Downloadable Audiobooks

The Wall Street journal writes about a proposed eBook settlement in theFTC's threatened lawsuit.

Google will stop selling eBooks through Independent Booksellers.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project just did a report on eBooks that reveals that eBook readers are more likely to buy books.

Overdrive rolled out a new Help Section on February 14th. The expanded section is under the Help link on the upper right hand side of the page.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the new section, go explore. The section is much more detailed for each step of the process. There's also a search option to help find help for an exact topic. I'm personally excited by the addition of screen shots to the help area. If you have any questions about the new help section, let me know.

As part of Penguin's recent decision to cease selling eBooks to libraries, it is no longer possible to download Penguin titles wirelessly to mobile devices via the Kindle app.  Such titles must be downloaded to a PC and transferred to the device via USB cable.  As far as I know, OverDrive's Help provides no specific information on this situation.  There have been numerous recent articles posted online about this situation for those wishing further information:

• Ebook Publishers Want Library Borrowing to Be Difficult--PC World
• Penguin halts over-the-air Kindle borrowing again, this time it's serious--Engadget

Following on the heels of their decision in November to stop selling many of their eBooks to libraries, Penguin has announced that they are no longer selling eBooks of any kind to libraries via OverDrive.

Before the new policy went into effect today, SELCO staff purchased a large number of Penguin books for our OverDrive collection. That will be the last addition of Penguin titles to the collection unless something changes at the publisher.

SELCO will continue to monitor the situation and we'll publish further updates as appropriate.

Penguin Severs Ties with OverDrive

After this month of bad news for publishers and Overdrive, at least one publisher that's not in Overdrive is reconsidering that position.

• For better or worse, predictions are officially coming in that Amazon will be jumping in the library lending game soon, too.
• Did you know that someone buys a romance novel every 5 seconds and that its one of the leading genres in eBook sales?
• Amazon's lending service is increasing sales for authors, not decreasing it as publishers seem to have claimed.
• The top 5 pirated books are available in Overdrive.
• Amazon made a deal for print copies of their books.
• Nancy Pearl is partnering with Amazon.
• Amazon is having some problems with pirating.
• eBooks have out-sold print on the USA Today Bestseller List
  

I just got an e-mail containing the following information:

Effective immediately, Penguin Group has suspended the availability of download audiobook titles for library purchase across all vendors. This change does not affect any Penguin audiobook titles currently in your library's catalog. Your library will be able to purchase additional copies of titles released before 11/14/2011. However, titles released after this date and new releases will not be available, per instruction from the publisher.

If you have questions or comments, please contact Erica Glass at Penguin Group directly: Erica.glass@us.penguingroup.com.  

I'm not sure if this is related to Penguin's recent issues with Kindle books.

I received the following in an e-mail this morning, announcing that this new feature will be implemented tomorrow:

'Recommend to Library' Manager (RTL) for Patron Drive Acquisition:

With the 'WIN' Catalog (opt-in), users will be able to view and recommend titles from publishers' entire catalogs; even titles the library has not yet purchased. This patron-driven acquisition tool will be controlled by the 'Recommend to Library' (RTL) Manager. With 'RTL' Manager, you can measure readers' interest and either manually select title by title or automatically purchase the most requested titles not already in your collection. You can also set variables to control the number and frequency of requests per patron.

I have no further details at this time. I will follow up tomorrow with more information as I have it.

Brilliance Audio will no longer be available through Overdrive. Overdrive released the following information:

January 31, 2012, as instructed by the publisher, BrillianceAudio will suspend the availability of all download audiobook titles for library purchase across all vendors. This change does not affect any titles currently in your library's catalog. You will not, however, be able to add any additional copies. If you have questions or comments, you can reach BrillianceAudio directly at AskSales@brillianceaudio.com or 800.648.2312.

I had already noticed some sluggishness with the Overdrive site, but I got an e-mail from Overdrive that confirms that people are hitting their site pretty hard right now. It reads:

Dear Library Partner,  

This message is to inform you that we are experiencing extremely high traffic at some of our hosted library websites which may result in reduced performance. Our network engineers are actively working on this situation during this peak period.

We will keep you notified on any issues that may affect service.

Regards,   

OverDrive Library Partner Services

While the delay I experienced certainly wouldn't have prevented me from using the site, and the numbers I posted earlier indicate that it's not keeping patrons from checking out either, it might help to notify any new users that the experience is usually much quicker. 

I can officially say it's happening. While we had slighly higher numbers (both in new registrations and in circulation) after Black Friday, it appears that most people were indeed purchasing those eReaders at steep discounts for altruistic reasons instead of selfish ones. I'm writing this on Monday at around 7:00, and we already have 170 new registrations on Christmas Day and today (though the numbers are continuing to climb), and we've circulated 466 items in that same period. For perspective, that's a 50% growth over an average two day period, and our previous record for circulation in a single day was 176 items.

I should also note that we would've hit a record week last week even without the extra high Sunday numbers, so we were holding tight to existing patrons as well. Again, if your library would like to schedule an eBook roadshow, it's likely you will have some patrons that might be interested, so go ahead and call the HelpDesk.

