E-Books, not databases: non-fiction platforms

Safari Books Online for Libraries contains a subset of 7,947 technology, digital media, and business books from Safari’s overall content. These titles are browsable, but cannot be downloaded for offline viewing. With 5,165 OPL sessions in 2014, it is a well-used subscription.

Challenge 1: What is the oldest publication date featured in OPL’s Safari Books library? What is the title of the book?

Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) is a small collection of multi volume reference sets and directories. The collection is not currently being grown, rather we are weeding titles as they date, but it still sees a fair amount of use (1,050 sessions in 2014). Highlights from this collection are the College Blue Book and Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia. Content can also be downloaded to a device and kept.

Challenge 2: According to the College Blue Book, Laney College offers 5 intercollegiate sports. What are they?

EBSCOhost eBooks are legacy titles rolled over from our former NetLibrary Consortium subscription. At 1,652 sessions in 2014, they are still doing a brisk enough business that we prefer not to let them go. However, you will find nothing more recent than 2005 on there. There are 8,140 titles, most of which are adult non-fiction, with 1,901 adult fiction and only a couple of hundred Juvenile or Young Adult titles, and 52 Spanish-language titles. You’ll need to create an account using your library card number and PIN, and you can read online or download to your device if you install free software. One thing that is pretty cool is that you can search the full text of the eBooks on there and use Boolean operators.

Challenge 3: Look up the title Gardening with native wild flowers in Encore. Follow the link to EBSCOhost. What is Chapter 11 called? 

Listen Up: eAudio at OPL

Although Online Audiobook demand has not been the phenomenon that eBook demand has been, it is still a popular format that may gradually replace physical audiobook demand, with between 2,000-2,500 audiobook checkouts per month on Overdrive alone. (OPL hasn’t seen a drop off in audiobook checkouts, yet, with Adult Books on CD making up for about 1.2% and Juvenile/YA combined making up for about 0.4% of total circulation in both 2013 and 2014. So maybe eAudio is being discovered by a whole new audience.)

Our Overdrive audiobook collection has over 2,700 titles and growing and, unlike with some of our eBook licenses, audiobook licenses never expire, so we “own” them all in perpetuity. Almost all adult audiobooks are ordered from patron requests plus additional copies to fulfill holds. As with physical audio, not all books -even bestsellers- are published in audio format, which may be why your patrons sometimes don’t find what they are looking for. Most of the audio titles are ordered in MP3 format, which can be downloaded to any device. Occasionally, that is not available and we get WMA audiobooks, which can only be downloaded to Windows computers and then transferred to Apple devices or portable devices that support DRM-protected WMA files. This is indicated at checkout.

You’ll notice that, when the icon in the corner is grey, that audiobook is not available (either it is checked out or not yet published) and a hold must be placed. You can choose to limit the search to available titles to find only audiobooks that can be checked out immediately. Once an eAudio title is checked out it will appear in your bookshelf. You will need to download it to a device before listening to it. Once it is downloaded, the “Return Title” icon next to the cover image will disappear and that book stays with you until it expires after the 7, 14, or 21 day checkout you selected at checkout. Learn more about checking out and downloading audiobooks on Overdrive here.

Challenge: How many WMA audiobooks are currently in the collection? How many MP3 audiobooks were available for immediate checkout at the time you searched? (Hint: Use advanced search.)

In addition to Overdrive, we have a second  eAudio platform called OneClick. OneClick is the platform for Recorded Books proprietary titles that are not available anywhere else. This is a collection of a few hundred titles, and it is steadily growing through a small standing order plan of Recorded Book bestsellers that are bundled with Books on CD. You will also find some public domain titles here, and recently we began adding Pimsleur language-learning kits. There are few juvenile or YA titles on this platform currently, and no foreign language titles.

Challenge: Which languages are currently offered in our OneClick Pimsleur collection?

