Thursday, April 21, 2011

Things to consider when buying a vehicle

Buying a vehicle new or used is always a nerve-wracking event. There are so many things to consider and so many ways a deal can go awry. Arm yourself with information before you head to a dealership. The State of Kansas and the Federal government have some helpful tips and guides to help you know what your rights are when buying a new or used vehicle.

FTC information regarding the privacy of your personal information given to a dealer: http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus64-ftcs-privacy-rule-and-auto-dealers-faqs

FTC Facts for Consumers; Buying a used car:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/autos/aut03.shtm

Federal Law 16 CFR Part 455- Trade Regulation Rule; Sale of Used Motor Vehicles:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/guides/usedcar-comply.shtm

Car buying tips from the Kansas Attorney General:
http://www.ksag.org/files/Cartips.pdf

Facts about Vehicle Repossession:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/autos/aut14.shtm

Kansas Lemon Law:
http://www.kslegislature.org/li/statute/050_000_0000_chapter/050_006_0000_article/050_006_0045_section/050_006_0045_k/

Better Business Bureau summary of the Kansas Lemon Law:
http://www.bbb.org/us/Storage/16/Documents/BBBAutoLine/KS-LLsummary.pdf
and
http://www.bbb.org/us/Storage/16/Documents/BBBAutoLine/KS-LLaddinfo.pdf

Article contact: Kim Harp

Friday, April 8, 2011

ATLAS Catalog

National Library Week is fast approaching, a week dedicated to promoting and celebrating libraries and the services they provide. With this in mind this week's KGI blog hones in on one of the many services provided by the State Library of Kansas to government officials and employees as well as the people of Kansas, the online ATLAS Catalog.

ATLAS (The Associated Topeka Libraries Automated System) is a consortium catalog containing resources of the State Library, the Kansas Historical Society, the Kansas Supreme Court Law Library and various libraries at Washburn University.

The State Library has over 200,000 records in the catalog. Each record points the seeker to an item, book, magazine, annual, magazine article, web page, etc. that will hopefully be of help to them in their quest for information.

You can access ATLAS using two different screens. The first provides a googled approach to locating resources. The Second is a more traditional "Author, Title, Subject, Keyword" set up.

ATLAS (google like search)
http://topekalibraries.info/

ATLAS (traditional search)
http://topekalibraries.info/search

Searching can be limited to one library by clicking on the different library names listed on the right menu. If you wish to broaden your search to include all libraries again just click on the link at the bottom that says "All ATLAS Libraries."

Each library in ATLAS has its own page providing links to information and resources that library can offer you. The State Library of Kansas ATLAS page is http://topekalibraries.info/search~S4
Among the links within the State Library's ATLAS page are:


Keep in mind that the library catalog of the 21st century is not your grandparent's card catalog of the 1950s! The ATLAS catalog allows you to limit and expand a search limiting words and terms within titles, authors and subjects. You can also limit searches by year of issuance or the type of material you're seeking.

Here's a short selection of some State Library collections whose holdings (complete or partial) can be found within ATLAS:

Illustriana Kansas (1933)
(A biographical work. All the biographies have been cataloged and available from the State Library via interlibrary loan)

A Standard History of Kansas and Kansans (1918)
(About 2500 of the biographies of this print and online resource have been cataloged)

Kansas Attorney General Opinions
(About 400 AG opinion records are found in ALTLAS linking reserachers to the online collection held by Washburn University School of Law.

Kansas Governors' Executive Orders
(Extending back to Gov. Robert Bennett these records provide links to online copies of the Orders)

The Kansas Historical Quarterly

Kansas History

Kansas!
(Over 1,100 records for articles in publications published by the Kansas Historical Society)

Kansas Wildlife and Parks
(The State Library has cataloged articles out of this magazine going back to 1991)

KSPACe
(Online Kansas state government publications. View some KSPACe collection records in ATLAS here)