I just received an e-mail from Overdrive containing the following information:

This message is to inform you that Adobe Activation services experienced unexpected downtime which affected new device registration and support. We received confirmation from Adobe that Adobe Activation is now fully online.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

If you have any users mention difficulty with Adobe this weekend, it might be helpful to let them know they weren't alone, and that they may want to try again.

As promised, Overdrive has rolled out the Overdrive WIN platform. Instead of Library BIN, library users can now select from Amazon, Books on Board, or Powell Books for items they'd like to purchase. SELCO will continue to earn a percentage on those purchases.

It's up on the Overdrive blog. I have to admit that I'm a little frustrated with how vague the response actually is. Gary Price, author of InfoDocket, agrees in a blog post. In the meantime, I think the most even-handed post about the whole debacle is at the Analog Divide.  They mention that Overdrive isn't particularly more or less evil than other vendors, just that the model itself might not scale well to our real-world libraries.

If you've missed it, the Librarian in Black has a new blog post up talking about how Overdrive restricts items from their library catalog. While this particular post is provacative and should influence further discussions about eBook rights, the salient points for SELCO Overdrive users are:

• We are currently seeing the full range of titles
• We haven't been issuing access to reciprocal borrowing, so we don't except our access to change.

For more updates, check back here or at InfoDocket, which promises comment from Overdrive ASAP.

Overdrive has sent out the following message to anyone who has purchased materials from the LibraryBIN site:

Dear LibraryBIN Customer,

As of January 3, 2012 the LibraryBIN site will be discontinued.  We are
contacting you so that you have the opportunity to download and archive the
titles you have purchased.  After February 29, 2012 titles will no longer be
available for download from this site.

We encourage you to continue supporting your local library through
purchasing content from affiliated on-line retailers. Please visit your
library's virtual branch for more information.  If your library doesn't
offer affiliate support please encourage them to consider it!

We appreciate your patronage, and we regret any inconvenience this may cause
you.

Sincerely,
The LibraryBIN Team

Overdrive will be transitioning the current LibraryBIN experience to OverDrive’s WIN “Buy It Now” option in the coming month.  For a preview of the “Buy It Now” option, search the Overdrive catalog at the New York Public Library (http://ebooks.nypl.org) or Free Library of Philadelphia (http://freelibrary.lib.overdrive.com).

Both of these sites feature Amazon and Books On Board as options. At September User Group, I promised that we'd be able to link it up with IndieBound members. I asked Overdrive Support and they wrote back to say they are continuing to work on the technical requirements to make it work.

SELCO has already had its first inquiry about how what percent of our collection is Penguin titles. We currently have 560 Penguin titles, meaning that roughly 17% of our collection is from Penguin.

How many of these are new releases or Bestsellers? Enough titles fit these categories that I'm concered about our ability to meet patron needs in the future.  For example, The Help, The Next Always (Nora Roberts), The Killing Floor (Lee Child), and Shock Wave (John Sandford) were all new titles published by Penguin. Our collection will be significantly affected if we are no long able to acquire such titles.

Update that makes this last paragraph less relevant: Kindle borrowing has been restored.

More importantly, I've been trying to expand our collection with some series titles, including the Cat Who, FBI Thiller, In Death, Arcane Society, Anna Pigeon, Kay Scarpetta, and Stone Barrington series. (We already own all of the Prey series and Jack Reacher series that were available.) These titles have gotten significant circulation as patrons seem willing to reread the series from the beginning. So far, most of the backlist for the series are be available for continued purchasing. However, as the announcement indicates, any of these titles will only be available in EPUB and PDF formats. So I ask you, the staff working directly with the patrons, should we continue to expand these series or should I look to series that will be available to our Kindle users? Please leave a comment or send a message to overdrive@selco.info the and the Collection Content Selection Committee will take your feedback into account as we move forward.

Donovan asked me to call OverDrive support about Penguin's Kindle eBooks and how they are dealing with loans and requests made to these titles.  Here are my findings:

• Any patron with a Penguin title currently checked out will be able to access the eBook until the loan expires.  Once the expiration date hits, the book will no longer be available in the Kindle-format.
• Patron requests for Penguin's eBook titles will keep their place in the queue, regardless of the format chosen when the request was placed.  Patrons who have requested the Kindle-format eBook will be given the option to check out either an epub or pdf version of the title instead of the Kindle when it is their turn.

OverDrive, the company that supplies eBooks for SELCO (and most other libraries offering eBooks), has announced that Penguin has withdrawn permission to loan many of their titles through libraries. Titles affected by this decision are:

• All new titles for all platforms (Nook, iPad, etc.)
• All titles for Kindle

To summarize, the only Penguin titles we can purchase and loan now are titles already purchased for non-Kindle eBook readers.  Anything that is new or for the Kindle are no longer available for us to purchase and loan.

The library world is just beginning to react to this abrupt and disappointing development.  Here are a few links for those who want to follow this developing story:

• OverDrive's rather short announcement on Monday, November 21, 2011
• Penguin Group USA to No Longer Allow Lilbrary Lending of New Ebook Titles--Library Journal's Digital Shift blog
• This Deal Is Getting Worse All the Time--the Library Renewal blog

SELCO is monitoring the situation and will send out new information as it becomes available.

