Research & Learning

Access journals, newspapers and online reference resources 24 hours a day with your library card and PIN.

Business & Finance

Consumer Reports Online (Skaneateles cardholders only)
Get unbiased ratings and reviews for 9,000+ products and services, plus trusted advice and in-depth reporting on what matters most.
PRO TIP: You’ll need to enter your barcode and PIN, then your barcode again, then click on ConsumerReports.org (we know, it’s a lot!).

Gale Business Suite (Skaneateles cardholders only)
Everything you need to research, plan, develop and grow your small business or nonprofit. Use access code: skan

  • Gale Business: Demographics Now
    Robust US demographic data delivers consumer and market insight. Understand a population’s characteristics and needs, evaluate sites, analyze markets and create detailed, data-enhanced maps. Provides in-depth data about people and places, perfect for businesses and nonprofits. Tip Sheet
  • Gale Business: Entrepreneurship
    Real business plans, how-to guides, articles and more. You’ll find resources covering all aspects of entrepreneurship and small business, including accounting, HR, management, marketing, taxes and more. Resource Guide
  • Gale Business: Plan Builder
    Plan and optimize your business or nonprofit. Provides guidance on planning, starting, and running a small business or nonprofit. Sign in or create a free account. Then follow the step-by-step path, and complete guided activities within five areas of exploration. Tip Sheet | Resource Guide
  • Gale Legal Forms: New York
    Create accurate, reliable legal documents with no hassle! Professionally written legal documents used by attorneys and law firms for business and personal needs. You’ll find downloadable forms covering real estate, wills, power of attorney, bankruptcy, small business – practically any area of law – alongside helpful tools like a Law Digest and Attorney Directory. Resource Guide

Banzai Financial Literacy
Clear, in-depth lessons to help you dive into the financial topics you care most about. This database is provided courtesy of SECNY.

Business Insights: Essentials
Full-text articles and statistical data about companies and industries for business owners, marketing professionals, investors and students. Analyze and compare financial and statistical data with interactive charting tools.
Tutorials: Basics | Companies | Comparison Reports | Documents | Industries | Searching

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.

Education & Skill Building

Creativebug (Skaneateles cardholders only)
Unlimited access to 1,000+ online art and craft video classes, with new content added weekly. Projects for all ages and skill levels, including professional development for artists and crafters. Easy-to-use, personalized platform with chapter divisions, note-taking tools, 20-second rewind and more. Each project provides a materials list, step-by-step photos and printable patterns (where applicable). Videos produced by renowned artists and creative experts.

Mango Languages (Skaneateles cardholders only)
Interactive, online language learning resource for beginners thru advanced. Create an account to save your progress or click for Guest Access and enter your library card number. Mango has courses for 70+ languages, including materials for English as a Second or Other Language (ESOL) learners. You can also learn to talk like a pirate!

Get the app: iOS | Android

Brainfuse HelpNow
Online test prep, homework help, study aids, skill building and live tutoring for children and adults. Live Tutors are available from 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM daily. Practice tests can be found under HelpNow’s SkillSurfer. Includes subject reviews for the ACT, SAT, GED, ASVAB, TEAS, USCIS, Microsoft, SQL, Java, C++, college application help, ESL, US Citizenship and more.
Live Tutoring Tutorial | Writing Lab Tutorial | HelpNow User Guide

LinkedIn Learning [formerly Lynda.com]
Award-winning online courses and video tutorials to help you learn business, technical and creative skills. Courses are taught by recognized industry experts. Build custom playlists to organize courses you want to watch using your computer, tablet or mobile device.

Get the app: iOS | Android

AtoZ Maps Online (Skaneateles cardholders only)
The world’s largest database of high resolution downloadable, royalty-free maps! More than 100,000 maps in 48 categories, including world, regional, country and state maps, as well as environmental, climate, antique, political maps and more. Contains extensive teaching tools for educators with lesson plans and printables. Perfect for students and history buffs!

Gale In Context: Elementary
Age-appropriate magazine articles for grades K-5. Includes Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary, maps, flags, seals, charts and graphs.
Tutorial | Content + Lexile Score Tip Sheet | Resource Guide

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.

Britannica School
Thousands of up-to-date, curated and curriculum-relevant articles, images, videos, audio clips, primary sources, maps, research tools, recommended websites and three separate databases for elementary, middle or high school students.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context
Overviews, pro/con essays, articles from reference books, newspapers, magazines and links to websites, podcasts and videos on more than 5,000 topics. Supports NYS Common Core.

Gale OneFile
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.

Academic OneFile
More than 12,000 journals and reference sources, many of which are peer-reviewed and full text. Extensive coverage of the physical sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature and more.

DrivingTests.org
New York State specific car, motorcycle and CDL practice tests and driver’s manuals, plus an FAQ section with detailed answers to 100+ DMV-related questions.

Newspapers

Gale New York Times
Full coverage from 1/1/1985 to the current issue!