Anyone can search or browse OneClick content, but you will need to register for an account to check out titles. Depending on your device, one of the current eAudio apps, like Google play for Androids and iTunes for ios devices will work. There is a desktop app for Windows and one for Mac computers. Ten days is the maximum checkout period on OnceClick and users can select to check out for any number of days down to one. Learn more about checking out and downloading audiobooks on OneClick here. (Please note, although OneClick is now offering eBooks, we only order eAudio on this platform.)

As with eBooks, eAudio titles are added to the Encore monthly, so patrons can look for these titles without having to check between platforms. They will need to leave the catalog to do everything else for OneClick, and to download the audio to their devices and search for additional titles to recommend in Overdrive. Plus the very latest acquisitions will not usually be found in the catalog.

That's all, folks. Thanks for listening.

Tamar Kirschner

Collection Development Librarian

 

E-Books at OPL: The Why, Where, What, Who, How & When

Why eBooks?

You probably already know this, but OPL patrons love eBooks. As the Overdrive graph below reflects, eBook circulation has mushroomed over the past 4 ½ years since we signed on with Overdrive. Use has finally plateaued somewhat over the past year in the neighborhood of 7,000 checkouts and 2,500 unique users each month. Factoring in  eAudio and our other electronic platforms (although Overdrive is overwhelmingly the most used), we should regard our eMedia presence as a busy OPL branch of its own.

Our patrons are part of a burgeoning nationwide eBook trend, according to two Pew Research studies: Overall book readership stable, but e-books becoming more popular and E-Reading Rises as Device Ownership Jumps. Notably, almost half of readers under 30 read an e-book in the past year.

Where can patrons access eBooks?

Along with Overdrive, our OPL eBook page links to 3M Cloud Library (over 1,500 popular new titles), Enki (a shared, open-source eBook Network featuring mostly self-published and smaller presses), and Always Available Classics (public domain). MARC records are loaded monthly, so patrons should be able to discover most eBooks right in our catalog, instead of having to check for them in different platforms. Additionally, both Overdrive and 3M are now integrated into our catalog, which means that patrons can check out, check in, and place and manage holds on titles found in Encore from their My Encore library account without going to OverDrive or 3M platforms. 

Challenge question: Look up The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt in Encore. How many digital copies do we have on Overdrive? How many on 3M?

What can they expect to find?

Some of the eBooks we purchase are the latest popular titles on bestseller lists and topping our own print holds queues, but the most substantial portion of our eBook collection comes to us through Patron Driven Acquisition and we maintain a maximum ratio of 1 digital copy per 6 holds. eBook circulation tends heavily towards the new, so we rarely order back list content unless it is requested. The vast majority of eBook circulation, and therefore content, is still for adult titles.

We also currently have some hundreds of Chinese and Spanish titles, as well as 50 Russian titles.

Challenge: Find a title on Overdrive that we don't currently have, and recommend it through the Recommend to Library feature. (You will need to have an Overdrive account.) Tell us the title in your comments below and check the catalog to see if we already have it on 3M. Note: You may recommend one title per week.

Who are the publishers included on these platforms?

While the "Big Five" publishers are now all making eBook titles available to libraries, they still limit access by pricing and license limitations, and restrict full purchases.

Hachette - Pricing is 3 times retail price. OPL keeps content.

HarperCollins - Leased titles expire after 26 checkouts.

Penguin - Leased titles expire after 12 months.

MacMillan - Leased titles expire after either 24 months or 52 checkouts.

Simon & Schuster - Leased titles expire after 12 months.

Additionally, we are not able to get every eBook title that is available on the retail side, which you may have noticed when you were looking up titles to recommend, though most of the major new titles seem to be available these days.

Many other publishers have made their content available on Overdrive and 3M, where there of course is a lot of crossover. 

How does one get started?

Since Overdrive is our primary eBook platform, and it is looking likely that it will continue to be so, let's focus there.

You can find information for most devices on the OverDrive Help Page.  If you don't see your device listed there, you can also try the OverDrive Device Resource Center. Sonoma County Library has additionally created some nifty Youtube videos demonstrating how to get started on Kindle, Nook or ios devices.