Chistopher Harris at the EContent blog on American Libraries' site has more details about the Amazon lending program. Most telling is what Amazon will actually be able to lend, as outlined in the quote below:

Coverage from the Wall Street Journal is even more revealing. “None of the six largest publishers in the U.S. is participating. Several senior publishing executives said recently they were concerned that a digital-lending program of the sort contemplated by Amazon would harm future sales of their older titles or damage ties to other book retailers,” the newspaper reported November 3. It seems that Amazon is faring little better than we are in working to secure lending rights from the big six publishers. Though I am not always the biggest fan of OverDrive, this clearly shows that the work Steve Potash and OverDrive put in to secure the limited lending rights that the library vendor has are not to be dismissed lightly.



Greetings!  I know a handful of public libraries are planning OverDrive training sessions for patrons.  An OverDrive Training Session Flyer template has been created for you to use if you’d like.  Please click here to access the template -- it is a Microsoft Publisher file, so let us know if you are having issues opening and/or editing the document to fit your needs.  This template has also been posted to the Downloadable Audiobooks page on the SELCO website – just click on the Training and Promotional Materials tab and scroll to the Promotional Materials header at the bottom of the page.  Happy Training!

As documented in these news articles, Amazon is introducing a library lending program. It's good for slow readers, but more active readers might need more than one book a month. Amazon does have access to titles not available though Overdrive at this point. Additionally, this program will not be available through Kindle Apps.

The Wall Street article actually mentions Overdrive and has an interview with a librarian. The PC Magazine article mentions some of the titles that will be available.

While no one is happier about more users being able to access Overdrive than I am, there's a number of librarians who have begun to question the details of Kindle arrangement. One of the best summations comes from Bobbie Newman, at her Librarian By Day blog. Bobbie Newman has lots of great links to other librarian's comments as well. If you're willing to take on something more risque, you can look up the Librarian in Black's more opinionated post.

As of Friday, there has been two new formats available in Overdrive: Open EPUB and Open PDF.  These open formats are Overdrive's attempt to move toward a more open standard. At this point, the open format doesn't change that much for users: these items are still one item, one user. Currently, there are only 4 items available in the SELCO Overdrive catalog that can be checked out in the Open EPUB format.

The advanced search page has changed as follows:

 
 
And you can see how the format otpions will change on a results page. The Open EPUB and Open PDF formats do appear at the end of the format options, so patrons shouldn't be too thrown off.

I know that library staff in the region and library experts are already thinking about what eBook mean for the future of libraries and for our patrons, but this Slate article is a good starting point for the rest of us.

We've had 16 checkouts of Kindle versions of titles already! For a basic set of screenshots of the download process for Kindle, I've created a document.

I'll let you read the the entire press release, but the summary is that Kindle will be available to all libraries (including SELCO) by the end of the week. 

OverDrive and Amazon launch Kindle® compatibility with Library eBooks

Public and school libraries to reach millions of new readers with industry-leading eBook reader

(Cleveland, Ohio) - September 21, 2011 - In a move highly anticipated since its initial announcement in April, public libraries and schools in the U.S. can now lend eBooks for the Amazon® Kindle.  OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) announced today that it has begun adding Kindle compatibility to all of the U.S. public and school libraries in its network and expects to have all sites updated within days.  This is a very significant step in a series of OverDrive WIN platform enhancements to streamline user experience and help libraries meet the increased demand for eBooks.

OverDrive, the leading multichannel digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks and other digital content, supplies 15,000 public and school libraries worldwide and more than 11,000 in the U.S.  To see if your local library is a member of the OverDrive network, visit OverDrive Search.  

"Kindle compatibility will allow public and school libraries to serve millions of new readers and extend their valuable community role while providing an outstanding reading experience," said Steve Potash, CEO of OverDrive.  "This addition helps public libraries accelerate their drive to become the first online stop for eBooks, where visitors can browse, discover and sample new and popular titles and authors in virtually all subjects."

The process for borrowing a public library or school eBook for Kindle is similar as for other devices.  Most eBooks already in the library's catalog supplied by OverDrive are compatible with Kindle, so users simply browse or search for "Kindle Book," check out a title with a valid library card, and then click "Get for Kindle."  Access to the Kindle Book will occur at Amazon's website after signing in and selecting delivery to the user's Kindle device or any of the free Kindle reading apps.  As with all eBooks and other digital content at OverDrive-powered libraries and schools, titles are available 24/7 and incur no late fees because they automatically expire at the end of the lending period.  For more details on Kindle compatibility, including the availability of Amazon's Whispersync technology, please visit OverDrive's Digital Library Blog.

In addition to Kindle, OverDrive provides support for all major desktop and mobile devices, including Windows®, Mac®, iPod®, iPhone®, iPad®, Sony® Reader, NOOK™, Android™, BlackBerry® and Windows® Phone.

About OverDrive
OverDrive is a leading multichannel digital distributor of eBooks, audiobooks, music, and video. We deliver secure management, DRM protection, and download fulfillment services for hundreds of publishers and thousands of libraries, schools, and retailers, serving millions of end users. OverDrive has been named to the EContent 100 as a company that matters most in the digital content industry. Founded in 1986, OverDrive is based in Cleveland, OH. www.overdrive.com

Contact:
David Burleigh
OverDrive, Inc.
216-573-6886 x218
dburleigh@OverDrive.com

See the news written up in an article at Tech Flash or The Washington Post or the local Redmond blog. No word on when it will roll out to other libraries or why, of all places, it debut in King County/Seattle. My money had been on Ohio, the home state of Overdrive.

