Introducing OverDrive Downloadable Media
Introduction
As a member of the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium, Northern Waters Library Service is pleased to offer OverDrive Downloadable Media. OverDrive allows you to select and download audiobooks, films, music and ebooks to play directly on your computer, play on an MP3 or iPod player, portable eBook reader or burn to a CD.
Before entering the OverDrive site at http://dbooks.wplc.info please review the Quick Start Guide and the Frequently Asked Questions. This will answer most of your questions regarding this service. If you have a need for assistance, contact your local library.
How It Works
Please note that OverDrive media files can be enjoyed at home, at work, or when you travel, but are not recommended for use on the computers in the library. First download the OverDrive Media Console, a free program that allows titles to be read or downloaded to mobile devices.
The entire OverDrive collection of audiobooks, films, music and ebooks is available at http://dbooks.wplc.info. The Merlin catalog is currently limited to OverDrive audiobooks but will offer records to all downloadable media content beginning June 1, 2010. A media file can be checked out for a loan period set by the patron. Because of the large file sizes, patrons will have access for the full lending period. Additional segments can be downloaded separately as needed.
Once the file is downloaded to a computer, the patron will be prohibited from sharing and passing it to another computer. For portability, the patron will be able to transfer segments of the file, or the entire file, to a supported mobile device, such as PDAs, MP3 players, Microsoft Smartphones, iPods, and iPhones. The patron may also burn the file to a CD.
At the end of the lending period, the title automatically expires and is returned to the library. The expired file can then be deleted from your machine.
Access to OverDrive
To access OverDrive media files users will need:
- A valid Merlin library card (or non-Merlin library card holder ID)
- Access to the Internet
- Free software for the device on which you wish to use your OverDrive media file
The Collection
The collection purchased by the WPLC for use by Wisconsin residents currently contains 4566 audiobooks for Windows and 309 for iPods. There are 318 video titles and 178 music titles. The new eBook collection boasts 476 titles so far. New titles will be continually added.
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