Why Kindle (and the other E-book readers)?

[TromboneAl]

My library told me that in a month or two they'll subscribe to overdrive.

 

[ERD50]

My library told me that in a month or two they'll subscribe to overdrive.

T-Al, I don't think that is going to help. Our local library serves up it's ebooks through the Adobe Overdrive sight. But there is no Kindle support, at least not through our library. I see wheel9 is indicating this is universal...

Sorry, I have been away for a while with some nasty medical stuff, or I would have responded sooner. The Overdrive Library system will only work with those readers that support e-pub. That leaves out the Kindle - that is why I ruled out the Kindle from consideration.

...

As to how you do it with a Nook - I think it was ERD that had questions, yes you need Adobe Digital Editions to check out library books. The book downloads to your computer. You need to "authorize" the Nook, and then you will be able to drag and drop the book right onto your Nook from within Adobe Digital Editions. I can post more detailed information or respond to questions.

Thanks, but that was basically it. Although actually (to be technical here), you do not need ADE to check out the book (see below, my Linux experience) - it was just a bit of a puzzle to get from Point A to point B. My library had zero instructions on this, and Adobe's site pretty much ran me in circles. I did end up downloading the 'Overdrive' application to the Mac - but apparently that is not needed at all (not sure what it is for?). It's confusing, as the library site is 'powered by Overdrive', and they have links to this download - but you don't seem to need it. I was able to 'check out' an ebook (get the 'key') on my linux system w/o installing the Overdrive application, and that part worked fine. But they don't make an Adobe Digital Edition for Linux, so I emailed the 'key' to DW's Mac, and the Adobe Digital Edition there then downloaded the ebook fine.

Unfortunately, I can't help ERD with his Nook, but for those of you who are interested in borrowing e-books from your local library (assuming that most likely use Overdrive)...

The process was virtually seamless on my Sony Reader (PRS-600 Touch version). I selected my library book and checked out on Overdrive, then downloaded the .ascm file to my desktop computer. Double-clicked on the file, and it jump-started my Sony software and imported the .epub book. The book is tagged as 21 days remaining initially, and you can easily see how much time you have left. When you are done with the book, you right click on the file name in the Sony software and there is an option to "Return Borrowed Item". When you choose to Return, your file disappears and your account on Overdrive clears the book from the record.

It's such a treat when a gadget works simply and easily!!

Charlotte

Well, that is the same process for the Nook - the only difference is using Adobe Digital Edition in place of the Sony SW . I assume you installed the Sony SW from CD, or downloaded it? The real problem is just that our library had zero info on what the steps were in this multi-step process. In fact, a friend of ours WORKS at a nearby library (outside our shared district though), and she had to call me to figure out how to get library books on the Nook! And her main job is working with computers all day, transferring file types and all sorts of 'techy' stuff - she's no luddite!

To me - simple and easy would be you go through the checkout process from your library (this is straightforward), and then just drag the downloaded file onto your device. The extra step of the ADE SW, which requires a separate logon/pw to enable, with no indication if this is in anyway tied to your library card, your device, or if multiple people use this same SW, do they need to logon with their own ID, if you download from different computers, do you need to logon to ADE with the same logon. The basic hierarchy and interaction (if any) of these is a mystery. Oh, in the process I tried to de-authorize my installation of ADE - guess what, no instructions anywhere on how to do this. Only through googling did I learn from some forum post, that on a Mac, you type Command-Shift-D to trigger the De-Authorize dialog box. It is completely hidden from the user. Sheeesh!.

-ERD50

 

[sailor]

In my neck of woods, the library demand for eBooks definitely exceeded their budget/expectations:
AskGCPL: Is a Library a Library if there are no books available to check out? As of this morning, there are zero titles available from OverDrive in the fiction
I have about 10 books requested and I'm getting only about one book per week.