Services available to laptop users at EVPL libraries

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:31:00 GMT

Do you have a laptop? Bring it in on your next visit to the EVPL to take advantage of the following services!

Wireless Internet Access

Wireless internet access (aka Wi-Fi) is available for free at all locations. If your laptop has a wireless network card (odds are that it does), you'll simply need to enable it and connect to the "evpl-public" network.

Wireless internet access is compatible with Windows & Mac laptops, and most portable devices containing a Wi-Fi radio (such as cellphones, PDAs, etc). Check out our Wireless Internet Access page for step-by-step instructions on connecting with your specific operating system.

Wired Internet Access

If your laptop doesn't have wireless capabilities, wired internet access is also available at all locations. Bring an ethernet cable with you and ask a staff member for assistance. Wired internet access is compatible with Windows & Mac laptops.

Laptop Printing

A service we just recently added, laptop users can now print to library printers while at any EVPL location! By running a small print client from our website, library printers at the user's current location will appear on their laptop just like locally-connected printers would. Upon printing from the laptop, the print job can be paid for & retrieved from any Print Release Station at the user's current location.

Laptop printing is compatible with Windows laptops; Mac compatibility is not available. Check out our Laptop Printing page for step-by-step instructions on using the Mobile Print Client on your laptop. As the Mobile Print Client is only available on personal laptops used within the library, the "Launch Mobile Print Client" button is purposely disabled on all other computers.

With the increasing popularity of laptops, netbooks, and other connected portable devices, we're pleased to offer these connectivity options to our users. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please post them in the comments section below!

OverDrive @ EVPL now Mac compatible!

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:31:00 GMT

OverDrive @ EVPL is a collection of downloadable materials (including audiobooks, eBooks, movies, & music) available free of charge to all EVPL cardholders. Since launch, patrons with Windows PCs have been downloading countless items from this digital collection...unforunately, Mac users were out of luck.

That is no more, as a Mac version of the OverDrive Media Console (the software required to download items) has just been released! Mac users can now download MP3 audiobooks and transfer them to iPods.

Unfortunately, there are a couple caveats for Mac users:

OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks are the ONLY compatible format available for Mac users. OverDrive WMA Audiobooks, OverDrive Music, & OverDrive Video all use Microsoft-based DRM and therefore are not compatible with Macs. Unless Apple were to license this DRM, which is very unlikely, these formats will never be playable on Macs.
OverDrive Media Console (aka OMC) for Macs can only transfer content to Apple iPods. Transferring to a MP3 player/portable device other than an iPod requires the Windows version of OMC, which only runs on Windows-based PCs.
OMC is unable to transfer content to the iPod Shuffle. Owners of these devices can transfer content to their device using iTunes.
Windows users with iPods will continue to use the Windows version of OMC to transfer content to their device. The Windows version of OMC is also compatible with a wide variety of additional devices, including the Microsoft Zune, Creative Zen series, and more.

Visit OverDrive @ EVPL, browse our collection, install the required software, and download to your heart's content! If you have any questions about the recently-added Mac compatibility, or if you have any questions/comments about OverDrive in general, please post them in the comments section below or contact us via Ask EVPL.

More Information

OverDrive @ EVPL: Visit our OverDrive site to start downloading our digital materials!
What is OverDrive?: Check out this guided tour of OverDrive to discover what it is and how to use it.
Compatible Portable Devices: A list of compatible portable media players that can be transferred to using the Windows version of OMC.

Research Blog : mac

Services available to laptop users at EVPL libraries

Wireless Internet Access

Wired Internet Access

Laptop Printing

OverDrive @ EVPL now Mac compatible!