Auto Repair Reference Center (AARC) Has Toyota Recall Information

AARC is pleased to announce that you can find the Toyota recall information on Vehicle Speed Control: Accelerator Pedal within the Auto Repair Reference Center.

The recall is tied to these Toyota vehicles in the database as of March 22, 2010:
Avalon – 2005-2008
Camry – 2007-2009
Corolla – 2009
Sequoia – 2008
Tundra – 2007-2008
You can find the notice via the following path, once you have selected the year, make, model and engine size of your vehicle:

Service Bulletins and Recalls
Fuel Systems, Drivability, Filters (Air & Fuel)
02/05/2010 – RECALL – Vehicle Speed Control…

Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, ...OH MY!

The world of Electronic Readers or (E-Readers) is moving so quickly it is hard to keep up.
There are many different e-readers on the market that will allow you to download electronic books (e-books) and read them wherever you go. I will focus on the major three sellers from the last year, the Amazon Kindle, the Sony E-Reader, and the Barnes & Noble Nook. Each offers the ability to purchase, download and read electronic books, newspapers, and magazines and employs e-ink technology; however, there are some differences.

The Kindle is supported mainly by Amazon. If customers buy a Kindle they will have to buy most of their titles from Amazon. I say mainly and most because you can get some titles free from Amazon but they are mainly classic titles. The Kindle can also support audio books but they have to be bought from Amazon (like iTunes). The website is easy to access (http://www.amazon.com/) and pretty user friendly. Most titles, including new and bestselling materials, are $9.99 or less. The Kindle uses a 5-point controller to maneuver around and is connected to online dictionary, so you can just move the cursor over a word and get the definition. The Kindle is also connected to Wikipedia, so you can get more information on a word or topic. The Kindle is not compatible with the library’s electronic books through Overdrive. (EPub format).
The Sony Reader is a product of Sony and has a dedicated website (http://ebookstore.sony.com/) that allows you to download e-books and audio books. The website is easy to navigate and also has a “Library finder” search option. You just put in the zip code and it will bring up a list of libraries with e-books for the reader. The Sony Reader is also compatible with several free sites of public domain material, like Project Gutenberg. The Reader utilizes a touch screen system in order to maneuver.

The Barnes and Noble Nook is the relative “new kid on the block” when it comes to major e-readers. It has physical buttons, but also boasts a color touch screen, on which you can use a virtual keyboard if you so choose. Titles are available from their website (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks/) Owners of the Nook can “lend” purchased material to other Nook owners for up to 14 days at a time. The Nook supports the E-Pub format, which is what Overdrive uses.

All can read pdf’s, all allow for annotation, and all have ability to listen to MP3’s.

Standard titles and authors that now reside in the public domain/open source are available to read online or to download at no cost to anyone and will work on any e-reader. Below are a few public domain /open source sites:

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/mainpage

http://www.feedbooks.com/

Ask a Librarian March Madness Month

Ask a Librarian is celebrating March Madness Month. Each day with Ask a Librarian brings a surprising fact, a fun activity, or an Ask a Librarian award ... and a chance to brag about our incredible services! The best way to do that is through physical marketing or Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM) so - Spread the Word!

Inform your users with these talking points:
* For live help when you're not in our library, visit askalibrarian.org (or find the link on our library's website).
* You can use Ask a Librarian for free.
* Ask a Librarian is a website where you can go to get your questions answered by a real librarian.
* Ask a Librarian is open until midnight ET Sunday through Thursday and until 5 p.m. ET Friday and Saturday.
* If Ask a Librarian isn't open for chat, you can always email your question to us, and we'll get back to you within 24 hours.

Recorded Books/One-Click Discontinued

HCPLC has decided to discontinue our Recorded Books / One-Click service. Due to budgetary reasons and the high price per unit of the Recorded Books platform we have decided to not renew our annual subscription and instead concentrate on the alternate platform of TBLC’s (Overdrive) Digital Book Catalog product which also offers downloadable books as well as music and videos.

In the next few months we will be adding heavily to the Overdrive platform with downloadables in many formats including, EPUB, WMA and MP3. Customers are able to access Overdrive either directly or through our Databases and Websites page located off our main webpage at:

http://www.hcplc.org/

If you have not done so already, check Overdrive for all the exciting titles in various formats. Easy to use and fun to browse, so Check It Out!

Free sites for downloadable Audiobooks

With all the new devices and distributors of audiobooks it can be a somewhat overwhelming about where to turn. But in addition to the known sites like NetLibrary and Overdrive there are also some good "free" sites out there that have lots of classic titles for download as well. Listed below are a few of these site for you to check out.

LibriVox

ManyBooks.net

Project Gutenberg

International Children's Digital Library

NoveList Notes January 2010: Cultural Identity

Have you wanted to find titles by authors with a certain cultural identity for all reading levels in different genres? NoveList now helps you do that. Using the the example below for finding titles by African-American Authors, the step by step instructions should help.

To create your own lists by conducting an Advanced Search:

1.Click Advanced Search from the homepage.
2. Select the desired Reading and/or Grade Level from the limiter options.
3. Scroll down towards the bottom of the page, and select “African-American” from the Author’s Cultural Identity limiter.
4. Click Search.
5. From the result list, you can Narrow Results by selecting any of the subjects listed.

For titles in a specific genre, amend this search by entering the genre, i.e “mystery,” in the first Find bar and selecting GN Genre from the adjacent drop-down. For the most recent additions, sort your result by Date Descending.