News Blog @ Wellington City Libraries

Do you enjoy eBooks? Do you regularly download titles from our Overdrive eBook Library? If you do, then take part in this month’s Overdrive Big Library Read!

What is this, we can hear you asking? Well, library users from all over the world (including many NZ public libraries) are downloading and reading the same title on Overdrive between now and 1 June (there’s no limit on who can check this title out — we have as many simultaneous checkouts as we need!).

The book is:

The Four Corners of the Sky, by Michael Malone. Here’s a summary, see what you think:

“Twenty years is a long time to be without a father, and, for Navy pilot Annie Peregrine-Goode, the sky has become a home the earth has never been. So when her father calls out of the blue to ask for a dying wish, one both absurd and mysterious, no is the easiest of answers. Until she hears that the reward is the one thing she always wanted.” (Drawn from Syndetics)

Overdrive Big Library Read is a pilot project, but we’re really excited to see it kick off.  So, if this inspires you, download the book and happy reading!

(Let us know what you think of it!)

Our Overdrive downloadable eBooks and eAudiobooks have a brand new look, as well as some nice features and enhancements to the service. Click through below to have a browse!

Check out the changes:

• A simpler, redesigned website
• The new OverDrive Read feature, allowing you to read eBooks right in your browser
• An easier borrowing process as well as enhancements to wish lists and reserves!
• New ‘responsive design’ – optimised so you can easily view our eBooks on mobile and desktop!

How to use the new site:

1. All Internet Explorer users will need the Google Chrome Frame plugin to take advantage of the option to read OverDrive ebooks in the browser. If you don’t have the plug-in, when you try and use this feature you will be prompted to download it
2. If you use the OverDrive Media Console app, you will need to update to the latest version in order to view the new website

New one-step checkout process:

We’re also excited about the new one-step process for borrowing eBooks. So excited, we found a video:

Wellington City Libraries now has its very own app – WCL Mini.  If you regularly use a smartphone, this enables you to do a bunch of things that previously may have resulted in hair-tearing, swearing and/or mashing of fat fingers against a tiny screen. Some of the things you can do include:

• checking the catalogue
• checking account details (loans, reserves etc)
• “book look” – scan non-library books (from a bookstore, or a friend’s collection for example) to see if the library has a copy
• one-click access to OverDrive ebooks and mp3 audiobooks*
• locate the nearest branch to you – get directions; find out the opening hours; give them a call
• keeping up to date with our Facebook and Twitter feeds

*The OverDrive Media Console app will also need to be installed

We’ll also be building in links to some of our other online resources as we go.

Compatibility: The app is available for devices using the Apple iOs (iPhone, iPod touch, iPad) and Android operating systems. It’s also available for BlackBerry, J2ME, Palm OS, Symbian S60 and Windows Mobile.

How-To

• make sure you’re connected to Wi-Fi or a cellphone network
• use your device’s web browser to visit http://wellington.boopsie.com
• select install

Alternatively you can search for WCL Mini in the App Store (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) or Google Play (Android devices).

Try it on the PC

Don’t have a smartphone? There’s a web version you can use that mimics the app. Use the same link as above in your web browser.

Bugs

Let us know if you experience any technical errors, oddities or annoyances when using the app – we can feed this back to the app creators for future releases. Also, we’d love to know if there’s something you like about it. Just add your thoughts to the comments below.

You may have noticed that we’ve made some changes to our issue periods and renewals. Happily for our eLibrary users, eBook and eAudio loan periods have been boosted to match books in print. All titles in our OverDrive and Bolinda collections can now be issued for 3 weeks! All of them are still absolutely free to borrow, with no overdue charges and free reserves.

Keep up to date with our new eBook and eAudio arrivals through the News Blog staff picks archive.

2011 has seen our OverDrive collection of eBooks and eAudiobooks grow ever more popular amongst borrowers, here are the most popular items of the year from each…

Top 10 Audiobooks downloaded on OverDrive

1. At Home / Bill Bryson
2. Fry’s English Delight / Stephen Fry
3. The Hunger Games / Suzanne Collins
4. Fry’s English Delight, Series 2 / Stephen Fry
5. The Reversal / Michael Connelly
6. Catching Fire / Suzanne Collins
7. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies / Seth Grahame-Smith, Jane Austen
8. Chasing Fire / Nora Roberts
9. Journeys in English / Bill Bryson
10. The Time Traveler’s Wife / Audrey Niffenegger

Top 10 eBooks downloaded on OverDrive

1. The Fry Chronicles / Stephen Fry
2. House Rules / Jodi Picoult
3. Eat, Pray, Love / Elizabeth Gilbert
4. The 10PM Question / Kate de Goldi
5. Civilization / Niall Ferguson
6. The Defiant Debutante / Helen Dickson
7. Perfect Match / Jodi Picoult
8. Change of Heart / Jodi Picoult
9. The Forgotten Garden / Kate Morton
10. His Mistress by Arrangement / Natalie Anderson

OverDrive is a digital media platform where library customers can download ebook and audio titles onto Mac or PC and transfer them to portable devices e.g. eReaders (Kobo, Sony Reader). Choose from a growing collection of contemporary fiction, non-fiction, classics, young adult and children’s titles. You can download for free, 24/7, from the comfort of your own home and never have to pay overdues!

Try the quick start guide or take a guided tour to get started now.

Recently, we added over 23,000 copyright-free public domain titles to our eLibrary!

Included are such classic titles as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Great Expectations and Katherine Mansfield’s collected works amongst thousands of others.

There are several important differences from our general eBook collection, mostly related to the fact that they are public domain eBooks:

• You don’t need to sign into your account in order to download the public domain eBooks in this collection.
• Issues from this collection will not count against the current account limit of 15 eBook titles at any one time.
• Titles are always available! More than one person can download The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, for example, at exactly the same time.
• Public domain titles do not expire. When you download a title from this collection, it’s effectively yours to keep.

Wanting to get started downloading? You can access these titles here!

Have any questions or feedback? Let us know - we’d love to hear from you!

Enter our Digital Audiobook Competition from 6-21 December and be in to win an iPod Nano! Visit wcl.govt.nz/elibrary to explore our growing collection of digital audiobooks – free, available 24/7 and ready for download to your computer, iPod or compatible device.

Conditions of entry:

1. You must be a current member of Wellington City Libraries
2. Wellington City Libraries staff members and their families are not permitted to enter
3. Only one entry from each library card holder will be entered in the draw
4. Acceptance of prizes gives permission to Wellington City Libraries to display and/or publish names of winners
5. The judges’ decision is final. No correspondance will be entered into

We have just received new Overdrive non-fiction titles, including:

 Biographies

• The Other Wes Moore, by Wes Moore
• Running the Books, by Avi Steinberg and Dustin Rubin
• Seven Dirty Words, by James Sullivan and Alan Sklar

(more…)

Check out downloadable audiobook stories for children with Wellington City Libraries’ Overdrive service. Just click on ‘Browse Fiction’ to bring up the collection for children. If you click on ‘complete list’ you’ll find over 150 stories available at your fingertips – and they’re free!