The British Library has continued to amaze me in the breadth and scope of their public offerings. For a limited time, they are offering free downloads from their eBook Treasures site. What are the e-book treasures? In their words:

Imagine...

Curling up on the sofa with one of Jane Austen’s hand-written manuscripts

Marvelling at the very first atlas of Europe

Reading Benjamin Franklin’s letters in his own hand

Or leafing through Leonardo da Vinci’s papers wherever you happen to be

Now for the first time, you can.

I love the idea that they have turned these into readily accessible eBooks.

Overdrive announced on in a September 7th blog post that they have signed 20 new publishers to their platform, including Scholastic, with the text:

Did someone just say The Hunger Games? That’s right; I did. Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, I am as gleeful as an overbearing helicopter parent on their child’s middle school graduation day to announce one of the newest additions to the OverDrive catalog. If you think you’ve beat me to the punch through my blatant give-away at the top of this graph, think again my friends; not only will we be adding content from Scholastic US, but also from our maple-loving neighbors up north, Scholastic Canada. And while I can’t go into too much detail about the titles that will be available, I can let you simmer in anticipation on this--- some will be old, some will be new, you’ll be able to borrow them from the library, and buy them from retailers, too.

For a full list of publishers, you can read the blog post yourself here: http://overdriveblogs.com/library/2011/09/07/new-overdrive-publisher-partners-%E2%80%93-august-2011/

While the rest of the publishers sound exciting, it's hard for me to read anything beyond "Hunger Games". I hope you fare better.

Both Tech Crunch and Ars Technica, well known tech blogs, have some good suammaries of the importance of Michael Stern Hart's work. Tech Crunch says it best with "Gutenberg was always about making as much literature as accessible as possible." Reading these two articles gave me a much better appreciation of Michael Hart's contributions and of the value of the Project Gutenberg.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/08/project-gutenberg-founder-michael-stern-hart-1947-2011/

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/09/michael-hart-project-gutenbergs-e-book-loving-founder-passes-away.ars

After 2 months, use of Overdrive was growing. After 6 months, are things continuing to checkout?

In short, yes. I would be starting to regret my practice of bringing in doughnuts when we reached a new daily circ record if Bloedow's doughnuts weren't so delicious. We hit a new total on Sunday, July 17 with 129 total items being checked out in a single day. 

Below is a graph of the weekly checkout totals (not including the first partial week). As you can see, circulation has really taken off the past few weeks.

Closer up, those five weeks, and the week prior to it, are broken down like this:

I have been expecting checkouts to plateau, but it appears that's further down the road than I expected, especially if Kindles become compatible with Overdrive soon. I'm looking forward to more maple/apple doughnuts soon.

Amid announcements of new eBook offerings from EBSCO, 3M, and Ingram, Overdrive has made its own announcement. Overdrive will be working the next few months to simplify their offerings for public library patrons as outlined in the following articles: http://overdrive.com/news/getArticle.aspx?newsArticleID=20110615 and http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/home/891012-264/overdrive_to_streamline_platform_and.html.csp. While the details of the simplified eBook interface are yet to be demonstrated, we expect good things for our patrons. We'll look forward to sharing more information after ALA.  

Added 6/16/11 8:15

A blog post that adds a really good summary with comments about what this may mean for libraries was posted on The Digital Reader.

For readers of EPUB titles on mobile devices, there is good news! They will be receiving an update in the next few days that will add some new functionality, including the ability to return items early. See the press release at : http://overdriveblogs.com/library/2011/05/23/overdrive-apps-update-android-blackberry-iphone-ipad-v2-3/

We are experiencing authentication issues with Overdrive today. Mick is currently in contact with Overdrive Support trying to restore the service.

To be exact, while patrons can continue to browse the Overdrive collection, as they attempt to checkout they will get the following message:

After yesterday's big announcement that the Kindle was going to work with Overdrive, there were more questions than answers. Today, more details are emerging, although the picture is far from complete. One of the big answers came from the Overdrive blog, which clarified:

Your existing collection of downloadable eBooks will be available to Kindle customers. As you add new eBooks to your collection, those titles will also be available in Kindle format for lending to Kindle and Kindle reading apps. Your library will not need to purchase any additional units to have Kindle compatibility. This will work for your existing copies and units.

Overdrive  books won't be available until this coming fall, and by then, many more answers should be available.

In the meantime, the New York Times wrote an article about the Kindle coming to libraries and Kasson Public Library's own Ingvild Herfindahl is quoted.

Other commentary on the Kindle coming to Overdrive can be found at the following blogs:

Librarian in Blackhttp://blog.libraryjournal.com/ljinsider/2011/04/20/after-kindle-lending-the-deluge/

Library Journal

TeleRead

Since the very beginning of our OverDrive implementation project, we have planned to have bibliographic records in the Online Catalog for all of the eBooks and eAudiobooks.  It has taken considerably longer than anticipated to achieve this goal.  Getting things set up between OverDrive and OCLC was more complex than we expected.  And OCLC has a backlog for distributing eBook records.  A big backlog.  As a result of all this, we're not there yet.