NewsBank: America’s News & Access World News
Comprehensive news collection ideal for exploring issues and events at the local, regional, national and international level. Diverse source types include print and online-only newspapers, blogs, newswires, journals, broadcast transcripts and videos. Newspapers include all the Syracuse Newspapers (12/2/86 – current), Utica Observer Dispatch, Albany Times Union and many major U.S. metropolitan titles. Text only, no images.

Newspaper Archive
Searchable archive of digital images from US and international newspapers. Coverage includes more than 750 cities and 2,000 newspaper titles. Includes a searchable archive of Syracuse newspapers from 1857 forward. Full text and images of newspaper pages. Years and dates available may be incomplete.

Gale OneFile News
Full text articles from more than 1,000 major US regional, national and local newspapers, as well as leading international titles.

New York Times (2008 – current with a 3-month delay)
Full-page, searchable images of the digitized newspaper.

Syracuse Post Standard by Newsbank (12/2/1986 – current)
Full-page, searchable images of the digitized newspaper from 2019 forward; searchable text for all.

Wall Street Journal (2008 – current with a 3-month delay)
Full-page, searchable images of the digitized newspaper.

Books & Literature

NoveList Plus
Covers more than 120,000 adult, teen and children’s fiction and non-fiction titles. Provides subject heading access, reviews, annotations, hundreds of theme-oriented book lists for readers at all grade levels, award-winning and recommended titles, read-alikes, book reviews and much more.

BookBrowse
Online magazine for book lovers, including reviews, previews, “behind the book” backstories, author interviews, reading guides and much more.

Local History & Genealogy

Ancestry Library Edition (In library use only)
Unparalleled access to a wide range of resources for genealogical and historical research, including all available records from the US Census (1790-1940); military records; court, land and probate records; vital and church records; directories; passenger lists and much more.

Heritage Hub
Explore your family history with the premier collection of US obituaries and death notices for in-depth genealogical research from 1704 – today. 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.
Tutorial

From Our Collection (records may not be complete; call to check specific dates):

Skaneateles Newspaper Archives (in library use only; microfilm and searchable PDF)
Skaneateles Telegraph (1832-1839)
Skaneateles Columbian (1835-1853)
Skaneateles Democrat (1843-1921)
Skaneateles Free Press (1874-1926)
Skaneateles Journal (2006-2009)
Skaneateles Press (1927-2018)
Press Observer (2019-2022, current in print)

Cemetery and Church Records (in library use only; print)
Lakeview Cemetery (1796-1988)
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles (1801-1917)
Headstone Inscriptions (various)

Skaneateles High School Yearbooks (in library use only; print)
1946 to 2011, plus assorted elementary yearbooks from the early years.

Want to research your family’s history in Skaneateles? Contact our friends at the Skaneateles Historical Society!

Food, Health & Wellness

AtoZ Food America (Skaneateles cardholders only)
Find recipes for six US regions, all 50 states and 33 ethnic cuisines in all course categories (appetizers, soups, salads, breads, main courses, side dishes, desserts, snacks and beverages). Explore food culture across the country. Share and print recipes, search by ingredient and much more!

AtoZ World Food (Skaneateles cardholders only)
Find traditional recipes for 174 countries in all course categories (appetizers, soups, salads, breads, main courses, side dishes, desserts, snacks and beverages). Learn about food culture all over the world in six categories: National Cuisine, Regional Cuisine, Daily Meals, Dining Etiquette, Special Occasion Foods and Food Trivia. Share and print recipes, search by ingredient and much more!

Gale OneFile Health & Medicine
More than 2,800 journals and magazines, many in full text. Contains nursing and allied health journals, other medical journals, newsletters and consumer health magazines.
Tutorial

Recommended Websites (start here for reliable health info online):

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
A treasure trove of reliable, research-backed info on diseases and conditions, general health, nutrition and safety, as well as info for travellers and preparing for emergencies. Includes data and statistics by topic and CDC publications.

Mayo Clinic
Info on diseases and conditions, drugs and supplements and living a healthy lifestyle from the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.

MEDLINEplus
Authoritative, up-to-date info from the National Library of Medicine, the world’s largest medical library. Covers diseases, conditions, drugs, supplements and wellness issues. Great resource for medical videos and illustrations and the latest research and clinical trials on a disease or condition.

Merck Manual for Consumers
Detailed info on disorders, symptoms, diagnoses, prevention and treatment.

PLOS | ONE
Peer-reviewed open access scientific journal published by the Public Library of Science covering primary research from any discipline within science and medicine.

Nature & the Environment

Garden, Landscape and Horticulture Collection
Key issues in gardening, landscaping and other areas of horticulture. Includes content from 50 journals relating to both the practical aspects and scientific theory of horticulture studies.

Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather
Essential topics including the processes that produce weather, the world’s climates, classification of climates and important scientific concepts used by climatologists and meteorologists. Explore the history of atmospheric sciences, biographies of noteworthy contributors to the field and significant weather events from extreme tropical cyclones to tornadoes to hurricanes.

Environmental Studies and Policy Collection
Multiple viewpoints on this volatile field of study, including perspectives from the scientific community, governmental policymakers and corporate interests.