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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 16, 2005 November sunlight filters through the water sculptures at the Central Library in Medford. Jackson County Library Services is offering more materials online to reach customers who want to do their research and reading from home. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell The Dewey Digital System? As technology improves, library system discovers it can put virtually anything it offers online By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune It’s 3 a.m. and you’re struggling to put a new clutch in your car. Where do you go for help? The library, of course. As part of its continuing shift into the digital domain, Jackson County Library Services recently put more of its offerings online, including access to more than 40 databases that contain extensive automotive repair manuals, encyclopedias and other reference materials. And that’s just for starters. Working under a recent $46,534 grant, Southern Oregon University will work with the Southern Oregon Historical Society and the library systems in Jackson and Josephine counties to convert historical materials into digital form. Advertisement In January, Jackson County libraries will begin offering books on tape that can be downloaded through the Internet and played on an MP3 or burned onto a CD. The Oregon State Library Board awarded a $20,620 grant to buy computer equipment for the Eagle Point library and school system that will convert the text into speech to help those with learning disabilities. "It’s not only good for people who have physical handicaps," said county Library Director Ronnie Budge. "It’s for people who have difficulty reading." With so many advances in technology, Budge predicts that in 10 to 20 years, "I think much of the reference collection will be online. We won’t be expanding the reference section in the print version." New technologies have the potential to write the last chapter on hard-copy books. "In Japan there is a little hand-held device that can load an entire book on your cell phone," she said. That doesn’t mean books are a thing of the past, however. "People do seem to like to go to a shelf, find a book and flip through it and see if it suits their style," she said. "It’s pretty hard to imagine something that is as convenient as a book, in most circumstances." Since books on tape are so popular, Budge said the new online service that will be available through the library Web site — www.jcls.org — will allow people to download onto their computer at home. She expects this will be accessible in mid-January. After the audio book is downloaded, it will automatically "disappear" from the computer after a couple of weeks, although it could be stored on a CD or MP3 player. SOU will begin coordinating the effort to make digital copies of historical documents through the federal grant that will become available in February. "The point is to pool the resources of four major repositories of historical resources and create a catalogue of regional history," said Kate Cleland-Sipfle, cataloguing coordinator at the SOU library. Cleland-Sipfle said about 250 titles ranging from slim volumes of a few pages to 400 pages or more will be catalogued and rendered into a format that can be searched. She expects the service will be available in late 2006. Even with more online resources available, Budge said the library system still sees a lot of customers who want to come in and do research the old-fashioned way. Still, Budge added, "A lot of people are using the library from home that were not using it before." Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail The Dewey Digital System? ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Salvia Divinorum Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s