Some nuts and bolts: Your checkout limit is 10 titles total of any media type. You have the option of checking out e-Books for either 7, 14, or 21 days and renewals are permitted if there are no holds on the title. You can place up to 5 holds on your account at a time.

Browse by a wide array of facets, or enter either a basic or advanced search:

Once you have signed in to your Overdrive account, you can place a hold or check out any OPL-owned title. It will remain on your bookshelf until it expires or you return it, where it can be downloaded or read in your browser:

Remember, once MARC records have been entered in the catalog, all of this can also be done without ever having to leave the catalog.

Challenge: Under eBook Non-fiction at the top of the home screen you should be able to find “Health & Fitness”. Which of the 172 titles under this topic has received an overall patron rating of 4 or higher? Hint: Facets can be narrowed on the left-hand side of the screen.

When are there additional eBook training opportunities? 

Friday, March 27th from 9:30 - 11:00
If you would like to learn more, you should attend the Training Committee's upcoming Overdrive Refresher in the Main Library Computer Lab.

(As with all Training Committee events, please fill out our Super Generic Training Registration form: https://staff.oaklandlibrary.org/content/generic-non-fee-training-approval-form, get your supervisor’s initials on it, and interoffice, email, or fax it to Crystal Ramie-Adams in FASO.)

Additionally, eResources Librarian Andrew Demcak (ADemcak@oaklandlibrary.org) is available to teach you and your staff about various eReaders and tablets onsite at your branch. Contact him to set up a time.

Finally, patrons can regularly find eBook workshops throughout OPL locations.

Questions? Contact Tamar Kirschner at TKirschner@oaklandlibrary.org.

Week 6: ChiltonLibrary On-Line Automotive Repair

ChiltonLibrary.com includes thousands of year, make and model combinations covering the most popular vehicles of the past 30 years, plus additional coverage of specialty models; designed so you can service or repair virtually any system on your vehicle.  Get the detailed information you need to tackle vehicle maintenance and repairs. Some of Chilton Library's more popular features include:

• Maintenance and specification tables that provide the unique data you need for each specific vehicle.
• Step-by-step service and repair procedures, and labor estimating tool to help you confidently determine your next move.
• Vacuum diagrams to simplify troubleshooting.
• Wiring diagrams to help explain system operation.
• Close-up photographs and illustrations for visual support.
• ASE test prep quizzes for the most popular certification exams
• A print button which allows you to easily print out what is needed.

Here's a link to a FAQ sheet for ChiltonLibrary click here.

Exercise:  Go to ChiltonLibrary and look up your car or a car that you are familiar with.  Can you find out how long it would take (the estimate) to replace a windshield?  Is there an estimate?

Week 5: Hey! Wanna Learn Another Language for Free? Try Transparent Language & Pimsleur's

Transparent Language online is a powerful language learning resource offering instruction in more than 80 languages plus English. Learn basic language skills or dive into more extensive language instruction all at your own pace. Transparent Language Online uses multimedia activities that instruct all four language skills, including listening, speaking, reading, and writing, as well as social media resources to meet the needs of any learner. It includes beginner English courses for speakers of other languages and an immersion course for intermediate level English learners.  The free companion mobile applications for Apple & Android Devices allow you to take your language learning on-the-go.

Exercise:  Go to Transparent Language and create an account.  Log in.  From the drop down menu at the middle top, how many forms of Japanese can you learn from this database? 

OneClickDigital –  Pimsleur's foreign language e-Book titles.

Dr. Pimsleur's Method® has been trusted for 50 Years by U.S. government agencies, diplomats, corporations, and anyone who wants or needs to learn to speak a language quickly and effectively. Everything about the Pimsleur Method has improved with age, making it the most reliable way to learn a language.  Our e-Books of Pimsleur’s titles are located in our OneClickDigital database.  Here is a video explaining how to download e-Audiobooks from OneClickDigital.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A05C6P08Lic

Exercise:  Go to OneClickDigital and register (You need a computer that can connect to the internet.)  Create an account.  Log in.  Now search for e-Audiobooks about learning Spanish.  How many titles can you find?

