Ask a Librarian on You Tube

YouTube has a new channel called "Search Stories." Susan Smith from Hodges University created a very dramatic video about Ask a Librarian.
It's great!

Check it out at:
http://askalibrarian.org/blog/?p=981

New Languages added to Mango

Are you planning a trip this summer to another country? Would you like to learn the language before you go? Well Mango has recently added several new languages and some facts and figures about them are listed below. Also check out the video testimonials at PLA-Portland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkQacmNde9c

Arabic (Levantine)
Approx speakers: 35 million
Spoken in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus

Chinese (Mandarin)
Approx speakers: 1,365 million
Spoken in China

Dari
Approx speakers: 9 million
Spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan

Farsi (Persian)
Approx speakers: 80-134 million
Spoken in Iran


French
Approx speakers: 77 million (native), 390 million (non-native)
Spoken in France, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina, Faso, Niger, Senegal, Mali, Belgium, Guinea, Chad, Haiti, Burundi, Benin, Switzerland, Togo, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Luxembourg, Vanuatu, Seychelles, Monaco

German
Approx speakers: 105 million (native) and 80 million (non-native)
Spoken in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Greek
Approx speakers: 12 million
Spoken in Greece, Cyprus


Hebrew
Approx speakers: 7 million
Spoken in Israel

Hindi
Approx speakers: 490 million (first language), 120–225 (second language)
Spoken in India, Pakistan, Fiji

Irish
Approx speakers: 355,000 (fluent)
Spoken in Ireland

Italian
Approx speakers: 70 million (first language), 125 million (second language)
Spoken in Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Eritrea, Somalia, France (esp. Corsica) and Greece

Japanese
Approx speakers: 130 million
Spoken in Japan

Korean
Approx speakers: 78 million
Spoken in North Korea, South Korea, China

Pashto
Approx speakers: 26 million
Spoken in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran

Portuguese (Brazil)
Approx speakers: 200 million
Spoken in Brazil

Russian
Approx speakers: 164 million (first language), 114 million (secondary language)
Spoken in Russia, minorities in countries of the former Soviet Union, San Javier (Uruguay)

Spanish (Latin America)
Approx speakers: 329 million (first language), 170 million (second language)
Spoken in Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Cuba, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Panama and Equatorial Guinea

Tagalog
Approx speakers: 49 million
Spoken in Philippines

Thai
Approx speakers: 60-64 million
Spoken in Thailand, Northern Malaysia, Cambodia, Southern Myanmar, Laos

Turkish
Approx speakers: 70 million
Spoken in Turkey

Urdu
Approx speakers: 250 million
Spoken in Pakistan, India

Vietnamese
Approx speakers: 73 million
Spoken in Vietnam

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!