Tag: OCPL

OCPL Catalog Software Upgrade

October 29, 2025 By Pete Schult

Our OCPL system is installing an upgrade to the library catalog software starting on Sunday, November 2 at 6 PM. While this will provide enhanced services for patrons and staff, it will make the system unavailable during the upgrade process which might extend into Monday morning, November 3. This means the online catalog will be down, and any service that requires authenticating with a library card, such as Libby, Hoopla, and the databases, will be unavailable.

We hope that everything will be up and running again by the start of business on Monday, but please bear with our OCPL technicians as they undertake this huge job. We appreciate your patience. Of course, any items you have already checked out or downloaded will be accessible, so make sure to have your reading material on hand before Sunday afternoon.

New York Times

September 29, 2021 By ml-admin

Library patrons of Onondaga County Public Library System libraries now have access to The New York Times:

NOVELny and Gale are providing access to the New York Times in their redesigned New York Times Database.

  • The U.S. Edition:
    Full text coverage from 1/1/1985 to the current day. The paper is published 7 days a week.
  • The International Edition:
    Full text coverage from 11/2/2013 to the current day. The paper is published 6 days a week.

The next time you can’t read a New York Times article on the Web because you don’t have a subscription, check out the Gale New York Times Database, available to all OCPL patrons and to all N.Y. State residents.

Database survey

September 7, 2021 By ml-admin

Do you use any of the databases that Onondaga County Public Libraries makes available to all patrons? OCPL will be conducting a survey about the databases from September 13 through September 30 and would like to get feedback from all who use them.

Image credits:
Database icon by Zahra Ibrahem
License: CC BY-SA 4.0

OCPL’s Databases page

March 13, 2020 By ml-admin
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Start here for answering questions on topics ranging from Antiques or Business to Religion or Technology. Some of the databases here that you would normally need to be in the library to access are temporarily available to patrons from home.

Learning & Test Preparation

March 13, 2020 By ml-admin
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OCPL has added a database of resources for test preparation, college and career planning, and related needs. It is the Gale Testing & Education Reference Center (TERC), and it replaces Learning Express. You can get to it through one of the links above or by going through OCPL’s Database page (scroll down to “T” for testing).

Preventing ransomware

July 18, 2019 By ml-admin
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In light of the ransomware attack on OCPL’s systems, here’s a list of the basic recommendations from computer security experts to reduce the chances of having your devices subjected to an attack:

  • Install recommended updates to all your software once the updates are released.

    The best way to do this is to have your settings set to automatically install updates.

  • Don’t install new software unless you know what it does and can trust the source you’re getting it from.
  • Similarly, don’t grant administrative privileges to software unless you know why you need to.
  • Install antivirus software and keep it up-to-date.
  • Backup frequently.

    As with software updates, it’s best if you have a way of automating the backup process.

Source: Fruhlinger, Josh. “What Is Ransomware? And 4 Steps to Prevent These File-Locking Attacks.” CSO Online (blog), December 19, 2018. https://www.csoonline.com/article/3236183/what-is-ransomware-how-it-works-and-how-to-remove-it.html