TechBits

New look & name for the Digital Download Center

Yesterday our WPLC OverDrive site, the Digital Download Center, got an updated look and a new name: Wisconsin's Digital Library. The main page has a much cleaner appearance, and the left sidebar has been simplified. There is also a brand-new login process: the patron starts typing in their library name and the form continually autofills until the library is listed. It's not left-anchored—all letters are fair game. The library is clearly linked with its system, and systems are still listed, but are no longer needed for the log in.

Want to know more? Join Jean Anderson for an OverDrive Update webinar at 1:00 pm on May 1. Register here.

Many thanks to the WPLC/OverDrive Web Site Redesign Team:

• Evan Bend, Outagamie Waupaca Library System (and the OWLS graphic artist, Bradd)
• Melody Clair, Arrowhead Library System
• Jean Anderson, South Central Library System
• Inese Christman, Wisconsin Valley Library System

Guest Post - Turn your Nook into an Android tablet!

Guest post by Susan Santner, director of the Oregon Public Library
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We were on vacation visiting relatives, and my sister-in-law was telling us about the fabulous chip she ordered online that turned her color Nook into a tablet. We were intrigued. When we got home my husband ordered an N2A card for me. It arrived over the weekend. We installed the chip into the back of my color Nook, and now I have an Android tablet with access to Barnes & Noble, Kindle, both of my emails, the Internet and to what is now my husband's favorite game, Angry Birds.

There is a website: www.N2Acards.com. The chip cost about $45.00 for the extra memory option. It has been fun and an inexpensive way to get a tablet. I like to think of it as recycling.

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Note from SCLS: PC Magazine has a positive review of the card with additional information and slideshow.

Sign up for an OverDrive Support account

OverDrive now offers a Support Request Form that empowers library staff to contact OverDrive's Support Services team directly. We strongly encourage staff at SCLS member libraries to sign up for an account to use the form.

What's in it for you?

• Advice and troubleshooting tips directly from OverDrive staff
• Quick turnaround to assist patrons
• Complete and accurate information

How does the support form work?
The form for obtaining technical support is part of Content Reserve, a staff-only website provided by OverDrive. Support requests are submitted by logging in to the Content Reserve website and filling out
the form. OverDrive assigns a case number to each request and responds to library staff via email. Detailed information about using the support form (pdf).

What kind of requests can you make via the support form?

• Move holds and checkouts from an old barcode to a new barcode
• Adjust the hold list for a patron who missed their hold due to technology issues
• Provide steps to resolve a specific error message
• Answer "how to" and device/format compatibility questions
• And more!

How can you use responses you receive via the support form?

• Copy suggested steps into an email to the patron who needs assistance
• Use the suggested steps as your "script" for phoning the patron

What about the WPLC Support Request Form?
The WPLC Support Request Form is still available for patrons and librarians. If WPLC Support doesn't know the answer to the question, they also use OverDrive's support form to get help. Bypassing the WPLC form and using OverDrive's support form yourself may eliminate that extra step.

What about calling someone at SCLS?
We can't beat OverDrive Support at having all the answers! (Like WPLC Support, I turn to OverDrive’s support form when I can’t solve an issue on my own.) And we can’t always be at our desks when you call. OverDrive Support has multiple people dedicated to providing timely, reliable answers to your questions.

Sign up!
Request an account for your library, your branch, or yourself. SCLS will coordinate getting the accounts and provide training.

Guest Post: Penguin Group Kindle books from OverDrive don't work with the Kindle app

This guest post is from Sarah Carlson, Reference Librarian at Stoughton Public Library.

I have had a few interactions with patrons over the last couple days regarding OverDrive and the Kindle app. In a nutshell, if you have an iPad, or other device on which you are running the Kindle app, and you don't own a Kindle device, you will run into problems downloading books published by Penguin Group. Penguin has now made it so in order to transfer their books via OverDrive you need to connect your Kindle to a PC and transfer via USB cable. When you are taken to the Amazon page, where usually you just hit "Get library book," it now gives you a message something to this effect.

You can tell when you are browsing the books who the publishing company is, but the publisher is not mentioned in your list of "checked out" items. It is also hard to look the books up in Amazon to find the publisher because it gives specific imprints and might not say "Penguin Group." So, it is best to either steer clear of these while browsing for your books in OverDrive if you are using a tablet or PC that has the Kindle app -or- download the free OverDrive app and then choose the EPUB or PDF version and read with the OverDrive app. FYI there is no way for SCLS or OverDrive to change a Kindle copy to a EPUB/PDF once a patron has it checked out. OverDrive Support recommends returning the title and placing a new hold on the EPUB/PDF format.

New OverDrive Help website

OverDrive has rolled out a new, searchable OverDrive Help website to make it easier for you to assist patrons with downloadable ebooks & audiobooks. The site contains hundreds of newly-written help articles covering how to use Digital Download Center eBooks, audiobooks, music and video on different devices and platforms.

