December 2015 – eLibrary Backstage

Important (and helpful!) updates coming to Hoopla and OverDrive!

Hoopla Digital and OverDrive have recently announced a few updates that will be extremely helpful to many patrons.

Here are the changes:

Hoopla is now available on Chromecast. Stream all of your favorite Hoopla movies and shows right to your TV! Using Chromecast, a device that plugs into the HDMI port on many TVs, patrons can cast borrowed video titles onto a larger screen right from the Hoopla App on their phone or tablet.
Hoopla is updating its iOS app. These updates will be available in the next few weeks.
- Content tabs will now appear on the main screen, which will allow for faster discovery and quicker access to content.
- The Browse feature will combine genres and collections and will assist patrons in finding all titles related to a collection of interest.
- A trending search feature will be added to show patrons the most relevant search terms. This will help make their searching easier!
- Quicker download speed in the iOS app! It will be easier for patrons to now when the download of a borrow item is complete.
- An updated favorites feature: Grouped by content kind an artist, making it easier to find.
- Updated help screen.
OverDrive will change “Bookshelf” on the OverDrive site to “Checkouts” on December 15. This is a major point of confusion that we covered in a previous post. This new update should alleviate the confusion between a user’s bookshelf on the website and their bookshelf in the OverDrive app.

Pam (Baldwin)

Do you want to:

Select Reads can do this and more!

Look for this logo/link on the right hand side of every NGC catalog page.

The tabs across the top of the Select Reads landing page link to the different services offered.

Monthly Newsletters – by age group, or topic of your choice
Featured Lists – curated by librarians across the county
My Select Reads – you select the specific set of topics you want
Awards Lists — every one of them!
New Titles – the latest additions to the catalog, by format, age group, or topic
Author Spotlight – read a biography, see their works

You can browse lists and follow the link back to check the catalog and title availability.

You can sign up to receive monthly newsletters on the newest additions by format or topics of your choice.

It’s a virtual library experience that’s easy and fun.

Try it out yourself and recommend it to your patrons!

Helen (Upper St. Clair)