Week 4: (Not) Just for Kids! Tumblebooks, Overdrive Kids, and World Book

This week we’re going to play! Let’s take a look at the most popular kids’ eresource at OPL: Tumblebooks. If you have little ones nearby, you may want to bring them along.

Start on OPL's kids' page. Choose Stories Out Loud, and click on Tumblebooks.

From here, you can choose to have a story read to you, watch videos about science, play games, and practice your skills in one of six non-English languages. 

The links for Story Books and Nonfiction Books will take you to a selection of stories with simple animation and voice-over narration. For those who are learning to read, Chapter Books pairs text highlighting with narration  to help with practice.

TUMBLEBOOKS CHALLENGE: What is chasing Mercy Watson on the cover of "Mercy Watson to the Rescue?"

Did you like hearing the stories out loud? Let's roll onto OPL's Overdrive Kids page, where you can download children's audiobooks and ebooks. 

From Stories Out Loud, scroll to Kids' Audiobooks and click on the link. You'll land on a custom page that Overdrive built for us featuring all of our juvenile Overdrive audiobooks. Notice the links on the left side of the page--you can browse books by rating, grade level, publisher, even by devices supported.

OVERDRIVE KIDS CHALLENGE: Who reads the audio version of "Frog and Toad Are Friends?" (hint: you don't have to download the whole book to find out)

Finally, let's take a look at World Book. World Book Online is--you guessed it--the online version of the World Book Encyclopedia. Head to the library's database page, scroll to Encyclopedias, and select World Book Online. Click the icon for Kids--you'll notice a stripe that says "New" because the Kids' page recently got a big makeover! 

Icons across the bottom of the screen tell you what you can do on WBO Kids. World of Animals takes you to information about, yup, animals. Click on the aardvark- he's my favorite. 

Activities takes you to all kinds of fun--recipes, games, logic puzzles, music, drawing, and more! 

One cool thing you can do on WBO Kids is compare two animals, countries, states, or other places. Click Compareplaces on the main WBO Kids page. Choose a country, state, continent, or other place. After you've selected one place, click the purple Compare button on the upper right. Now you can select a second place. Click the purple Compare Now! button at the bottom right, and you'll see a side by side comparison of your two locations. Wow, did you know that Laos has more than three times as many people as Gambia? Now you do!

The Pictures and Videos portion of WBO Kids is also pretty cool. I found a picture of a traditional Maasai dance, a Balinese mask dance, and a video interview with a Wampanoag person exploring whether Native American people refer to themselves as "Native Americans." There's a lot to discover here.

WORLD BOOK KIDS CHALLENGE: How many insects can an aardvark eat in one night?

Release your inner child--digitally! And bid on a prize pack.

Week 3: Software Training with CustomGuide and LearningExpress

Welcome to Week 3 of the e-Library training adventure! This week, we'll dive into two software training resources: CustomGuide and LearningExpress.

You can find CustomGuide easily from our webpage by searching the catalog for "CustomGuide". The first link will take you in to the resource.

You first need to set up a free account to get started; you do need a valid email address. Once you're in the system, you will see a full list of courses - CustomGuide provides interactive online tutorials for Microsoft Word, Excel, and other products in the Office suite of products. For most of the courses, you can first take an assessment test to see what your current skill level is before launching in so you can skip sections that you already know about.

You also get access to a bunch of cheat sheets if you click on the "Quick References" tab. These include helpful tips/tricks for shortcuts and other handy insights for working with a particular software product or computers in general. You can also get a reference page to print out for many of the sections under each software tutorial. The "Profile" tab just lets you change your contact details and change your password as needed.

Another neat feature of CustomGuide is that you can track your progress if you click on the "My Usage Summary" link on the right. You can then take a screen shot of the courses completed and use it as 'proof' that you've done your work, which is great for employers that want to make sure employees are completing specific courses.

