Downloadables

More to Stream…

You may have noticed that streaming video compatibility was added to our OverDrive site this week. Over 400 of our OverDrive videos are now available to stream.

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The best part about this change is that streaming video is compatible with many more devices than its predecessor, WMV. The streaming format will work in any web browser with HTML5 support (most major browsers). In addition, patrons using the latest version of the OverDrive app will see the option to stream their video within the app, making OverDrive video compatible with most mobile devices.

Browsing, searching, and borrowing will all remain the same.

The OverDrive help pages offer more information about getting started with streaming video.

It is important to remind patrons that streaming video is likely to consume a lot of data, so they may want to be connected to wifi when streaming. (And don’t forget to recommend Hoopla to anyone looking for a  larger selection of streaming – and downloadble! – video.)

The introduction of streaming video is good news for device compatibility, but it also means that the WMV format will soon be eliminated. In addition to WMV, OverDrive plans to sunset the WMA format. Starting on March 3, 2015 only streaming video and MP3 audiobooks will be available in OverDrive. The Digital Resources Committee will be discussing what this means for our patrons and our collections at our upcoming meeting on February 3rd. We’ll be sure to share important information about this topic in a future post.

Charmaine (CLP)

Continue ReadingMore to Stream…

‘Tis the Holiday Season!

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Get your users into the holiday spirit and share a reminder that your digital collection is available even when the library is closed. Are all your books on holiday baking checked out? Need some materials to read while waiting at the airport for your weather-delayed plane? Going on a long road trip? Don’t forget the sleighful of downloadable materials, many of which are immediately available.

Wrapping gifts? Use Freegal and type in search term “Christmas” to retrieve all types of Christmas music. Download Christmas tunes by Tropical Steel Band to get you in a festive mood. Or Perry Como’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”.

Don’t want to put on your boots to get a holiday dvd? With Hoopla, you can get instant dvd’s. See the categories of “Festive Holiday Flicks and “Holidays with a Heart”. Hoopla also has holiday music.

Going on a long road trip to grandma’s house? Use OverDrive to download audiobooks to keep everyone entertained.

OverDrive also provides downloadable marketing for their collection. Check out their Winter Promo Pack for fun holiday social media graphics, print-ready flyers to display, and promotional materials.*

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Need some light reading to wile away the time spent waiting in an airport lounge? Don’t forget to use Zinio to download the latest edition of your favorite magazine.

And, best of all, It’s all FREE!!

Karen (Northland)

* Hoopla, Freegal, Zinio and OneClick all have marketing materials too!  Questions about getting print marketing materials? Contact Sarah Beasley for more information.

Continue Reading‘Tis the Holiday Season!

Newsstand News

WOW!! There are some great additions to the Zinio magazine offerings. Titles such as Architectural Digest, Glamour, Bon Appetit, The Atlantic, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired and more are now available.  New titles will soon be featured on the first few pages of our Zinio magazine collection.

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Unfortunately, we are also losing access to a few titles, including Ladies Home Journal and Publisher’s Weekly.  Back issues of all discontinued titles will continue to be available.  If you’d like to see a complete list of all new and discontinued titles, check here.

There are a few other changes as well.  You may have noticed that patrons are now be required to select their home library. New users, as well and patrons with an existing Zinio account, will be prompted to select their home library from a drop-down list.  They will only be asked to do this once.

Perhaps the best news of all is that the process of logging into Zinio promises to be streamlined soon.  There will be a single sign-on rather than the current (somewhat confusing) process that has users registering on both the library and the commercial site. Stay tuned for further updates!

Lynne (Sewickley)

Continue ReadingNewsstand News

Anatomy of a Big Library Read

Remember the Big Library Read?  It’s OverDrive’s “global ebook club.”  Offered several times a year for a two week period, the Big Library Read offers unlimited simultaneous access to a specific title.  This time the selected title will be displayed prominently on our OverDrive site(s) from Oct. 13 – 28, 2014.

The latest Big Library Read comes just in time for Teen Read Week, a national adolescent literacy initiative created by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).  Teen Read Week, running from Oct. 12 – 18th, “began in 1998 and is held annually during the third week of October. Its purpose is to encourage teens to be regular readers and library users.”  Fittingly, the upcoming Big Library Read features a YA title, Anatomy of a Misfit by Andrea Portes.

anatomyofamisfitAccording to the annotation on our OverDrive site: In this Mean Girls meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower tale, narrator Anika Dragomir is the third most popular girl at Pound High School. But inside, she knows she’s a freak; she can’t stop thinking about former loner Logan McDonough, who showed up on the first day of tenth grade hotter, bolder, and more mysterious than ever. Logan is fascinating, troubled and off-limits. The Pound High queen bee will make Anika’s life hell if she’s seen with him. So Anika must choose–ignore her feelings and keep her social status? Or follow her heart and risk becoming a pariah. Which will she pick? And what will she think of her choice when an unimaginable tragedy strikes, changing her forever? An absolutely original new voice in YA in a story that will start important conversations–and tear at your heart.

Anatomy is already available as an ebook (Kindle, EPUB, and OverDrive Read formats) on our site following the single copy/single user model. The audiobook will become available during the Big Library Read program.  Remember, during those two weeks (Oct. 13 – 28) both formats will be available for unlimited simultaneous use.  After the program both formats will continue to be available, but will revert to the single copy/single user model.

teenreadingroomWe’ll also be launching our new Teen eReading Room just in time for this YA-focused Big Library Read.  You may have noticed that this new specialized site is already available from our main OverDrive site via a graphic (at left).  We’re working on getting a direct link to this site up on the countywide eResources page and various CLP pages.  In the meantime, you can let patrons know about this new site and encourage them to access it from our main OverDrive site.

For those of you who link directly to e-resources, please add the new Teen eReading Room where appropriate.  You can find the graphic above, as well as individual graphics for the Kids eReading Room and Teen eReading Room by accessing the eReading Room Marketing Kit.  You’ll also find additional promotional materials such as Facebook graphics and print-ready materials.

If you want to promote the Big Library Read there is a Marketing Kit for that too!

Charmaine (CLP)

Continue ReadingAnatomy of a Big Library Read