Thing 13: Library Reference

Working in Adult Services, I help a lot of people download eMedia on a lot of different devices. I also often download eAudiobooks for personal use.

Overdrive:
I typically show patrons how to use Overdrive if they want eBooks or eAudiobooks because it's easier to learn than Axis360. And for my own eAudiobooks, I prefer it because it runs more smoothly than Axis360 and offers features like changing the speed of the narration. One complaint I have about it is that sometimes patrons, who are unsure of exactly what they're doing, choose a format that isn't compatible with their device and once the wrong format is chosen, there's no going back. And, depending on the situation, sometimes you don't even have the choice to return it because it requires you to download it since a format has already been selected, but you can't download it because it's the wrong format (this just happened to a patron I worked with earlier this week).

Axis360:
For me, the best thing about Axis360 is the variety of titles available. There are more YA eAudiobook titles, many of which are recent publications. However, I quite dislike the performance of the app. On my Android, the app will often stop working and say it's offline and won't play my audiobook, even though I've downloaded it to the device and, therefore, don't need to be online (but I am online and it doesn't realize that!). I can really only get it to work again by shutting down the entire app through my settings. What a pain! Other times, it'll start playing in a completely different part of the book. There have been times I'm on Chapter 13 and when I press play it goes to Chapter 6. I've gotten pretty used to bookmarking where I am every single time I take a break.

Hoopla:
I think Hoopla is the most user-friendly app of our eMedia resources. In addition to eBooks and eAudiobooks, it also offers movies and music, which we don't provide digitally elsewhere. There's more of a limit on the content (for eBooks and eAudiobooks, compared to the other apps) because we're not buying it, but the app works well, the process is streamlined, and it's pretty intuitive. And another great thing about it is that there can be concurrent users!

Zinio:
Digital magazines are a great service we provide, but the one issue I have with Zinio is the process of checking out magazines (which is in the process of being improved). The app is for reading the magazines, but all issues must be checked out through the website, which you need to access through the library website. This can be very inconvenient on a mobile device that doesn't display our site well, plus, it's a whole extra step in the process. I'll be glad when Zinio's process is more streamlined.

Even the group EXO reads eBooks!