But we haven't really said much about the process and, complete or not, it's time we gave a status report.  At present, we have 1,836 titles in OverDrive (not counting the Project Gutenberg materials).  Of these, 1,349 (73%) are in our Online Catalog.  We are continuing to process records as fast as OCLC makes them available and hope to be caught up soon.

On a positive note, despite the fact that all the records aren't there AND the lack of an official status report from SELCO to the Online Libraries, Aurora Jacobsen reported last month that the Catalog has become the top referrer to the SELCO eBook portal.  While there is always room for improvement, patrons are successfully using the tools.

SELCO's personalized LibraryBIN promotional materials are hot off the press and will be arriving at all Online Libraries via gray tub delivery shortly.  If you need more materials or have any questions, please give us a call!

Starting today, patrons might notice a change on our SELCO Downloadable Books page.  Why the change? From the start our our Overdrive service, the concern voiced most frequently has been the size of our collection and how we can grow the collection. LibraryBIN is an additional tool to help raise funds for our collection.

What is LibraryBIN?

LibraryBIN.com is a digital bookstore that offers proceeds of every sale, after deducting the payment to the publisher for the wholesale cost of the title plus a hosting and fulfillment fee, to support public libraries. Patrons can use LibraryBIN.com to purchase eBooks and digital audiobooks and specify the participating library that will receive the proceeds.

What are the changes to the SELCO Downloadable Books page?

Buy It Now links have been added for titles available for purchase through LibraryBIN, as demonstrated below:

First, there's a link on the search results page that indicates which titles are available for purchase. Notice that the link shows up under the first title, Under the Streets of Nice, but not under the second title, The Viper's Nest. The reason The Viper's nest does not have a link is that it is unavailable for purchase through LibraryBIN.

The patron will also see a link within the record of the item itself, as demonstrated in the following screenshot:

Can patrons purchase titles not included in the SELCO Downloadable Books collection?

Yes, patrons can purchase any titles available through librarybin.com and SELCO will still be credited with the proceeds as long as the patron selects SELCO to receive them.

How will SELCO receive the money for these purchases?

SELCO will receive a credit for purchasing further titles through Overdrive. This credit can only be used for further downloadable titles.

Can we promote this to patrons?

SELCO is producing flyers and brochures that we will be sending to participating libraries as soon as they are available, which should be out by mid-April.

For more information, see:

The LibraryBIN FAQ.
Overdrive's blog post LibraryBIN – Generate revenue for your ‘Virtual Branch’

Ever since eBooks and eAudiobooks went live for SELCO in January 011, eBook circulation has consistently outstripped that of eAudiobooks.  To celebrate this fact, we have switched the relative positions of the Recently Added: eBooks and Recently Added: Audiobooks coverflow displays on the website.  eBooks are now on top, just as they are in the number of circulations.

It's safe to say that the initial rush PR and training for Overdrive has abated somewhat and we are settling in to more normal usage patterns.What have we seen?
In summary:

• Use continues to grow
• Use gets a boost from new content
• Patrons from a greater variety of libraries are checking out materials
• Holds stay in proportion to checkouts
• In February, Aquabrowser became the most popular referral to selco.lib.overdrive.com

Use Continues to Grow

From February 28- March 13 , there's been more use of SELCO's Overdrive service than ever before. Circulation increased 10% over our previous record week. From February 28- March 13, the average checkouts per day were in the mid-70s. For perspective, prior to the increased use, the average was closer to  55 checkouts a day.

Use is tied closely to new content

The spike in the use can be attributed to a large purchase made by Albert Lea Public Library. The Albert Lea Public Library spent $2,200 on titles for the shared collection. SELCO also puchased a number of titles for some grant projects and 77 Harper Collins titles. (For more information on the purchase of these titles, see the white page.) Prior to this dramatic example, there have been circulation peaks directly after purchases, but this large order clearly demonstrates the correlation between purchasing and use.

Patrons from a larger number of libraries are downloading books

Right after Overdrive went live, a couple of libraries, most dramatically Owatonna, had much higher levels of use. While Owatonna continues to be the library with the most checkouts, but the other larger libraries are more closely follow those numbers, with the next biggest, Winona, only downloading 14% fewer titles in the past month (2/16-3/16). Additionally, circulation is largely proportional to the size of the population served by libraries.

Holds grow at the same rate as downloads

In mid-February, the average number of holds on ePUB titles was around 460 ePub. Now, even as circulation has grown, the number of holds has grown to 620 in mid-March. It seems that when patrons remember Overdrive, they not only checkout items, they place holds as well.

Additionally, holds are spread over a large variety of titles, not concentrated on a few popular titles.  Only 55 titles in the collection, in any format, have 4 or more holds. For perspective, only 3% of the entire Overdrive collection has 4 or more holds.

In February, Aquabrowser became the most popular referral to selco.lib.overdrive.com

At this point, most of the records for the Overdrive digital books have been loaded in Aquabrowser. Being able to find Overdrive items in the SELCO Catalog has proven very popular with our patrons. In February, almost 20% of the referrals to the SELCO Overdive site came from Aquabrowser.

