Announcing new mobile ready resources and mobile apps!

Want to use your mobile phone to do some research, or download eBooks or audiobooks? Thanks to the Jefferson County Library Cooperative (JCLC) we have new web resources that are optimized for your mobile phone and apps from the iTunes App Store and Android Market!

Mobile Web

EBSCO for researching: On your mobile phone, go to our homepage http://homewoodpubliclibrary.org and tap Research. Scroll down and tap EBSCO. Log in with your library card number. Tap the JCLC Mobile link at the top. You will be taken to the mobile site for researching right on your mobile phone!

OverDrive for downloadable eBooks and audiobooks: On your mobile phone, go to our homepage http://homewoodpubliclibrary.org and tap Downloadables. Log in with your library card number. You will be automatically taken to the mobile site where you can search and check out eBooks or audiobooks!

Mobile Apps 

OverDrive Media Console v2.0 for Android or iPhone

   * Read Adobe® EPUB eBooks

   * Find libraries using the new 'Get Books' feature
   * Listen to MP3 Audiobooks

Gale provides three mobile apps from the iTunes App Store and Android Market:

1.  AccessMyLibrary Public Edition: Uses GPS to find public libraries within a 10-mile radius of the user's location then provides free access to credible Gale online resources.

2.  AccessMyLibrary School Edition: After a one-time log-in, it supplies students with free, unlimited access to their school library's Gale online resources.

3.  AccessMyLibrary College Edition: Using your college e-mail address, it gives you unlimited, 24/7 access to your college library’s Gale online resources.


PS: We're working on a mobile site for our library.

THE SOLOIST DVD Review

I'll admit up front, that I picked up this movie for Robert Downey Jr. Yes, I'm one of those old school movie watchers who will follow actors into some really bad movies, because I enjoy watching them work. Fortunately, this was not a really bad movie -- far from it. The Soloist was different from what I expected, more of a message movie, but it still engaged me and held my interest for 117 minutes. Of course, this was mainly due to the two leads, Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Fox.

Robert Downey Jr. was a bit restrained here, playing a real person (LA Times reporter Steve Lopez) in a real situation (dealing with loneliness and his own fears), but with his usual mesmerizing energy. Jamie Fox continues to be a revelation, as he exercised his chameleon abilities to sink entirely and believably into the role of homeless musician Nathaniel Ayers. And both actors play beautifully off each other in this story of a reporter looking for a story and finding a person, damaged, but demanding to be seen as a human being. It's a story where most of the action is interior, within the characters -- as they both work toward regaining contact with the people around them and each other. The movie isn't escapist fare. There's nothing entertaining about a schizophrenic gifted musician surviving among the 60,000 homeless in Los Angeles. Nor does it have the usual neatly tied up happy ending. In the movie, friendship and compassion do not conquer all, but instead are celebrated for their existence in such an enervating environment. And yet it is not a depressing movie, just one that makes you think, feel and appreciate a bit more.

Reserve your copy of the DVD.
Reserve your copy of the book by Steve Lopez this movie is based upon
Reserve your copy of the audio book by Steve Lopez this movie is based upon

Organizing Music, Podcasts, & Audiobooks in iTunes

I use my iPod most every day in three distinct ways. When I run or bike, I want my iPod set to shuffle through random songs. When I’m working, I listen to technology related podcasts in chronological order. Commuting to work in the morning can sometimes take up to an hour, and then I usually put on an audiobook to pass the time, and I want my audiobook to hold its place when I turn my iPod off, and pick back up in the same spot when I want to listen again.

The problem with these three uses is that by default, iTunes treats all these media in the same way. If I set my iPod to shuffle, I’ll get random songs, then all of a sudden shuffle to an hour long podcast. To get back to music I’ll have to concentrate on taking the player out of the armband, and fiddling with the click wheel to skip the podcast or navigate back to the music menu, which is not very safe if you’re biking on a public road. I’ve also invested three or four hours in an audiobook, my battery run out, then when I go back to my book it starts at the beginning, and I have to click forward trying to figure out where I left off.

So I finally took the time to learn to configure iTunes to treat all my media differently.

MUSIC

I leave my music albums in their default settings, which iTunes will play sequentially or in shuffle mode.

PODCASTS & AUDIOBOOKS....

If you don’t want your podcasts popping up in your shuffle mode RIGHT CLICK on the title of one of your podcasts in the iTunes podcasts menu. This will bring up a menu and you’ll click on “GET INFO”.

Click on the fourth tab from the left labeled OPTIONS.

The third checkbox is labeled MEDIA KIND. You can categorize your podcast in two ways. If the dropdown menu shows MUSIC, your podcast will start from the beginning each time you play it. If you’d prefer iTunes to hold the podcast’s place if you have to stop listening and pick up later, click the dropdown arrow and choose AUDIOBOOK, then in the fifth checkbox(REMEMBER POSITION) choose YES.

To keep your podcasts out of your shuffle mode, check the fifth checkbox(SKIP WHEN SHUFFLING) and choose YES in the dropdown menu. iTunes will now skip all podcasts when shuffling your music.

Repeat the same steps for your audiobooks and iTunes will automatically tag and sync your media to your iPod with your new settings.

--kb