10-26-2010-Thursday - Wise County Messenger

10 ALL AROUND WISE, Decatur, Texas, Thursday, October 28, 2010BooksCROSSWORD PUZZLEDon’t fear digital booksBy KRISTEN TRIBEI’ll admit it. Ebooks giveme anxiety.Although I realize thisis the inevitabledestination of thepublishing world,I’ve been slow toadapt. I’ve fiddledaround with an e-reader, but whilePumpkinsprovide aaste of fall ...Continued from page 8Place pumpkin halves, cutside down, on a large cookiesheet. Bake at 350 degreesF for one hour or until forktender.With the microwave method:Place halves cut-sidedown on a microwave-safeplate or tray. Cook on highfor 15 minutes; check fordoneness. If necessary continuecooking at 1-2 minuteintervals until fork tender.Now we’re ready to preparethe puree.When the pumpkin is coolenough to handle, removethe peel using a small sharpknife and your fingers. Putthe peeled pumpkin in a foodprocessor and puree, or usea food mill, strainer or potatomasher to form a puree.Don’t let your cooked pumpkinsit at room temperaturelonger than two hours in theprocess of making puree.Now the puree is ready tobe used to create your favoritepumpkin dishes!For information on foodsafety and nutrition, callthe Wise County Extensionoffice at (940) 627-3341.Bookendspushing buttonsand gazing at thescreen, I missedthe aesthetic pleasuresof a realbook.But I realizethat while my“real” books maybe my treasure,the digital formats are themedium in which I will likelybe working and readingon a day-to-day basis in thefuture.Until this point, ebooksmay have seemed out ofreach or intimidating tomany, but librarian CeciliaBarham at the DecaturPublic Library is hoping tochange that and ensure thatWise County readers keepup with publishing trends.Patrons will soon be ableto check out ebooks anddownloadable audio booksfrom the library, and lastweek she gave me a sneakpeek of the system.Barham began consideringthe digital plunge lastspring, and after a lot ofresearch, legwork and finetuningthe site, she expectsit to “go live” by mid-November.Even though Barham admitsshe prefers a real bookin some cases, she said, “atthe end of the day, there isno way I can deny that thisis the direction books are goingto go.“I think it’s part of the futureof literacy and readingin libraries, and we can’t beleft behind,” she said. “Andwe can’t let the communitybe behind because we’re notleading the way.”As part of the North TexasRegional Library System(NTRLS), Barham hadthe opportunity to join theNorth Texas Overdrive Consortium,which gives the Decaturlibrary, along with 13others, access toa collection of 400ebooks and 2,182audio books.Overdrive is thesoftware used todistribute digitalbooks, and the consortiumprogramallowed Barhamto have access tothe software fora greatly reducedprice. New releasesand bestsellerswill be added tothe collection everymonth, and Barham saidif there are leftover funds,that money will be used topurchase “special request”titles from specific libraries.The ebooks or audio bookscan be downloaded to yourcomputer and put on a Sonye-reader, iPad, nook, iPod,and most smart phones.The software is not compatiblewith Amazon’s Kindlebecause the company is notworking with library vendorsto distribute content.But even if you don’t havean e-reader, you can read thebooks directly on your computer,whether it’s a Mac orPC, and you can even burnthe audio books to CD if youdon’t have an iPod.Barham said just like aphysical book, these itemscan only be checked out toone person at a time, butholds can also be placed onitems, just like with thingsRABIDHALLOWEENFestSaturday, Oct. 30 • 9am-1pmWise County Animal Shelterwill offer a rabies clinic andfestival activities.• Games • Food• Vendors • Bounce HousePrizes for Pet and OwnerHalloween Costumesfrom the regular stacks.Barham walked methrough a checkout, and theprocess seemed intuitive.The site will be accessiblefrom a link on the library’smain page, and it resemblesa book-buying site withbooks divided into categories.Users will log into the systemwith their library cardnumber and PIN number.To get started, everyone hasto download the Overdrivesoftware and Adobe DigitalEditions, which is easy withstep-by-step instructions.Each checkout is for twoweeks, and at the end of thattime, the title “disappears”from your device.In addition to checking outbooks through Decatur PublicLibrary, there will also bea links to Project Gutenbergand Blio, two other siteswith digital content.Barham said like any libraryservice, she and herstaff will support it 100 percent,and they will be able toguide patrons through theprocess.“It is the way reading isgoing to go,” she said. “If wecan make it accessible, thenwhen it’s the most commonway, people won’t be afraidof it.”!Kristen Tribe is assistanteditor at the Wise CountyMessenger. Her blog,“Shelf Space,” can be foundat www.wcmessenger.com/shelfspace, and you can e-mail her at ktribe@ wcmessenger.com.For information about this or pet adoptions, call Tammy Loomis:940-627-7577 or visit us online at www.sheriff.co.wise.tx.usBRIDGEPORTWILD GAMEPROCESSINGAvailable duringArchery and Rifle Seasons940.391.9153• New & Used Guns• Consignments Welcome• Archery• Bow Tuning• Reloading Supplies• Gunsmithing & Gun Cleaning940.683.17771691 W. US HWY. 380 • BRIDGEPORTGUNS &AMMOBRIDGEPORTIRON & METALWE PAY TOPPRICESFOR ALL METALSCans- 65¢/lb • #1 Short Iron -$170/ton 5ft. or lessState Certified Scales * Accurate WeightsOPEN MONDAY - FRIDAY8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.Open Saturday8:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.3261 S. 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