Help Is Always Good

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but when it comes to just about anything computer-related I can use all the assistance, explication and insight I can find. So you can imagine how happy I was (and how happy your customers will be) to see that the folks at OverDrive have significantly improved their help pages.

Just to be clear, I’m not talking about the equally useful help page we’ve created that you can get to by clicking on Need Help??  (Though it is great to know that there’s all kinds of help available, up to and including a friendly voice on the phone.)

To get to the updated OverDrive Help you’ll need to go to click on Digital Media Help which appears in two places on the OverDrive page, under “Getting Started” on the left and as one of the tabs in the upper right quadrant of the screen.

The six buttons on the help page offer a variety of avenues to users looking for assistance in downloading e-resources. Breaking the information into these six categories makes it much easier to focus in on a specific problem.  And the pages that open up are easier to search which means that finding help is easier too.

The first option, OverDrive Help  provides a wide overview from relevant topics to particular devices to most popular articles.   The second link, MyHelp, takes users to the customized information about how to read, listen to or watch each specific format.

From button number three, Device Resource Center users are taken to an almost dizzying array of the devices on which e-resources can be accessed.  The option of narrowing one’s quest for information by both device and format makes it much easier to sort through all the information and arrive at a better understanding of how things work.

Digital Books Tour the next option on the list, is perfect for aural and visual learners.  Brief video tutorials review basics like how to install the necessary software as well as explanations of how to search for titles and place holds.

Next comes Library Lending Policies which links back to our guidelines on how many items can be borrowed at one time, how to cancel holds in our system, and what to do if you get a new library card.

And last but not least comes Support which offers the opportunity to pose specific questions to our staff via email.

So even if you don’t need help yourself, take a tour of the new and improved help offered by OverDrive.  Your patrons are going to love it—which means you’re going to love it too.

Lisa, Coordinator of Children’s Collection (CLP)

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Don

    Thanks for pointing this out and walking through it step by step. Very helpful.

    Don

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