Library Lets Patrons Play In High-Tech 'Sandbox'

Barbara Reynolds didn't know she could learn a foreign language while driving, get a free resume critique or tap into the powerful (and normally expensive) Lexis-Nexis database at .

Librarian Judy McNulty was anxious to show her all the things she could do on the "virtual library," available free to patrons on the library's website, during the library's Technology Fair Saturday. Librarians spun visitors through all the things they could do on library databases, let them handle devices like the iPad and Amazon Kindle, and encouraged them to ask questions of Best Buy staff, who were on hand. 

McNulty said the library database can be helpful for job seekera, genealogists and anyone doing research, for starters. 

"The library has a limited version of Lexis-Nexis, and it's helpful for job seekers. They can research companies they're applying to," McNulty explained. 

Job seekers can also tap into tutor.com on the library's site for a free resume critique and other help.

Those who want to learn a foreign language can download audio from Mango.com, which is available on the library's site. Choice include Spanish, French, German, Russian, Italian, Greek, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese, ESL Spanish ESL Polish and ESL Brazilian Portuguese.

Ruth Schuster, a reference librarian, was also eager to show Reynolds how she could see actual copies of old newspapers, via microfilm, and either print out copies or download them onto a flash drive.

"People who are doing genealogy research sometimes need to see the whole newspaper," Schuster explained. "If you 're doing research on World War II, you might want to see the ads, for instance." 

She also said a woman wanted to see the microfilm version of a newspaper because it had an article about a horrible accident she survived. The online version of the newspaper didn't contain the photo of the accident, which she wanted to see.