Roberta Stevens, President of the American Library Association, has just released a public statement to the membership on the recent decision by Harper Collins to restrict the lending of e-books.  ALA believes that the publisher's decision "threatens libraries’ ability to provide their users with access to information."

Ms. Stevens' statement is included below.  The ALA President's position and  press release are based on the work of ALA’s  Equitable Access to Electronic Information Task Force (EQUACC) which met last week.

In her letter, Ms. Stevens states:

First and foremost, I want to thank you for your patience. I held back on a public statement on the recent decision by Harper Collins to restrict the lending of e-books until the Equitable Access to Electronic Information Task Force (EQUACC) met last week. Please know that I heard your voices of concern about the impact of additional costs on your libraries and ability to meet the needs of the communities you serve.  A press release was issued today that speaks to our shared alarm at announced and potential limitations to the access to knowledge, information and the creative written works of authors in the electronic era.  We know that libraries are essential to an informed nation and therefore our democracy.  I have been and will continue to highlight our commitment to access in every media interview I give.

As an outgrowth of EQUACC’s working retreat, a website will be launched within the next week.  The site will allow you to provide your comments and ideas. The site’s availability will be announced using the many ways we have within the association to “get the word out.”

I want to express my thanks to the task force members, the representative from the E-Book Subcommittee and staff of the Office of Information Technology and Policy.  Their collective efforts to tackle this complicated topic and provide a means to reach out broadly to our members and organizations affiliated with ALA are important to our being informed and taking wise actions.

I also wanted to give you the heads up that equitable access to information and e-books will be the subject of the first virtual Membership Meeting.  The meeting is scheduled for June 1. More information will be forthcoming as we get the plans in place.
 

Thank you for your support,
Roberta Stevens, ALA President

Patrons and Online Library staff are both encouraged to suggest titles for the SELCO shared eBook and eAudiobook collection.  Being two different groups, however, their suggestions are handled differently by SELCO.  Allow me to explain.

Suggestions received by SELCO directly from Patrons come in via the Suggest a Title webform that can be found on the Online Catalog and as a link on many Online Library websites.  This form asks patrons to specify whether their suggested titles are books, eBooks, DVDs, etc.  When a suggestion comes in, the SELCO Help Desk forwards it on to the patron's library for further action (if any).

Suggestions from Online Library staff come in via the Library Staff Purchase Suggestions webform that can be found on our Downloadable Audiobooks page.  Suggestions from library staff are sent directly to the Content Selection Committee for consideration.

Why two different processes for these suggestions?  The short answer is that SELCO is a Federated region in which Online Libraries make decisions about most facets of their operations.  Now, here is the longer answer.

As the regional library system, SELCO works directly with Online Libraries.  The Content Selection Committee is made up primarily of Online Library staff.  Therefore, it seemed logical for staff suggestions to go directly to the Committee.

Patron interactions are more typically carried out with Online Libraries.  There are exceptions to this rule but the guiding principle has always been that SELCO is there for the Online Libraries while the Online Libraries are there for the patrons.  When a patron suggests an eBook or eAudiobook, it seemed best for that suggestion to go to the library.  In turn, the library can decide whether or not to suggest that title to the Content Selection Committee.  Or the library could decide to guarantee the title is purchased by contributing collection development funds contingent on purchase of that title.

It seems a bit complex but patrons and Online Library staff seem different enough to warrant different processes.  Please feel free to contact me with your thoughts on our handling of this issue.

NOTE:  Until recently, the Library Staff Purchase Suggestion webform was simply entitled Purchase Suggestions.  While this is not the same as the Suggest a Title language used on the patron form, it is possible that it wasn't clear enough that the former was intended for Online Library staff.  Hence the name change.

So far, 18 libraries have e-mailed requesting accounts for staff to reports. We've also fielded a couple of questions about the reports, and added some of those responses into the FAQ on the Downloadable Audiobooks page. For library staff who have not had a chance to run reports yet, the video Overdrive reports has an outline of how to do so. Let me know at ajacobsen@selco.info if there are further questions or if more library staff would like accounts to run the reports.

OverDrive has released a new way for patrons to get help with their devices.  My Help is a automated wizard that displays support documentation for specific devices based on the answers to a few basic questions, starting with:  What do you want to do?

For more information on My Help, which is accessible from the SELCO OverDrive page, please see this post on OverDrive's Digital Library blog.

Overdrive has many reports that can be run to get circulation statistics and other information. Aurora Jacobsen trains on how to access these reports in this episode of SELCOtv.

Like all other OverDrive customers, we got a letter yesterday afternoon from the vendor outlining new initiatives they are taking in the coming few months.  Along with mundane information about new functionality and support options was a bit of a bombshell.  It seems that some publishers have become concerned about the fact that eBooks, unlike print books, don't ever wear out or get lost.  Once a title is purchased, the library will never have to purchase a replacement copy.  Therefore, these unspecified publishers are now requiring that eBook vendors in the library market (not just OverDrive) must institute a cap on the number of times a title can be checked out.  The model of one title being checked out by one patron at any given time remains unchanged.  What's new is that after a certain number of checkouts, the title becomes permanently locked and cannot ever be checked out again by anyone.

