Online Resources Available at Your Fingertips

 In our mission to ensure we have free and easy to access resources for our patrons, we have online tools available to help students, teachers, job seekers, and many others. We have online tools from test prep to world books online, and if you do not see what you are looking for on our website then one of our librarians will be happy to help direct you in the right direction.

Highlighted Online Tools

ACT and Other Test Prep Resources

From the ACT to the ASVAB test we have you covered with practice tests to study guides. Some may require you to log in with your library card and pin.

Magnolia 

If you are needing to write a research paper here is the tool for you. Magnolia provides a large collection of newspapers, periodicals, reference books, journals, etc.

Mississippi DMV Practice Tests 

This DMV tool gives you access to practice tests if you needing your permit or driver's license. It also provides tests and manuals for cars, CDL, and motorcycles.

Job Resources 

By going to this tool you will see many links that will take you to websites to find jobs or books about how to find a job.

Freegal 

By using your library card to log in you will have access to 5 free music downloads a week and stream playlists for 3 hours each day.

Rocket Languages 

Needing to learn a new language for work or just for fun? Rocket Languages offers 15 different languages including American Sign Language.

Full Collection List and Links

• ACT and other Test Prep Resources
• Auto Repair Source
• Business Source Complete
• Consumer Health Complete
• (Mississippi) Driver’s Education Program Practice Tests
• Explora for Student Research
• Flipster
• Free Legal Resources In Mississippi
• Freading
• Freegal
• Gale Virtual Reference Collection
• GCFLearnFree.org
• Healthy Hometown Library
• Heritage Quest
• History Reference Center
• Job Resources
• Learning Express Library
• Literary Reference Center
• Local/State/National/International News & Weather
• MAGNOLIA
• Mississippi Digital Library
• Mississippi Encyclopedia
• NoveList Plus
• Resume Builder
• Rocket Languages
• Storyline Online
• VIN Decoder
• World Book Online
• Website Links by Dewey Decimal Classification

The Need to Communicate with Rocket Languages

The Need to Communicate with Rocket Languages

In our Virtual Reference Collection, we have access to Rocket Languages, an immersion language program that teaches 15 languages free of charge. I don't know about you, but free is something I can afford. Learning a foreign language can be a daunting task, but it can bring several rewards.

I have taken three years of Spanish in high school and two years in college. I am by no means fluent, but on more than one occasion I have had a need to speak Spanish to make myself understood.

In a hotel room in Jacksonville, Florida a maid walks in to clean my room. I still had a couple of hours until checkout and I was working on my laptop computer. She spoke to me in rapid-fire Spanish and I told her that my Spanish was not very good. She thought this was the funniest thing in the world. Communication was a problem. The only thing I could do was say, "Quince minutos" which meant 15 minutes. She immediately packed up her vacuum cleaner and left.

At the Flowood Library we have a member on staff who is fluent in Spanish and Spanish speaking patrons can be referred to her when she is here. But what if she is not here? Well, we do the best we can.

I was in the Richland Walmart one day and a woman from India was saying to another customer, "ice cream." The other customer tried to tell her she didn't understand. I walked up to the lady and said, "ice cream." Using the words "ice cream" and some hand gestures I walked with this customer to the ice cream section at Walmart. She said, "thank you" and the problem was solved.

If I had only been using Rocket Languages to learn Hindi, then I might have been able to have a conversation with her. I had to stay with the only words that she knew and use nonverbal hand gestures. Fortunately, the word "ice cream" is a word that needs no interpretation.

Sign Language is often used by patrons when they come into the library. If a patron cannot hear, they can often read lips. Sometimes we must write in English on pieces of paper in order to communicate. Sign language is available in the Rocket Languages program.

There is nothing like the feeling of being in a foreign land such as South Korea and having a language problem. I was directed to a building on Yongsan Army Base where I was told I could get help and found myself facing three soldiers of the Republic of South Korean army. I asked for the return of my luggage keys in English and they responded to me in Korean or Hangul. I smiled and left determined to go back to HQs for reinforcements. I returned with a KATUSA (Korean Augmentee to the United States Army). I would find out later that they did not have my luggage keys and that they did understand English.

Learning a foreign language is not currently a requirement at the Flowood Library, but as our patrons become more diverse, I can see where one day it might be.

Here at the Flowood Library, we will adapt to the needs of our community.

National Library Week & New Services Announced!

It is National Library Week and Central Mississippi Regional Library System (CMRLS) is excited to announce two new services from Rankin, Scott, Simpson, and Smith County Libraries! Freegal Music and Rocket Languages are both services by Library Ideas(TM) that was named "One of the Top 100 Companies in the Digital Content Industry for 2011-12" by EContent Magazine. 

Freegal Music is a database of over 3 million songs including Sony Music's catalog of legendary artists and over 10,000 music labels from 65 different countries. Registered CMRLS cardholders can download 3 music tracks in MP3 format each week at no cost. In addition, Freegal Music recently announced the availability of free mobile apps. The app is available at the Apple(r) App Store and Google Play(r). This makes the Libraries' music collection mobile and downloadable from anywhere. 

"We have been waiting a long time for a service like this that delivers great music, compatibility with lots of devices and simplicity of use. We think this will be incredibly popular with our patrons and will help the library in marketing all its services to the community," said CMRLS Director Kaileen Thieling.

Where did the name "Freegal" come from? It must be asked often, Library Ideas (TM) answers the question on their website. Freegal, which rhymes with legal, is free, downloadable, legal music. Library Ideas (TM) thinking to further advertise the point came up with "Free and Legal" - it's Freegal. It is memorable, which is what you want when marketing a product and there is no threat of copyright infringement when downloading this music. So, Freegal it is! 

Rocket Languages is an online conversational language lesson database of 13 languages, including American Sign Language and ESL for Spanish and Japanese speakers. The language lessons have been created to help the learner speak naturally; even recording your voice for comparison with every word and phrase used in the course. To reinforce the lessons, Rocket Languages uses Language-Master Games, self-testing, and a forum so that anyone using the language lessons can interact with other learners and your Rocket Languages teachers. 

Other languages in the Rocket Language database are Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Italian, Hindi, German, French, Chinese, Arabic, and Portuguese. Cardholders may work on one or all of the languages that are accessible anywhere through the CMRLS website. Rocket Languages also has iOS and Android apps so that you can use your course wherever you are.

"We are excited to also offer this free Library service. This can be very useful for our communities that continue to grow more diverse, and for travelers. The lessons travel with you, either online, by the use of an app, or by downloading the lessons as pdf or MP3 files," said Dorothy Vance, CMRLS Public Relations Coordinator. 

National Library Week, first sponsored in 1958, is a national observance sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country each April. "Communities matter @ your library, is this year's motto and service to the community has always been the focus of the library," said Vance.

Central Mississippi Regional Library System serves the public libraries of Rankin, Scott, Simpson, and Smith Counties. For more information, contact your local CMRLS Library or visit www.cmrls.lib.ms.us.