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Chilton Library

Is your car under a recall?  Chilton Library is a great resource to see if a car has a recall.  Searching is particularly convenient because you do not need to know your VIN number.  You just select the make, model, and year of the car, and then click on the “select” button.

Chilton Library 1In a matter of seconds you will be able to see the list of recalls (if there are any) attributed to the car.  I knew my old 2007 Saturn Ion had at least two recalls as of 2014.  I was only mildly surprised- and definitely triggered- to see the number of recalls for that car has risen to 31.

Chilton Library 2

It may not be perfect, but my current car (a Honda) is a lot less problematic than the old Saturn.  And thanks to Chilton Library, I can see the only Honda recall involves the Takada airbags, and luckily those have already been replaced.

Kate Straccia, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Main

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Pertussis: Something You Catch on the Oregon Trail?

Health

Every September or October I go to the doctor.  I am always surprised when the doctor asks, Do you want to get your flu shot while you’re here?

This year I was ready!  I remembered that the doctor was going to ask and I had a definitive answer instead of my usual wishy-washy, Um, I guess, maybe?

After asking about the flu shot the doctor asked if I wanted a Tdap booster.  What the what is Tdap?

Tdap = Tetanus, Diptheria & Pertussis

I immediately had a flashback to my middle school years, sitting in the computer lab playing Oregon Trail on an Macintosh and having to flip the floppy disk over halfway through the game.  Who’s with me?

Since I don’t want to die Oregon Trail-style, I agreed to the shot.  But, since I am a librarian, I decided to do some research on good old Tdap today.

Thanks to the Health & Wellness Resource Center I now know

 In 2011, more than 15,000 cases were reported nationwide. A 2012 outbreak in Washington has affected more than 2,500 people, and the disease has killed at least eight infants this year, according to CDC officials.

No matter how you feel about vaccines, Health & Wellness Resource Center is a great place to learn more about your doctor’s recommendations.

Kelly – CLP

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Gale In Context

ACLA currently subscribes to five of the Gale “In Context” databases. They are: Biography in Context, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, Science in Context, U.S. History in Context, and World History in Context. Each database has some pretty amazing features, including:

  • Read Speaker text-to-speech technology–a great option for struggling readers and the visually impaired.
  • Document translation–translates any document into French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Portuguese, simplified Chinese, and Korean.
  • Customizable RSS feeds–allows information to be automatically delivered to users.
  • Media-rich content–images, audio, video, maps and interactive resources.
  • Web 2.0 sharing–allows linking through hundreds of popular social networks and bookmarking tools.
  • Citation tools mapped to the most current MLA and APA standards.
  • Fact boxes provide a snapshot summary of key information for quick review.
  • Interactive Google maps put research in an important geographical context.
  • Infomark functionality allows users to copy, bookmark, or email a persistent URL of nearly every page — giving them the ability to create and share reading lists, bibliographies, course packs and more.
  • Content Level Indicators and lexile scoring to find resources suited to different reading abilities.

Mary Lee Hart

Northland Public Library

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