Exercises for CustomGuide: Please try out one of the tutorials and download a Quick Reference sheet. Which software tutorial did you choose? Which Reference sheet did you download? Please share two tips you didn't know already about working with that particular software. 

Now, let's move on to LearningExpress. You can find this easily from our webpage by searching the catalog for "LearningExpressLibrary" as one word. The first link will take you in to the resource.

Just like CustomGuide, you should set up a free account; you do not have to enter a email but it's useful for recovering your lost account.

LearningExpress includes not just tutorials and tests, but also e-books that you browse online. There are eight 'centers' total that divide up the various tutorials and e-books into broad categories, or you can search directly in the search box at the bottom of the screen. For example, if you need to find practice tests for a particular exam, it's easiest to search by the test name. And, you can click on the "Featured Resources" list on the top of the page to get a browsable view of the most often accessed content. Once you're in the "Featured Resources" view, you can get a full list of all the e-books available as well. There's also content available in Spanish - for general math and reading help, as well as GED and citizenship prep.

For students, School Center and College Centers are excellent free resources, and includes test prep resources you normally would have to pay for. It's broken up by age level, and the practice exams will give you immediate scores and feedback. There's also a resume course and a cover letters course in Career Center. You can start and save tests to finish at a later time.

Exercises for LearningExpress: Look through the various centers and pick out the most useful-seeming Center for your patrons' needs. How would you advertise this resource to your patrons? What surprised you about this resource? 

Please leave a comment with your responses to the exercises, and then go bid on a prize pack!

Week 2: Zinio & Freegal - What Are They? & What Do They Have In There For Me?

Here's Zinio:

Zinio is the world's largest newsstand. It offers full color, interactive digital magazines for your enjoyment. Browse the library's collection of popular titles with no holds, no checkout periods, no fines, and no limit to the number of magazines you can download!

Mobile apps — Read magazines on 95% of today's mobile devices including all iOS (Apple), Android, Win8, and Kindle Fire/HD/HDX.

Current Issues of Magazines— New issues are released simultaneously with the print edition. Many are available before they arrive at the library and are ready for immediate download.

Back List — As OPL's collection grows, so does the digital backlist for checkout and reading.

Easy browsing and checkout — Browse  OPL's collection of titles one at a time, search for your favorite magazines by title or use the convenient category feature to find new magazines which meet your interests.

Manage your collection — Using the personal account you create, you will have the opportunity to checkout magazines and read them instantly on your computer (both PC and Mac) or access the content on a portable media device. (Note: viewing options, including the ability to download or view the content while online, may differ based on the device and/or magazine publisher).

No limit permanent check out — Check out as many issues as you want and keep them in your account as long as you wish.

Watch the Zinio tutorial by clicking HERE

***First: you need to go to Zinio.com to sign up for your own free account.***

Assignment:  Download the Zinio App. (or, if not on a tablet/smart phone: just read using your computer browser) and then look at this week’s issue of The New Yorker.   Which poets are featured in the issue?

And now for Freegal:

Freegal is a downloadable music service from your library. All you need is your library card number and a PIN. Freegal offers access to about 3 million songs, including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists. In total the collection is comprised of music from over 10,000 labels with music that originates in over 60 countries. 

A download usage counter is located in the upper right corner of Freegal music.com displaying your weekly allotment. For instance, 1/3 means that you have a weekly limit of 3 downloads, and you have used 1 of those downloads. The download counter resets each week at Monday 12:01 AM (Eastern Time, USA).The site is set up to browse or search for your favorite music or artist. You can use the navigation at the top of the page to browse by keyword, artist, or album; or you can simply use our advanced search page. Freegal Music also offers a collection of Top Download lists on the homepage where users can browse a variety of music selections.