As you can imagine, the internet is stirring and reactions are coming in from all quarters.  There are a lot of unknowns at this point.  OverDrive's letter is a bit coy; it mentions some publishers but doesn't identify them or even how many there are.  It doesn't say what the limit will be.  Or when this goes into effect.  Right now, we don't have those answers.  Here's what we do know:

• Noted library blogger Bobbi Newman posted what I think was the first reaction to get online here.  It also includes a PDF of the OverDrive letter.
• Library Journal posted an article today that indicates the unnamed publisher alluded to by OverDrive is HarperCollins.  It also indicates that the cap will be 26 checkouts.
• David Lee King has weighed in on his blog.
• While coy about some things, the OverDrive letter states clearly that this new cap will not be applied retroactively to titles purchased before it goes into effect and that the limit will only be applied to eBooks, not Downloadable Audiobooks.
• SELCO has made an inquiry with OverDrive to find out if Bobbi Newman's interpretation of the letter is accurate.  We have not heard back.  All inquiries to OverDrive on this topic are now being redirected to an email address set up just for this purpose, which makes me suspect that we will not be getting answer anytime soon.  Certainly not from the OverDrive staff we normally deal with.
• Digging around on our own, we have found information in the console we use to manage our OverDrive service which makes us think this will go into effect on March 07.  This has not been announced by OverDrive and is not official.
• We have contacted the Content Selection committee and asked that they expedite purchases as quickly as possible, placing a priority on HarperCollins titles in order to beat the deadline, whatever it turns out to be.  As members of that committee, SELCO staff are also placing orders.
• At present, we have 72 HarperCollins eBooks out of a total 765 eBooks in the SELCO shared collection.

That's what we know right now.  This just broke and I anticipate we'll be hearing a lot in the next few days.  As we do, we'll post it here as well as in email.

A number of libraries have asked about supplementing the OverDrive collection and I am happy to say that SELCO will accept additional funds — in any denomination and at any time. To date, six libraries have committed funds above the Value Added Service fee.

• Albert Lea
• Austin
• Faribault
• Northfield
• Owatonna
• Preston

I appreciate their commitment to this new service and am excited by the extra titles we have been able to add as a result of this generous extra funding. The average cost of a downloadable audio book is approximately $60 per title and $16 for each ebook copy.

If you are interested in contributing additional funds, it will be as simple as contacting Aimee Lake, SELCO Finance Manager, to let her know how much and when, after that we'll send an invoice to keep the necessary paper trail for audit purposes. Simply send email to: alake@selco.info.

If there are specific titles you would like SELCO to purchase with your supplementary contribution, you may certainly send along that information as well. Aimee is a member of the OverDrive Content Selection Committee so your contribution and suggestions can all happen in one email message.

If you do make title suggestions, in all likelihood we will simple go ahead and purchase all of your suggested titles. However, the OverDrive Content Selection Committee does reserve the right to review suggested titles with an eye for keeping a balanced collection. They may opt to negotiate quantities, timing or alternative suggestions. With such a small (yet growing collection) we don't one one Dewey Decimal number to overwhelm our selection.

Even if you don't contribute additional funds, the OverDrive Content Selection Committee is interested in hearing your suggestions for future purchases. Simply fill out the easy online form and your title suggestions will be sent to the Committee. http://www.tfaforms.com/189693

The SELCO OverDrive Collection of downloadable titles is seeing lots of use and is growing daily. Consider contributing to this new exciting service for your users.

SELCO’s OverDrive collection for participating libraries and their patrons includes an assortment of fiction and non-fiction titles in honor of National African American Heritage Month which celebrates history, culture, and current achievements.

I just had a question about OverDrive's Wish List feature.  After placing an item on your wish list, there are a couple of options one can make (see image below). If you selected the "View Wish List" link, it took you to a page that was unable to load.  I called OverDrive support and they fixed the problem within 20 minutes!  What  great support!

I hope your patrons are finding the Wish List as helpful as I am.

By which I mean, all those who wish to run reports on OverDrive use.  Content Reserve, the web-based application used to manage our OverDrive collection, has a deep variety of statistical reports that can be run by the participating Online Library.  SELCO staff are putting together an online video showing how to run these reports.  The interface is quite simple: just click on the report you want, make some selections on a series of dropdown menus to set the parameters of your report, and submit.  Once the report is run, you can view it in your web browser or export it to Microsoft Excel.

In order to run reports, you must have a Content Reserve login.  At present, a few SELCO staff and all the members of the Content Selection committee have such logins.  To get a login so you, too, can run reports, please send email to Aurora Jacobsen , SELCO Information Services Librarian 2 with the names and email addresses of up to two staff members at your library.  This information will be used to create accounts.  The training video will be posted to the SELCO website as soon as it is ready, probably in about one week.

Please contact the SELCO Help Desk with any questions.

A happy patron sent us cookies today to show how much she likes our Downloadable Audiobooks service.  Yum yum.

It's really easy to return an eBook before the checkout period ends.  Here's how:

1. Open Adobe Digital Editions.
2. Select the 'Library View' icon (in the upper left corner).
   The Adobe Digital Editions library is displayed.
3. Under the 'Bookshelves' heading, select 'Borrowed'.
4. Click the eBook you want to return.
5. Click the 'Item Options' arrow (in the upper left corner of the selected eBook).
6. Select 'Return Borrowed Item'.
7. Click 'Return' to verify that you want to return the title.
   The eBook is returned.

