Books Blog : audiobooks, MP3 players

Recently added bestsellers available for download

Meditatinglibrarian@evpl — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 13:56:00 GMT

We've recently added the following bestseller titles to our OverDrive collection:

WMA audiobook format - Brass Verdict, Christmas Grace, The Fire, Here's the Story, Mother Angelica's private & pithy lessons, Shadow Factory, Tried by War, Wallflower Christmas, Bones, Against Medical Advice, Cross Country, Dark Summer, Divine Justice, Gate House, Longest Trip Home, Rough Weather, Salvation in Death, Testimony (Shreve), American Lion, Buyology, Call Me Ted, Ender in Exile, Every Now and Then, Gold Coast, Good Woman, John Lennon, A Mercy, Swallowing Darkness, Ten Roads to Riches, Too Fat to Fish

Juvie WMA audiobook format- The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, Paper Towns, Inkdeath, Nation, Runaway Dolls

eBooks (PDF and MobiPocket formats) - Wicked, Who, Shadow Factory, Lion Among Men, The Fire, Christmas Grace, Bones, Longest Trip Home, Time of My Life, American Lion, Buyology, Cold Pursuit, Destiny Kills, Gears of War: Aspho Fields, Gold Coast, Graveyard Book, Nation, Rigged, Suite 606, Swallowing Darkness, Ultimate Weapon, World According to Bertie

There were no new MP3-format audiobooks available to purchase. This continues to be frustrating, especially now that OverDrive has released their OverDrive Media Console for Macs (see ProfessorKnows-It-All's blog post). Nora Rawlinson, who was a Library Journal editor editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly for 12 years, recently posted about this issue in her EarlyWord blog:

Unfortunately, there are fewer titles available from OverDrive in Mac's MP3 format than there are in the Microsoft format (Windows Media Audio, or WMA), which is often difficult to explain to library customers.

In order to make titles available in MP3, publishers must be willing to offer titles without Digital Rights Management software (the software that puts limits on how the audio can be used). This is because Apple software can only read titles encrypted with Apple's DRM, available exclusively on titles downloaded through iTunes and Audible. Thus, OverDrive cannot encrypt DRM on titles in MP3 format the way they can titles in the Windows format.

Many publishers have been reluctant to give up DRM for fear of piracy (true, publishers don't seem overly worried that CD's can be ripped and downloaded, but that takes a bit more effort). Random House recently made their titles DRM-free, so they could be sold to iPod users through more vendors than Audible and iTunes. However, they specifically excluded libraries from this arrangement, because, they said in their press release, without DRM, there's no way to limit "borrowing privileges."

Until Apple makes its DRM software available to other vendors, or until all publishers make their titles available DRM free to libraries, you will have to continue to try to explain why iPod users can only download a limited number of titles.

Digital Bookmobile visits Fall Festival this Friday!

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 21:10:00 GMT

As part of a nationwide tour, the Digital Bookmobile, a 74-foot state-of-the-art tractor-trailer, will be visiting the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival on Friday, October 10, 10:30am to 6:00pm. Visit the Bookmobile, at the northwest corner of the Lloyd & St. Joe, to find out more about the EVPL's recently-revamped OverDrive collection: featuring downloadable audiobooks, eBooks, video, and music!

OverDrive Media Specialists will be on-hand to lead visitors through the various rooms of the bus. You'll learn how to browse our collection of digital titles; download & play audiobooks, eBooks, & videos; and get hands-on time with compatible MP3 players. If you own an MP3 player, bring it; you'll receive personal instructions on transferring titles to it!

Full information can be viewed on the event page. See you Friday on the bookmobile!

More Information

Event Page: View all the details, including info about the different areas of the Bookmobile.
OverDrive @ EVPL: Our revamped OverDrive collection launched last week. In addition to the downloadable WMA audiobooks we previously offered, we now offer downloadable MP3 audiobooks, videos, & music!
DigitalBookmobile.com: OverDrive's official website of the Digital Bookmobile. Find out more about their nationwide tour and upcoming tour stops.

MP3 Players for Downloadable Audiobooks

Meditatinglibrarian@evpl — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:16:00 GMT

As the Library moves towards providing more materials as downloadables, questions about devices to play them on arise. We can't recommend devices, but we can point folks towards reviews and recommendations by others. On our OverDrive site, you can find a list of compatible devices. The editors at cNet.com also recently (August 18, 2008) had an article, Library-worthy MP3 players and review dates. Because publishers have concerns about pirating downloadable files, most insist upon Digital Rights Management (DRM) as part of any downloadable files available through the Library. This means that any device you use for these downloads needs to be Windows Media DRM compatible. Recently a few publishers have loosened their rules and a few MP3 format audiobooks are now available, so long as one agrees to follow copyright rules in using them. Those titles can be used on the non-DRM-compatible devices, such as Mac computers and Apple iPods. The Library has purchased a number of these MP3-format audiobooks, and they will be available as soon as our OverDrive site is redesigned. We'll also be adding some video downloads and a few music downloads at that time.

The OverDrive Digital Bookmobile will be at Central Library October 10, 2008, from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. See a demonstration of how to download materials, test the compatibility of your MP3-player(s), browse the Library's downloadable holdings, and actually check-out and download something.