For use on a mobile device:  download the Freegal App. If you have an Apple device (iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch), you will be able to download the Freegal App by doing a search for “Freegal Music” in the Apple iTunes App Store.  If you have an Android phone or tablet, you will be able to search for “Freegal Music” in the Google Play store. A Freegal App for Kindle Fire/HD/HDX can be downloaded from GetJar or SlideMe.org.  If you are on a laptop or PC, simply download songs onto your computer.

Watch a Freegal tutorial by clicking HERE

Assignment:  Login to your account on Freegal using your library card.  How many downloads can you get this week and how much time do you have for streaming music?

Week 1: Introduction

Welcome and congratulations on deciding to participate in this self-paced online learning opportunity. Not only will you come away more familiar with OPL’s digital content offerings, you can win some nifty stuff in the process! If you have any questions about the process, please visit our FAQs page. 

Let's dive right in with a quick overview of OPL's digital resources. All digital content at OPL are available 24-7, whenever you’re online. This has its obvious advantages - mainly that it allows for access - but yes, you do need a computer or a device of some kind, and as you'll see, some resources are much easier to use than others.

The main entry for OPL's digital offerings is our website, at www.oaklandlibrary.org. Our public website is built on an open-source content management system called Drupal (https://www.drupal.org) and Sharon McKellar is the ‘webmaster’ for all content. Many other staff contribute event calendar listings, blog posts, and manage different sections of the website. Our website is a ‘responsive’ site, meaning that it looks great and functions well across various devices, including smartphones. We also have different sites set up for teens (http://oaklandlibrary.org/teens) and kids (http://oaklandlibrary.org/kids), with different styles/colors for each age group. Some other things to point out:

·        Our website also has links to OPL’s various social media presences on the top right corner.

·        We have four blogs written by librarians – you can see them all at http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/blogs.

You can search the catalog directly from the website, too. A site search option is also in the planning stages, but if you need to do a site search, you can use any search engine for the same results.

For eBooks and eAudioBooks and eMagazines: We have a rich collection of fiction, non-fiction, magazines, and music for all ages that you can read, or listen to, on either your computer or a device like a smartphone or an ereader. And it’s a large collection – OverDrive has 10,369  titles, 3M Cloud Library has 1671 titles, and OneClickDigital has 114 titles, and Zinio has 167 magazines available. 

We also have a number of amazing databases – we’ll highlight a few of the most popular ones in this training session, but briefly, library databases are the set of subscription online resources that we provide for our patrons to use.  You can see a complete list on our public website at this link: http://oaklandlibrary.org/online-resources/articles-and-databases.Some of them are collections of periodical articles, others include book recommendations, while others have car repair information.  Databases are also sometimes known as electronic resources, eResources, online subscriptions, and many other names, none of which is very descriptive. Please  be sure to look over our FAQs about databases on this page: http://oaklandlibrary.org/online-resources/articles-and-databases/opl-databases-frequently-asked-questions.

There are two main ways to access online resources. The first is through the public website: go to our public website, at www.oaklandlibrary.org and click on “Online Services” link on the top of the page to get a full listing; you can also click on the two links in the “I want to…” section on the left for ebooks and online services. Second, for most collections, you can enter its name in our catalog and search for it. For example, try searching for “Zinio” – the first result will give you the link you can use to see a full listing of all of Zinio’s online magazines.

An important note: If you have any account problems, just as you can’t check out physical books, you can’t check out eBooks, either. So, if your library card has expired, or your fine is too high, you won’t be able to download eBooks; you’ll be able to access databases, though.

DISCOVERY EXERCISES:

You have until Monday, February 9, to complete these exercises below. Don’t forget to leave a comment to register your participation (the Leave a Comment link is under this post).  Tell us your name. 

1. What would you add to the website to make it easier to use OPL's digital resources? 

2.  If you want to get an ereader that you can use with library ebooks, which one would you get? Which one would you avoid? Why? If you already have an ereader, which one is it? Would you recommend it to a friend? Why or why not?

Once you've answered both exercises in a comment, go bid on a prize on one of the prize pack pages! You will need to leave your full name so we can contact you if you win.