OverDrive to announce improvements to help libraries meet growing demand for ebooks no comments
If you have tried borrowing an ebook from your local library you know that there is likely to be a long wait before it is your turn to start flipping its pages, especially if it is a popular book. This aspect of borrowing library ebooks, which is otherwise pretty much all good, is bound to get even worse as the Kindle ereaders gain access to library books later this year.
OverDrive says it will be enhancing its platform to try to help libraries cope with the explosive growth in demand for ebooks. From the press release:
As a result of unprecedented demand for eBooks, library directors, advocacy groups, and readers challenged leading eBook supplier OverDrive to find equitable and sustainable solutions to balance the interests of libraries and publishers. Key priorities for librarians include streamlined steps for customers to discover and borrow eBooks on a variety of platforms and devices, strong publisher support for library eBook lending programs, and additional options for digital book collections to meet the swell in demand.
Following a series of meetings with the Ohio Metro Library Directors, OverDrive will address these challenges by announcing a series of platform enhancements at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference (booth #3326) in New Orleans, June 24-27, 2011.
Titled ‘OverDrive WIN,’ this update to the leading eBook and audiobook service for libraries will:
- Eliminate the need for librarians and readers to deal with various eBook file formats
- Reduce library staff time for collection development and help-desk support
- Offer support for Kindle Library Lending coming later this year, in addition to every major operating system, reading device, and mobile platform
- Add hundreds of thousands of in-copyright eBook and digital audiobook records with free "eBook Samples" for immediate access on reading devices and platforms
- Enable patron driven acquisition, an opt-in program that will allow readers to immediately borrow a title, recommend to a library, or ‘Want It Now’ from online booksellers
- Provide new ‘always available’ eBook collections for simultaneous access of romance, self-help, young adult, children, and other fiction materials
- Launch ‘Open eBook’ titles, free of DRM
OverDrive will be releasing more details about its initiatives at the ALA Conference and as they are launched. Stay tuned.
Of course the one thing that libraries most need to assist shifting more of their acquisitions to digital formats to meet the rising demand is for the economy to get better so that they can get some of their funding back.
One thing you can do to sometimes reduce your wait for a very popular new ebook is to get on the waiting list before the book comes out. At my library the waiting list seems to start when the library places orders for a new book, which sometimes means you can get in line a few weeks or more before it is actually available.
