Are You Due for a Year-End Financial Assessment?

It’s the end of the year, and for many people, that means adjusting their portfolios. If you have a large enough portfolio, you might qualify for assistance from an investment firm. But if you don’t, where do you turn?

The library can help. We subscribe to Morningstar® Investment Research Center. This service brings a wealth of information (yeah, I meant to say that) to wealth management. Look up your stock or mutual fund and see a chart showing how it’s performed over a period of time – from one day to ten years. Read what analysts say about the performance and value of the stock/fund. There are so many metrics to choose from to evaluate your portfolio.

And if it’s time to change up the mix, you can use the stock screener or fund screener to identify investments that meet your needs. For instance, you can search for stocks that give dividends or mutual funds that do not charge fees. You can also search by sector or fund category.

Find Morningstar® Investment Research Center by following this path: Library Home Page -> Electronic Resources -> Business -> Morningstar®. Choose from either In the Library or At Home.  You will need to enter your library card number if you are at home. The only caveat is that only one user can be logged in at a time, so please remember to end your session when you are finished.

Want to learn more? We are offering a class on how to use this fantastic resource on Thursday January 29^th at 7pm. To register, stop by the library, call 732-583-9100, or email Jill at jstafford@lmxac.org. 

This post was written by Jeanette W.

Review: One Stop Shopping for Free Magazines provided by Zinio

I love to knit and even run a high school knitting club, so I am always looking for what’s new in the knitting world.   There are free patterns galore on the internet but I also like to read stories from other knitter’s about their experiences with the craft, and learn about new products coming out, and collect tips of the trade.  In addition to reading books about knitting, I also enjoy reading magazines about knitting.  I enjoy all the bright spreads of people wearing finished projects and even like to peruse the advertisements for different merchandise.  Of course, like everyone, time is always a problem with work and family so I thought I would check out our Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library (MAPL) webpage and click on electronic resources.  There is was, Zinio, offering interactive digital magazines and you guessed it!  It is FREE!  All you need is your trusty library card.

Zinio is the world’s largest newsstand and you don’t even get rained on while making your selections.  It offers full color, digital magazines for your enjoyment.  Browse from the library’s collection of popular titles with no holds, no checkout periods, and no limit to the number of magazines you can download.   Just click on “Electronic Resources” on our Matawan-Aberdeen Public Library Homepage and select “Magazines and Journals.”  You will see Zinio listed and then just click on the Instructions for creating an account and using zinio.  Search magazines by topics, genres (cooking, gardening, etc.)  or by title.  You can even select the magazines in English or Spanish.   You can “shop” at home in your pajamas for the magazines of your choice for free!  What a great deal!  

This post was written by Cecelia R.

Review: 48 hours in Las Vegas and eLibraryNJ

If you’re on the road and need to bring a travel book with you, visit eLibraryNJ to download and/or view ebooks on your tablets, phones, and/or computers.  Recently I downloaded and viewed an ebook in my internet browser called 48 Hours in Las Vegas, which was short, informative and contained pictures, maps and sample itineraries.

 eLibraryNJ is one of the many database services that is available with your library card. Either simply search our online catalog or eLibraryNJ’s catalog to see if an eBook version exists.  Then you can either download/view the selection right away, or place a hold and receive a notification when it’s available to download.  You can also choose a checkout period of 7, 14, or 21 days.  After the checkout period is complete, the downloaded material simply disappears from your device.  Nothing to return, and best of all, no fines!

All you need to use this FREE service is you library card, an Adobe ID, and or Adobe Digital Editions (if you want to download a book to your device via your computer).  During the week there are Computer Technical Assistants at the library who can assist you if you need help. 

This post was written by Dennis K.

Review: Eurythmics and Freegal = Sweet Dreams are Made of This

Because it's back to school time, I wanted to reconnect with my high school days. The best way to do that was to reminisce with my old friends, the Eurythmics.  After visiting our library’s homepage and locating its electronic services, I clicked “Freegal”. All I needed was my Matawan Aberdeen Public Library card to download the following songs:  Here Comes the Rain Again, Love is a Stranger, and my favorite hit of theirs,Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).

You, too, can download up to three songs per week (for FREE) on Freegal!

FREEGAL is a downloadable music service which provides access to about 6 million songs, including access to Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists including Adele, Bruce Springsteen, Carrie Underwood, Dave Matthews Band, Kenny Chesney, Jason Aldean, Mumford and Sons, One Direction, Pink, Yo-Yo Ma, and many more… New music is available the same day it shows up on iTunes or other stores.   

Remember, all you need is your Matawan Aberdeen Library card! 

To begin your musical adventure, click here.

This post was written by Susie B.

Review: Lightheaded and IndieFlix

Lightheaded (2009)

Lightheaded is a 5 minute animated film, written and directed by Mike Dacko, that I recently watched on IndieFlix. This wonderful, creative little film won first prize for Best Animation at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and is well worth your time if you appreciate quality film making.

What is IndieFlix? IndieFlix is a streaming movie service that gives Matawan Aberdeen Public Library cardholders unlimited access to thousands of award winning independent films! Short on time? No problem. You can choose films to watch based on duration. There are 5 minute films as well as two hour films. In addition to duration, you can choose a film based on genre, film festival, audience (teen, adult, etc.), country of origin. You can even choose based on how much others enjoyed the film. 

Prefer the old classic films? IndieFlix offers many of those, too. Choose from A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Jane Eyre (1943), All the President's Men (1976), and many, many more!

Click here if you're ready to begin watching some terrific films, and yes, it's all FREE! 

Pass the popcorn!

Adult Summer Reading 2014

Summer 2014 is flying by, isn't it?  It's hard to believe we're already in August and there's only one more week until the end of the Adult Summer Reading Club. Next Monday afternoon, August 11, we'll be doing our Week 7 raffle drawing. Right after that drawing, we'll be pulling together all the raffle tickets collected over the last seven weeks and selecting for the Grand Prize. 

This year the Grand Prize is a collection of  gift cards to FOUR local restaurants!  Bart's Restaurant, Cafe 34 Bistro, Trattoria Rustica Restaurant, and La Riviera Lounge have all generously donated gift cards so we can offer you this fabulous prize! Thank you to our sponsors!

There is still time to read one or even two more books before next Monday. Just be sure to return them and get your tickets in the jar before 2 PM. You can also earn additional raffle tickets by completing one or both of the fun science quizzes located by the Week 7 prize.

Remember, it only takes one ticket to win a raffle prize!

Phishing, vishing, and SMShing

While we at MAPL usually use this blog to post about upcoming library programs or featured library resources, today I'm going to do something a little different.  I'm going recommend a post from another blog. As a public librarian, I'm in the business of providing all sorts of information, and that's what I'd like to do now.

Get Rich Slowly is a personal finance blog that's been around for several years. In mid-February one of their contributors wrote a post titled "Phishing, vishing, and SMShing," and as I read the post I found myself thinking everyone should be aware of phishing scams and how to avoid becoming a victim. What is a phishing scam, you ask? According to the blog post, a phishing scam is a scheme that "encompasses fraudulently obtaining and using an individual's personal or financial information."

It seems we are hearing more and more about phishing schemes, and since the methods used to trick us are becoming more sophisticated, we need how to recognize the schemes so we don't fall victim to them. If you are interested in reading the entire blog post about phishing, you can find it here at Get Rich Slowly's website.