Articles contain screenshots, software download links and links to related articles. Each article can be printed, emailed or shared via Facebook, Twitter and other sites using the 'Share this page' button available at the top of most pages. (I've already shared the guide for "Getting Started with a Nook" with a patron—finally, a tidy landing page with clear steps and links to more information!)

You can find the OverDrive Help website by clicking the "Help" link in the upper right corner of the Digital Download Center.

Upsetting changes for Penguin titles in OverDrive collections

The friendly little bird in the Penguin Group logo is not so friendly to public library users today. Penguin will no longer supply ebooks and audiobooks for lending through OverDrive, and the lending process for already-purchased Penguin ebooks in OverDrive collections has become more restrictive for Kindle users. From an email from OverDrive posted at InfoDocket:

Starting tomorrow (February 10, 2012), Penguin will no longer offer additional copies of eBooks and download audiobooks for library purchase. Additionally, Penguin eBooks loaned for reading on Kindle devices will need to be downloaded to a computer then transferred to the device over USB. For library patrons, this means Penguin eBooks will no longer be available for over-the-air delivery to Kindle devices or to Kindle apps.

We are continuing to talk to Penguin about their future plans for eBook and digital audiobook availability for library lending.

Source: Penguin Group Terminating Its Contract with OverDrive

Wondering how other librarians are planning to break the news to patrons? The Librarian in Black and Librarian by Day blogs have some suggestions.

 

New features in OverDrive mobile app

This week OverDrive blogged that the latest version of OverDrive Media Console (v2.4) for Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone includes new features for returning audiobooks as well as eBooks and finding definitions while reading using dictionary lookup. (Maybe having dictionary lookup at my fingertips will help me finish the unabridged version of The Count of Monte Cristo faster?)

Patrons with OverDrive Media Console already installed will get a notification that an update is available. OMC v2.4 for iOS —iPhone, iPad, iPod touch—will have early audiobook returns and dictionary lookup for iOS v4.0 (or newer) available soon.

Some other ebook-related items caught my eye this week:

• Free webinar Feb. 28 11am-noon: "Lending eReaders: What Libraries Need to Know" - Panelists will discuss best practices in loaning eReaders to library customers, provided by Idaho Commission for Libraries and Washington State Library. (One of many interesting programs recommended in Winnefox Library System's Library Sparks blog.)
• Ebook Talks: The Details - A summary of the recent meetings an ALA delegation held with members of the publishing industry. My jaw hit the floor at the mention of publishers' misconceptions about library lending. (Thanks to Sara Gold for mentioning this via the WPLC email list.)
• Freading Ebook Library from Library Ideas, LLC - "Swiss Army Librarian" Brian Herzog reports on his library's consideration of the Freading ebook service and how its library lending model works. (Short answer—very differently from OverDrive's!)

A collection of Kindle links

I don't actually *have* a Kindle....but I do run across lots of Kindle-related resources.

Here are a few I thought might be of interest:

• Code4lib: So you want to start a Kindle lending program
• FreewareGenius: The Big List of Free Kindle Tools
• Tame The Web: Hack a Kindle* - all about reading PDFs on the Kindle.
  (Thanks to Trish for this suggestion!)
• David Smith: InstaPaper on the Kindle - use InstaPaper to deliver web articles to your Kindle.
• TechStudy.Net: Top Amazon Kindle tips and tricks
• David Smith: Kindle Reading Lights - review of some Kindle light options for reading the Kindle 4 in low-light conditions.

How are you using your Kindle? What are your favorite Kindle tips, resources, or features?

More OverDrive Stats

Remember this post from last August that discussed some of the OverDrive stats from our Jan-July 2011 comparison spreadsheet?  In it, we had projected possible totals for 2011 usage and compared 2010 stats with those projected 2011 numbers.

Well... you may be interested to see the actual 2011 totals. Turns out almost all libraries exceeded the projections!

Each spreadsheet has 4 pages (tabs at the bottom):

• 2010 totals by library (ebooks, eaudio, video, totals)
• 2011 totals by library (ebooks, eaudio, evideo, totals) 
• Comparison by library (with % increase for each of the above)
• System Statistics

Whaddya think of that?!

SCLS's Gadgets for you

Did you know South Central Library System has several different kinds of gadgets your library can check out? For instance, if you are interested in purchasing an e-Book reader and don’t know which one you would like, you can reserve some though SCLS to try them out. This way you can see them in person and figure out what features you like and dislike before spending your hard earned cash.

We have several devices to choose from ranging from the popular iPad, e-Readers, Flip video cameras, and wireless laptop labs to mp3 players and digital cameras.

To make a reservation visit our home page and click Equipment under Programming Resources. Select the gadget(s) you want and fill out the request form. If you want to reserve the wireless lab the registration form for them is at the top of the equipment page. You may want to plan a few months in advance of requesting the more popular items as some are reserved out that far.

It’s a great way to get familiar with the devices your patrons are asking you about.