Metropolitan Library System offers new databases

/>

Language program

Last summer, the libraries added an immersion language program for children, called Little Pim.

An auto maintenance and repair database provides information about a variety of vehicles and engines. Terry used the database to access an owner’s manual and step-by-step instructions about how to repair a garden rototiller.

Library cardholders can access most of the library system’s databases from home. They are searchable online by topic.

“You don’t really have to leave home to see or to learn things from different areas,” said Tanika Wynn-Williams of Midwest City.

She used a genealogy database to track her ancestry and found information going back seven generations.

Wynn-Williams also used a language database called Mango Languages to learn Hindi and Tamil. She said she has learned some basic phrases she can use at Indian markets.

“It’s really helpful because you can actually hear how it sounds,” Wynn-Williams said.

Her son, Devin, 10, uses Mango Languages to learn Spanish. He likes the computer program better than books and tapes, Wynn-Williams said.