The South Colonie School District subscribes to numerous Internet accessible information databases at all age levels. They are available to all district residents. The databases, however, are password protected. To access the databases you must complete two steps. First you will need an entry password that you can get by contacting the school library. Once you have that entry password, simply click on this PASSWORD LIST (pdf) and when prompted, enter the entry password given to you by the school librarian. Once you have access to the PASSWORD LIST, click on one of the database icons below and use the user names and passwords listed on the PASSWORD LIST to surf the specific databases.

How are these databases different from an Internet search engine such as Google?

While their contents vary, online databases provide access to literally thousands of full text biographies, primary source documents, essays, encyclopedias, almanacs, reference books, pamphlets, newspapers, transcripts, photos, maps, and other sources that just would not be available otherwise. Search engines generally do not have access to these sources because companies make money by selling the rights to their publications. South Colonie Central School District & the New York State Library pay for subscriptions to these online databases to provide our students with access to these resources.

GENERAL RESEARCH

EBSCO is a worldwide leader in providing information access and management solutions through print and electronic journal subscription services, research database development and production, online access to more than 150 databases and thousands of e-journals. EBSCO includes the following databases: General Science Collection, NoveList 9-12 and TopicSearch.

Gale is a world leader in educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses. Best known for its accurate and authoritative reference content as well as its intelligent organization of full-text magazine and newspaper articles. Gale Includes the following databases: Litfinder, Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center, Student Resource Center Bronze, Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, Dictionary of Literary Biography, Biography Resource Center, History Resource Center US and World.

NEWSPAPERS and MAGAZINES

NewsBank provides schools with comprehensive information resources that complement, and extend library reference, media and technology. NewsBank includes the following databases: NewsBank Social Studies, Science, Health, Literature and the Arts, America’s Newspapers, and America’s Magazines.

BUSINESS RESEARCH

Novel NY provides a wide variety of resources – book, magazine, newspapers, research and reference sources. Novel NY includes the following databases: Health Reference Center, Business and Company Resource Center, Junior Edition K-12, Twayne Author Series, New York State Newspapers.

AUTOMOTIVE

ALLDATA® is the leading provider of automotive repair information and solutions to the professional automotive service industry. Thousands of professional repair and collision shops across North America depend on ALLDATA for service & repair information, shop management and customer relation’s solutions.

MULTIMEDIA

TeachingBooks.net an easy-to-use website that adds a multimedia dimension to the reading experiences of children's books. This online database includes thousands of resources about fiction and nonfiction books used in the K–12 environment, with every resource selected to encourage the integration of multimedia author and book materials into reading and library activities.