magazines, journals, newspapers, and reference on a range of topics. Best for middle- and high-school students.
Gale Presents: Peterson's Test & Career Prep
Search thousands of college and graduate schools, identify scholarships, take practice tests, create resumes, and explore careers.
Video Tutorial
https://support.gale.com/doc/tutorial-testandcareer-testing
Gardening & Horticulture
Focus specifically on key issues in gardening, landscaping, and other areas of horticulture. Includes content from 50 journals relating to both the practical aspects as well as the scientific theory of horticulture studies.
General OneFile*
Over 12,000 periodicals, newspapers, reference books and multimedia sources, over half of which are full text. The backfile extends nearly 30 years. Subjects include humanities, education, environmental issues, technology, health care, politics and more.
Business
- Small Business Collection: Collection of periodicals supporting business school students and entrepreneurs.
History
- Military and Intelligence Collection: Collection of periodicals supporting state and military affairs
- U.S. History Collection: A collection of journals covering of both current thought on events in U.S. history as well as scholarly work established in the field.
- World History Collection: Balanced coverage of events in World History. Useful both to the novice historian and to the advanced academic researcher.
Science and Technology
- Computer Database: Computer-related product introductions, news and reviews in areas such as hardware, software, electronics, engineering, communications and the application of technology.
- General Science Collection: Provides coverage of all scientific endeavor, including particle physics, quantum theory, advanced mathematics, and biotechnology from more than 275 academic journals and general science-focused magazines.
Grove Encyclopedia of American Art
This five-volume set includes American painting, architecture, sculpture, and photography from the Pre-Columbian sources to the colonial period to the twenty-first century devoting coverage to many previously underrepresented areas of inquiry, including African American artists, Asian American artists, and Native American art, both historical and contemporary. Artists, major movements, institutions, critics, and the architecture found in major cities of the United States are covered, as are new media and methodologies, including digital art, performance art, and installation art.
Heritage Hub
Explore your family history with the premier collection of U.S. obituaries and death notices for in-depth genealogical research from 1704 – today. HeritageHub helps you easily identify relatives, uncover new information and potentially unknown family members. Includes deep coverage from all 50 states, hard-to-find content from the mid 1900’s, and original obituary images.
Video instructions (13mins)
https://youtu.be/rBKDZBHUiJA
Information Science
Nearly 100 leading industry journals covering topics such as information infrastructure, data processing techniques, metadata architectures, and more. Coverage begins in 1980.
Informe Académico
Spanish interface provides access to Spanish- and Portuguese-language scholarly journals both from and about Latin America
LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is an extensive collection of award-winning online courses and video tutorials to help you learn business, technical and creative skills. Achieve your personal and professional goals. Courses are taught by recognized industry experts. Learn what you want, when you want, from our entire library. Build custom playlists to organize courses you want to watch. Watch courses on your computer, tablet, or mobile device. Switch back and forth without ever losing your place.
Military and Intelligence
Over 500 titles and more than 7 million articles with links to related sources outside of the current article: reference books, magazine and newswire articles.
NewsBank America's News
A comprehensive news collection ideal for exploring issues and events at the local, national and international level. Titles include over 3,650 American newspapers, blogs, newswires, news magazines, journals, international special reports and videos. Jump to suggested trending topics or special collections like the Onondaga County Newspapers and the Post-Standard. All papers are in full text or are fully searchable digital images. Customized email alerts can be set up to follow a particular topic or news event of interest.
Collections
Helpful How To Tutorials
Newspaper Archive
A searchable archive of digital images from US and international newspapers. Coverage includes more than 750 cities and over 2000 newspaper titles. Included in the collection is a searchable archive of Syracuse newspapers from 1857 forward. This collection includes full text and images of newspaper pages.
NoveList Plus
Database covering more than 120,000 adult, teen and children’s fiction and non-fiction titles. Find reviews, hundreds of theme-oriented book lists for readers at all grade levels, award-winning and recommended titles, read-alikes, book reviews and much more.
NoveList K-8 Plus
NoveList K-8 Plus is a database for finding book recommendations for students in kindergarten through 8th grade. It helps young readers, as well as parents, teachers, and librarians, find new fiction and nonfiction books by searching through criteria like reading level, subject, author, and award winners.
Nursing and Allied Health
Covers all aspects of the Nursing profession -- from direct patient care to health care administration – with content from more than 380 journals.
Opposing Viewpoints in Context*
Provides overviews, pro/con essays, articles from reference books, newspapers, and magazines, and links to websites, podcasts and videos on over 5,000 topics. Supports NYS Common Core.
Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine Studies
Articles from more than 60 journal titles in the fields of physical therapy and sports medicine. Topics include proven treatment techniques, experimental research theses, and many more. Coverage begins in 1980.
Pop Culture Studies
Useful information for researchers in social science, history, or art. Includes 100 subject-appropriate periodicals, which are predominantly full-text.
Reference Solutions
A business and consumer research tool to use for quick lookups or creating customized lists. Includes listings for more than 14 million U.S. business, 4 million new businesses, 1.5 million Canadian businesses, more than 800,000 U.S. physicians and dentists and 210 million U.S. residences. Profiles include contact and other directory information. Advanced search allows users to do reverse phone number lookups, search by yellow page heading, business SIC code, zip code, SMSA and more.
Tutorials
To Download the Mobile App:
- On your mobile device, navigate to the App Store® (iOS) or Google Play™ (Android) application icon.
- Search for Data Axle Reference Solutions application and download it on your mobile device.
- Click the Data Axle Reference Solutions icon on your mobile device.
- Enter your library’s 5-digit ZIP Code, and then click Find Library.
- Select your library in the list.
iOS: Scroll to your library, and then click Done.
Android: Select a library from the list.
- Enter your library card number, and then select Remember Me (optional).
- Click Proceed.
You are now logged into the application on your mobile device
Syracuse Post Standard by Newsbank
Includes 12/2/1986 - Current Post Standard issues.
Customized email alerts can be set up to follow a particular topic or news event of interest
The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion
Over 2,500 entries from 180 international scholars including biographical sketches of important personalities associated with the development of the Jewish religion over the centuries and an index with alternate spellings of Hebrew terms.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology
This three-volume encyclopedia examines all aspects of warfare and military technology in medieval times. This set provides an exhaustive and accurate view of how and why wars were waged throughout Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Crusader States from circa 500 CE to circa 1500.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
Contains almost 120 in-depth entries, ranging in length from 500 to 10,000 words, on each of the canonical books of the Bible, major apocryphal books of the New and Old Testaments, important noncanonical texts, and thematic essays on topics such as canonicity, textual criticism, and translation.
U.S. History Collection
A collection of journals providing balanced coverage of both current thought on events in U.S. history as well as scholarly work established in the field.
Vocations & Careers
Provides content from over 300 largely full-text publications from general career guides to highly specialized industry journals.
War and Terrorism
Gain insight into conflicts: their causes, their impact, and how they are perceived on a global scale. Almost 100 full-text periodicals are included. Coverage begins in 1980.
World History
Balanced coverage of events in World History. Useful both to the novice historian and to the advanced academic researcher. Contains nearly 40 predominantly full-text journals.
WorldCat
Catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide.
[This is not the Onondaga County Public Library catalog.]
Weiss Ratings Consumer Guides
Individual ebook how-to guides for planning and selecting the right insurance and financial products.