Web Conference

Last week I attended a web conference with Tom Scott from OverDrive. This was the first web conference I have ever attended. The conference was given to help our library consortium decide whether to subscribe to OverDrive. OverDrive is an online database of over 50,000 e-books, 10,000 audio books, 2,000 videos, and 5,000 music albums, supplied by 560 different publishers. The web conference focused mainly on audio books, since that is what the library is most interested in at this time. OverDrive adds 650-1200 new titles per month, compared with 30-40 added by Netlibrary, which is currently available through our library. OverDrive also provides access to more current and popular books than Netlibrary, which has a larger selection of foreign language studies and classic titles. OverDrive also allows to be notified via email when a book that is checked out has been returned.

Audio books can be searched by Title, ISBN, or Keyword. The lending period is typically 7 days and a user can typically check out 4 titles at a time. Audio books cannot be checked in early. User must choose their library and enter their library card number. They can then download the book onto their computer. After 7 days, the book can no longer be accessed on the computer. However, if if has been transferred to mP3 or CD, it can still be accessed on those devices. All audio books can be transferred to mP3 players. The OverDrive website has a list of mP3 players that are compatible with OverDrive. Unfortunately, iPods are not compatible. Most audio books can also be burned to CD, except for a few publishers that don't allow CD burning, including Random House, BBC, and Time-Warner. Studies show that approximately 33% of OverDrive users listen to audio books on their computer, 35% transfer to mP3s, and 29% burn to CDs.

OverDrive Media Console must be downloaded onto the computer in order to download audio books, music, or videos from OverDrive. Windows Media Player is designed to listen to songs, and therefore it doesn't have speed settings or chapter breaks.
Advantages of the OverDrive Media Console:
* Books can be navigated by chapter titles.
* The user can also change the speed of play, either slowing it down or speeding it up. The speed-up feature is good for visually impaired listeners because they can listen and comprehend at a quicker speed than sighted listeners.
* Books can be rewound.
* Play is automatically resumed from the furthest point played.
* Media Console automatically asks if you want to delete expired audio books.

The CMC Library Consortium has decided to subscribe to OverDrive in our next budget year, which begins in July. There will be a one-time setup fee, a monthly maintenance fee, and a minimum amount which must be spent per year on new audio books. I think that the OverDrive service will prove to be a valuable resource to the library.