Car Repair Online

I just saw an article in the latest edition of Searcher Magazine (the "magazine for database professionals" yes I know I'm a geek :) evaluating automobile repair websites.

Here's the Citation:
McDermott, Irene E. "Baby You Can Drive My Car (If You Can Get It Started) Auto Repair on the Web" Searcher 16(2) February 2008 pgs 8-12.

This is a topic near if not dear to my heart. A few months ago I bought a used car after going over a year without one so I'm getting back into the habit of spending money on it. The article is pretty comprehensive including repair manuals, web sites to help evaluate whether repair costs have exceeded the a car's value, web sites to help you read the On Board Diagnostic Codes, auto repair in Spanish, and even the Car Talk Guys web site.

The article is available online, however, because of copy right restrictions and firewalls I can't link directly to the article. I can tell you how to get there though. You'll either need to have a Maine library card or be using a computer in a Maine library. First go to Marvel "Maine's Virtual Library." Click on Academic Search Premier (first link in the list). If you are doing this at home you will need to enter your library card number at this point. Now type in the title of the article and it should pull it right up. Or you could just ask your friendly neighborhood reference librarian to print it for you.

Although I can't link you directly to the article I can link you to a list of the automotive websites in the article.

If you have a favorite automotive website not listed in the article please share it. And as always let us know what you think.

Jim Riordan, jriordan@bpl.lib.me.us