library

Before you purchase e-books from vendors like Amazon or from the iBookstore, see what your local library has to offer. With a library card and a free application, Overdrive Media Console, you can download free e-books and audiobooks to your iPhone (and any other iOS device), BlackBerry, Android device, or computer.

Remember, though, that most libraries might only carry a few copies of each title, so be ready to wait your turn. Additionally, most books have a loaning period of 7 to 14 days, so there's no room for procrastinating here.

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer e-mailed questions from our readers. This week we have questions on replacing the proper backup to use before upgrading OS X, how to determine the bitness of your processor, options for resizing Finder columns, and managing permissions for centralized iTunes libraries. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few answers here, we certainly welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: Proper backup before upgrading OS X MacFixIt reader "Marija" asks:

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Apple sends out invites, apparently for the launch of the second-generation iPad

A new lineup of MacBook Pros is announced

Microsoft says the software update for Windows Phone 7 does not brick phones 90 percent of the time

The Open Library announces its free e-book lending program

Netflix announces a two-year deal to stream shows from our parent company, CBS

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is immortalized in a new comic book

Want to back up your iTunes library and/or transfer it to another PC? iTunes itself has a backup option, but it requires blank CDs or DVDs. Bleh.

CopyTrans TuneSwift will back up your iTunes library to the media of your choice (including network folders, flash drives, and external hard drives), or let you transfer it to another machine--Windows or Macintosh.

(Just to clarify, TuneSwift itself is for Windows only, but it includes an option for transferring iTunes libraries to Macs. Pretty neat!)

The program will cost $20-30 when the next version is released, but right now you can get TuneSwift free of charge. … Read more

MacFixIt Answers is a feature in which we answer questions e-mailed from our readers. This week we have questions on propagating permissions to enclosed items in a folder, managing items in the System library, burning iMovie projects to disc, and using multiple antivirus utilities in OS X. We continually answer e-mail questions, and though we present a few here, we certainly welcome alternative approaches and views from readers and encourage you to post your suggestions in the comments.

Question: Permissions propagation to enclosed items

As part of an ongoing troubleshooting effort, MacFixIt reader "Ernst" asked:

What does "… Read more

It can be a challenge to maintain a pristine music collection once you've migrated to a digital library. With all the moving, copying, downloading, ripping, and transferring files that sometimes goes on, many of us are bound to end up with some duplicate tracks scattered around our hard drives. If you want to get things all nice and tidy again--not to mention clear up some space on your computer--Similarity is here to help. This fairly basic utility scans your system for music files and helps you locate and delete dupes.

Check out Similarity on Download.com to continue reading … Read more

Enter OverDrive Media Console is an app that cuts out the middleman (i.e., your PC) when it comes to getting free epubs on your mobile device. With OverDrive, you can download library e-books (and audiobooks) directly to your iOS device.

That's the good news. The bad news is that getting the app set up is a major pain, and as e-book readers go, it's mediocre at best. Plus, the selection isn't what we'd call extensive, at least from our test library.

To download books, you must first "Add a Website" (meaning choose your … Read more

Injecting some high-brow culture into a smartphone realm more characterized by people texting at dinner and playing video games on the subway, the British Library has released an application to allow exploration of some of its collection.

OK, so perhaps it won't mean people rushing to read Beowulf in the original Old English from 1,000 years ago. But it's nice to know the option is there, and the application comes with commentary from experts such as a video on Beowulf by linguist David Crystal.

In any event, it is encouraging at least to this history and museum … Read more

Back in November I told you about Bluefire Reader, an iOS app with support for the ePub e-book format used by many public libraries.

In other words, you can use it to check out books free of charge--but you had to do a lot of desktop hoop-jumping to make it happen.

Enter OverDrive Media Console, an app that cuts out the middleman (i.e., your PC). With OverDrive, you can download library e-books (and audiobooks!) directly to your iOS device. I just grabbed "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," and I have "The Help" … Read more