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The Future Of LibrariesImagine a time when you could get any audio book you want to read from the library without having to physically visit the library to lend the audio books. Well, imagine no more because it is now possible. Public libraries from New York City to Alameda, California are now leading the packs of libraries that have begun allowing members to download audio books which they can listen to on their Personal Computers or portal audio book players such as PDAs -- all from the comfort of their homes or offices. From Tom Clancy's techno-thrillers, Arabic, Spanish, French tutorials to as many titles as possible, librarians can now enjoy the best of audio books without having to leave their homes or offices. What better way for libraries to stay needed and relevant in the new digital age than this? With the Internet, many people are beginning to lose interest in the libraries, but this move will help the libraries to retain their memberships. When asked what prompted this development, Barbara Nichols Randal, the director of the Guilderland Public Library in suburban Albany, explained that they took the needs of their younger readers and other people that were too busy to visit the library into consideration before coming up with this move. Specifically, she said, "This is a way for us to have library access 24/7". For example, the Madison Public Library has access to a subscription database of audio book content. It provides this service for people who want to access this information from the comfort of their homes or offices, without having to physically visit the library. The name of this subscription database of audio book content is OverDrive. Anyone that has a LINK library card and access to the Internet can benefit from using OverDrive. Note that while some of the libraries allow you to download and even copy their audio books into your PC and/or other portable CD or MP3 players, others don't. With those that do not allow downloading or burning of their audio books, you will only be able to read them on your computer... while being connected to the Internet. Whichever service or library you prefer, the point is that you can benefit from the audio book without leaving the comfort of your home or office. Take the time to search for the particular library that you prefer and register with them. Some of them offer free registration for particular periods of time, while others charge a token fee to access their database of audio books. Other articles by this author »
About Janet Rusky
Janet Rusky is an upcoming author who runs one of the best audio book stores on the internet where 7000 titles divided in hundreds of categories are available for immediate download. http://www.best-audiobook-store.com Related
And here is another random article you might be interested in... Personal Finance - Have Consumers Had A Belly Full Of Personal Debt?For months, we were trigger-swipe happy, putting our groceries, clothes, holidays and service charges on our credit cards. We wanted mortgages, we took out loans, we watched Property Ladder and What Not To Wear. Whether you were born middle class, had middle class aspirations, you became middle class through your spending. Debt united people around the UK, we sympathised with each other on what we couldn't afford â€" but it didn't matter, we still bought it. Soon everybody had a bottle of Jacob's Creek in their kitchen and olives and humous in the fridge. Yet, it would seem as if a debt conscience is setting in. This morning, The Guardian printed a story based on the fact that Nationwide had reported a 0.2% decrease in the average house price, whilst the Times reported on a statement from the Bank of England, showing that credit-card borrowing was at its slowest rate for more than four years, with mortgage lending also very static. According to the latest Department of Trade and Industry Survey, 5% of individuals reported finding their household's debt repayments a "heavy burden" and 4% of individuals are currently behind in payments for at least one credit commitment or domestic bill over the past three months. According to Credit Action, in December 2004, 1.2 million electricity and 1 million gas domestic customers were behind in repaying their debts to their supplier. Additionally 20% of people say that they often neglect checking their bank balance because "they are too scared to find out how much money they have", according to Lloyds TSB. Credit Action also reported that the number of people searching for help to manage their debts had almost doubled in May in 2005, compared to figures in May 2004 and a survey from Relate revealed that 44% of couples find money to be a contentious issue in their relationship and a quarter of people in debt are receiving treatment for stress, depression and anxiety from their GP. It doesn't have to be all doom and gloom however. If you're lucky enough to have no outstanding debt, you can keep you finances in shape by exploiting the services of sites such as moneynet, which provide financial product price comparison information and extensive consumer information guides. If you have any outstanding debts, you can seek advice from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) or Citizens' Advice and financial comparison sites like lowermybills and moneynet also provide detailed research on debt consolidation loans and debt management. Resources: Other articles by this author »
About Rachel Lane
Rachel writes for the personalfinanosaurus Cashzilla http://www.cashzilla.co.uk Rachel has been writing personal finance related articles for six months and has learnt so much about mortgages and life insurance, that nobody invites her out to dinner anymore. :( Related
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