Tag eresources

Open two-lane road with double yellow line leading into the distance of snow-topped mountains. Bright sky with white clouds take up the top two thirds of photo.

Free Practice Driving Tests for Cars, Motorcycles & CDL

jescapunk Leave a comment
Open two-lane road with double yellow line leading into the distance of snow-topped mountains. Bright sky with white clouds take up the top two thirds of photo.

Driving-Tests.org, in partnership with Howard County Library System, offers free practice tests for those looking to obtain driving licenses or permits for cars, motorcycles, and commercial vehicles in Maryland. According to users, the practice test questions are very similar to the actual questions you may find on the MD MVA official exams. Essentially, if you’ve studied the appropriate handbooks cover-to-cover and aced all the practice tests, you should feel pretty confident going into your scheduled exam.

This resource provides you with the necessary handbooks to read online or download. Plus, audio versions of the cars and motorcycles handbooks are available if you’d prefer to listen. According to the application, they advertise an industry-leading 95.2 percent success rate and being “73 percent more effective than the driver’s manual alone, based on a nationwide survey.”

The practice tests for drivers’ licenses and permits touts nearly 500 questions, which are categorized into order of difficulty: easy, hard, and hardest. There is also an exam simulator which mimics the MVA exam. The questions are pulled from an extensive database which promises new questions each time you practice. The motorcycle section is arranged similarly with 312 questions that are randomized on the exam simulator. Each test reminds takers of their allowed number of mistakes in order to pass.

The CDL section offers eight general knowledge tests, a marathon general knowledge test of all 417 questions, plus an exam simulator pulling 50 questions at random. Specialized tests for HazMat, School Bus, Passenger Vehicles, Air Brakes, Double/Triple Trailers, Tankers, and Combination Vehicles are also included. Pre-Trip inspection videos and testing are also at the ready.

These tests can help a range of users: teenagers getting their learner’s permit, parents assisting aforementioned teens, adults who’ve moved or are planning to move to another state, newcomers to the US, test-takers with only a few days left before their exam, and those who prefer to prepare on their own instead of paying for and/or attending driving school. Whatever your situation, this database of free practice tests at hclibrary.org is your best resource for preparing for your licensure.

JP has worked for HCLS since 2006. She loves playing with her new orange tabby kittens, Mando & Momo.

The photograph shows the spines of a row of antique books, including classics like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Man in the Iron Mask.

Books in the Public Domain: Free with Project Gutenberg

Rebecca Wiest Leave a comment
The photograph shows the spines of a row of antique books, including classics like The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Man in the Iron Mask.
“Old Books” by Moi of Ra is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

By Becky W.

I suspect many of you have heard the term “public domain” thrown out here and there – as have I – but what does it really mean? When I ask myself this question, my thinking runs along the lines of “free, up for grabs, no questions asked, right?” Well, yes… but there is a catch. 

When a work is placed in the public domain, it is broadly defined as being free of protection from intellectual property rights including copyright, trademark, and patents. But how does work end up in the public domain? There are three main ways. First, the work was never protected by copyright law to begin with. Second, the owner places the work in the public domain before the copyright has expired. Third, the copyright has expired, either due to the terms of the copyright or the owner failing to follow copyright renewal rules. Once a work is placed in the public domain it is, in a general sense, free to be used without restriction. As with any legal perspective, there are exceptions. I am not a copyright expert, and, let’s be honest, have already spent all of the mental bandwidth I can muster for this topic, so I can’t give you all the legality behind those exceptions. If, however, copyright law is your jam, there is a great resource from Cornell University that takes a detailed look at copyright and the public domain. 

So why, as readers and lovers of knowledge, do we care about this? Well, the public domain covers a lot of creative works, but one material abundant in the public domain is books. I know what you’re thinking: “free books, great, yes, sign me up,” and you’re absolutely right. The public domain offers us free access to thousands of books and writings. But remember, I said there was a catch. When a book is placed in the public domain, it allows for people to do any number of things with that book, including selling it. Books in the public domain are not always free; in fact, if you look up a public domain title online, it will most definitely have a listed price. Luckily for us, this is not always the case. There are some great people out their dedicating their time to digitizing these books and building them a home on the internet so everyone can have access to them. 

Now, and I know I made you wait for this, how do you access these books? Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg is a volunteer-run website and organization that digitizes and distributes works in the public domain at no cost. Books found on Project Gutenberg can be downloaded in multiple file formats, including PDF and EPub, so you can read them on any device or eReader. If you don’t have a tablet or eReader, you also have the option to read on their website. 

And that’s it! Time to go explore the public domain. There really are too many books to name: everything from classic novels to unpublished fiction. So, if you are overwhelmed and need a place to start, here are some of my recommendations. 

  1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 
  1. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving 
  1. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum 
  1. The Odyssey by Homer 
  1. Grimms’ Fairy Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

Information on the public domain and copyright in this post was pulled from Stanford University Libraries’ Copyright and Fair Use Center.

Becky is an Adult Instructor and Research Specialist at the HCLS East Columbia Branch who enjoys art and everything science.