For more information, please see the Help section of the SELCO Downloadable Books website.

On Tuesday, Overdrive announced that it had released an update for the Android Market. Overdrive touted a better user experience (one-click downloads) and access to Project Gutenberg titles. While all of this is impressive, what is even more exciting is that SELCO USERS CAN NOW FIND BOOKS! The app has been updated to Get Books from nearby SELCO libraries.

If a patron had previously downloaded the app and searched for libraries, they may have pulled up SELCO as a location. Patrons will still not be able to access books from the "SELCO" location. However, if they "add a location" and find an individual SELCO library, they can access to the SELCO collection.

Currently, there have been 57 checkouts from SELCO's mobile Overdrive site. Of those checkouts, 38 have been ePUB and 19 have been in the Overdrive MP3 format.

I have been a fan of the tech site CNET for the same reason many "tech" people use the site-- as reference for product reviews, tech news, and tech podcasts. Today, they posted an article entitled "Why I didn't buy a Kindle " and was pleasantly surprised to note how central access to Overdrive was for the writer, David Katzmaier. Katzmaier lists access to library books as the primary factor in his choice of eReader. I sometimes forget that we in the library industry do have influence over the success and failure of products, or over the marketplace for different devices or products. This article was reminder that many patrons still find a greater value in prodcuts that work with libraries , especially in the book realm.

The Downloadable Audiobooks Content Selection Committee has tentatively set their next meeting for February 02, 2011.  The committee will take a look at statistics for eBook and eAudiobook use since they went live last week and will continue to make purchases to both expand the collection and fill in any gaps.  The meeting date is subject to change as we hear back from committee members.

Online Library staff may make suggestions for the collection using the committee's Purchase Suggestion form or may simply contact a committee member.  Patrons who wish to make a suggestion should be guided to the Suggest a Title form , although Online Library staff are also welcome to pass on patron suggestions themselves.

Faster than expected, the Overdrive App on Apple products has now been updated. SELCO patrons can now download audio and eBooks directly to their devices using the Overdrive App and choosing "Get Books." As a reminder, this is the OFFICIAL way to download eBooks to Apple devices, so the update is big news. As previously reported, the Android App is still waiting for the next development cycle to be updates.

After receiving a number of calls from Online Libraries, we have confirmed that Horizon circulation rules also govern checkouts in OverDrive.  This is contrary to information I erroneously passed on last week at the Technology Users Group meeting.

This means that any condition which would prevent a borrower from checking out in Horizon will also prevent him/her from checking out in OverDrive.  In Horizon, Online Library staff have the opportunity to Override the condition and allow the checkout to proceed.  This option, of course, is not available in OverDrive, which is used directly by the patron with no staff intervention.  Under those circumstances, the patron simply gets the following error message:

You are barred from borrowing

This is a somewhat harsh and uninformative message and we are working with OverDrive to modify it.

If you have questions about the conditions in Horizon that prevent checkouts, please contact the SELCO Help Desk for assistance.

How is Overdrive doing now that we are live? The short answer is great. As of 8:30 Monday morning, 469 downloads have been made from the SELCO Overdrive collection and 217 items have been downloaded from the Gutenberg collection. Of the downloads from the SELCO collection, 310 were eBooks and 159 were audiobooks.

Who is using the collection? By far the most use is coming from the Owatonna Public Library, but patrons from 33 libraries have downloaded materials. In total, 232 unique patrons have downloaded an item. There have been 16 downloads from the Mobile Overdrive site.

Most requested titles are The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Wench, The Barefoot Princess and Witch & Wizard. Because there are 2 copies of the first two titles, The Barefoot Princess and Witch & Wizard currently have the longest wait times in the system, with 4 patrons waiting for 1 copy of the eBook of these titles. Interestingly, when SELCO Staff noticed that Wench had 5 holds, Jonya looked up the title in the SELCO Catalog and found that there were copies of the book available on library shelves. Holds are currently in place on 80 titles total. Luckily, in 45 instances, patrons have taken advantage of the 7 day checkout period, so those titles will be available again soon.

Overdrive's mobile website is easy to use on your iPhone, Android or other mobile device. In the future, with an iPhone or Android device, all of the services can be accessed through an app on either App Store or Android Market where all searching and checkout functions can happen. Unfortunately, the SELCO go-live date fell in between service workflow dates at Overdrive and these applications will not be able to search the collection or authenticate for two weeks.

In the meantime, there is a work around. Patrons will first need to download the Overdrive App, then navigate to http://search.overdrive.com/mobile on your phone's web browser. Patrons can search for their local library by zip code.

The search screen is similar to the Advanced Search screen on the Overdrive website, and checking out a book is identical to the website. After checking out the item, click Download. After Download, patrons will be prompted to enter their Adobe ID. After the Adobe ID is registered, the item will appear in the patron's Overdrive application.

eBooks can't be returned via phone. While the file can be deleted directly on the phone, the book is still checked out to until the loan period is over. EBooks can be returned from the Adobe Digital Editions on a computer.

SELCO's OverDrive page is back up.  Other OverDrive sites are still down but will probably be up shortly.