Better Than Google

Libraries have changed quite a bit over the last decade or two due to the Internet and the advent of electronic databases.  In olden days, librarians relied almost entirely on reference books to answer questions.  Now the information has been transformed from print to electronic resources.  Sadly, our print reference collection has shrunk and continues to get smaller.  Happily, the information is still available and in a more accessible and convenient form.  Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, the electronic library never closes, and the information you need is always there for you.

One of the biggest challenges facing librarians today is how to show our users how to search for information without using the ubiquitous Google.  The library subscribes to many databases and sets of e-books which will greatly enhance your information seeking.  Our databases which are paid for by New York State, RCLS, and our taxpayers, are too costly for an individual to subscribe, but we can offer you free and in most cases, remote access.  Most people are amazed at what is available and how easy it is to use.  To access our subscriptions, click on the tab on our home page marked Research, then click on Databases and you can see for yourself (or, use this link to open the page in a new window: New City Library Databases).

A look at our database and magazine article pages on our website will convince of the depth and breadth of our subscriptions.  Can’t sleep because you’re worried about your stocks?  Log on to Financial Ratings Series on-line and check out your investments.  Maybe they are not doing well and you have to consider selling your collection of Depression glass.  Check Price it! Antiques and Collectibles and see what they’re selling for.  Want to shine at your book club?  Our many literature databases, such as Gale Literature Resource Center, will give you reviews and criticism so that you can dazzle your friends with your erudition and keen insight.   Attorneys and lay people alike flock to the library to use the county’s only subscription to Westlaw, a premier legal database.   This is just a tiny sampling of the wealth of information available to you.  I plan to highlight a database every month and the adult services librarians are happy to introduce you to them in the library.  I guarantee that soon you will be saying about our databases that they are “better than Google”!