Musical Chairs

The other day someone asked me if it was possible to move songs from the Freegal app onto a computer.  She knew it was possible to access the “recent downloads” feature, which offers the ability to re-download a previously downloaded song up to two more times within 2 weeks from the original download, but she was wondering about songs that had been downloaded directly to the Freegal app more than two weeks ago.

The answer is yes, although it’s a little clunky the first couple of times you try it.  Here’s what to do:

For iOS devices:

  • Plug your iOS device into your computer.
  • Open iTunes.  From “Devices” on the left side, click on your iOS device.
  • Select “Apps”  from the Settings menu in the left panel.
  • Scroll down until you see the File Sharing section in the main panel in iTunes.
  • Select the Freegal app.
  • Your song files will appear in a folder in the Freegal Music Documents box.
  • Either drag the file that contains the downloaded songs to your desktop or highlight the file and click the “Save to” button in the bottom right corner.
  • If you’d like, you can drag and drop the songs into iTunes (or anywhere you like).

For Android devices (I haven’t tested this yet, but a quick internet search turned up the steps above – thanks MCPL!):

  • Plug the device into your computer.
  • Navigate to the music file of the app.
  • Drag and drop songs onto your computer or into iTunes.

If anyone tries the Android process out and gets additional details please share in the comments.

Sarah (CLP)

Continue ReadingMusical Chairs

Playlists made simple…

When touting our digital resources to patrons, Freegal is one of the easiest to get excited about. For district libraries, Freegal is still a pretty new service and I notice many patrons are unaware they now have access to it. Recent upgrades also make Freegal an even better resource to highlight in any patron interaction. Mentioning that Freegal requires no software to download and no wait periods is a big plus for patrons, as well. Especially as new CDs in the physical collection often have long hold lists.

Navigation is available in standard English, as well as Spanish, French, and Italian. These options are available at the bottom of the page.

Searching has been made easier, as well. In one search query, an artist and song title can be combined so users can get to content faster.

The home page also highlights popular artists graphically with headshots displayed under the week’s top albums and singles.

There’s also a nice feature that shows our system’s top 10 and the top 10 across the United States. You can find these lists linked under Most Popular at the top of the page.

Also, be sure to check out the Genres page linked from the top of the screen. This really shows how wide-ranging Freegal’s offerings are: from Barbra Streisand to Arabic pop, there are music more than 100 countries represented!

Jeff (South Park)

Continue ReadingPlaylists made simple…

The Switch is Flipped!

hooplamosaic-01

 

 

Guess what!  Patrons can now select audio books as part (or all) of their monthly allotment of eight Hoopla titles.  No more fielding confused inquiries about why that format isn’t enabled.

The circulation period for audio books is 21 days.  As with the other formats (video and music), patrons can stream the content in their browser or use the Hoopla app to stream or download.

A link has been added to the countywide eResources landing page and the annotation has been updated. The changes are being made to the CLP website too.

In other Hoopla news, there is some exciting new video content available, including:

marilynkings speechiron lady

 

 

 

 

bruno  idiotbrotherbrooklyns finest

 

 

 

(I’ll watch anything with Paul Rudd or Don Cheadle.)

TAKE NOTE: Some of these newer movies have a loan period of two days rather than three.

I hope you and your patrons are enjoying Hoopla.  Feel free to share your favorite Hoopla content in the comments.

Sarah (CLP)

Continue ReadingThe Switch is Flipped!