The Crittenden Automotive Library Update: April 2007

Bill Crittenden
The Crittenden Automotive Library
April 28, 2007

April Photo:  1951 Hudson Hornet

The month of April was one of the busiest ever.  Having finished my search through the Voice of America archives, I had more time to put more material on the site.  Also, the site has received yet another update to the look of the site.

Last month I created a new logo for the library itself, an adaptation of the site logo.  At that time, I changed the site logo to remove the etxt, just as on the Library logo.  This, of course, created duplicate logos on most pages of the site.  So I removed the site logo, and now the site is officially logoless.  I moved the navigation links up to the top of the page.  To keep the site from being too bland, I placed a black-and-white photo behind the navigation links.  The April photo is a close-up of the front of a Hudson Hornet, and I intend on changing the photo each month.  That's why there's the "April Photo" up at the top of the article.

The Crittenden Automotive Library Update

In addition to the monthly update that I write, a new Update feature was introduced in early April.  Using a Yahoo! Group to mail them, every new material is posted to the site, a little summary and a list of links to the new material goes out to those who are on the mailing list.

The periodic Updates have been rapidly evolving, and feature is the best and most interesting stuff (at least as I see it) is designated in a special section called "The Good Stuff."  The last section of this monthly Update (and future ones) will be the links to material designated as "The Good Stuff."

Free Reprint Articles

I've spent the last year searching the internet for material I can use on the site.  A lot of it is photographs from Wikimedia Commons, articles from Wikinews and the Voice of America, and various materials from the United States military.  Occasionally I would try to search for other sources, beyond the obvious uncopyrightable U.S. government and free licensed Wikipedia stuff.  After a year of searching, I have finally found it.

I searched with hundreds of terms on multiple search engines.  It was only when I created the Yahoo! Group for the Update and began browsing through the list of automotive Groups that I stumbled, quite accidentally, on the world of "free-reprint."  Free-reprint articles are found on sites that compile articles written by various authors and offer them for webmasters and publishers to use, provided that they abide by certian terms of use.

Mostly people write articles and include a link to their website at the bottom, or sometimes in the article, in hopes that the articles will be distributed and drive traffic to their website and the proliferation of links will help their Google rank.

From the publisher's point of view, so long as I can put up with linking to the author's website, and the occasionally cheesy way in which some of them try to work their links into the articles, I have a vast new pool of resources.  A lot of the articles are advice, how-tos, and information on insurance and financing, subjects that were not previously represented on the site in any meaningful way before.

Indy Month

The month of May, for open wheel racing in America, is pretty much dedicated to the run-up to the Indianapolis 500.  Last May, for me, involved posting a lot of information on the race, and as we get closer to this year's race, more Indy 500 material should go online.  I have a few ideas, and this could involve some of the most interesting material on the site yet.

NASCAR

My current project involves finishing the NASCAR Winston and Nextel Cup win lists for all drivers that won races in either series.  Once that's done, I'll be doing the same for the Busch Series and Craftsman Truck Series.  When it's all done, you'll be able to look up any NASCAR driver that won a race in any of the top 3 series and look up a list of all their wins, even if it was only one.

The Good Stuff

News:  Army Driver Continues Impressive Start, Finishes Third in Texas (2 photos)
News:  The Rapid Vehicle Motor Company (2006)
News:  NASCAR Popularity Quickly Attracts Job Seekers (Video-2005)
News:  How The Jeep Got It's Name (2005)
Photo:  Audi S8 (6)
Photo:  Chevrolet Camaro (35)
Photo:  Ferrari 166MM (2)
Photo:  Ford Consul (7)
Photo:  Nissan Skyline (27)
Photo:  Oldsmobile 442 (6)
Commentary:  Let's all stand up and give soaring gas prices a big hand of applause! (2005)
Commentary:  The Death Of The Muscle Car - My First Case (2006)
Commentary:  Grass Roots
Tech:  Demystifying The Tire Sidewall Code (2005)
Tech:  Tires, Your Most Essential Truck Accessory (2006)
How to:  Writing Off Vehicles as Tax Deductions (2005)