Collection Developments @ Sno-Isle

Hey, wanna listen to Scott McClellan’s tell all about the Bush White House now?

And I mean right now.

Like, right this instant.

Well you can by going to the Sno-Isle Digital Library and checking it out.  Sno-Isle has this book available in Maximum Access which means there will never be any holds on it ever!  There will always be a copy available for you and thousands of your closest friends.

How do we do this? Blackstone Audio, the publisher of McClellan’s book sells their titles to libraries in two ways.  One is the traditional one copy one listener model we’re all used to with books.  Maximum Access is the other way they sell their audio books.  Sno-Isle pays more per title for this option but we can swap out titles in the Blackstone catalog that have past their prime for other ones like What Happened, that everyone wants.  Blackstone is the only audio book publisher that has this program with OverDrive, so most other titles have to be purchased using the one copy one listener business model.

To find What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception, go to the Sno-Isle Digital Media Library and search on Scott McClellan.  Do not search the CARLweb, or CARL solution because the record hasn’t been loaded into the catalog yet.

Well, why is that?  One of the beautiful things about digital media is instant gratification.  Literally moments after I place an order for a digital audio book it becomes available to Sno-Isle customers.  Our Catalog Services, Acquisitions, and Materials Processing department are wonderful and can move mountains but they’ll never be able to match the speed of digital media.  Because the book is available instantly through the Sno-Isle page, it takes a while for the MARC record  to be received from OverDrive.  This is because OverDrive has to get it from OCLC, and OCLC sends it to OverDrive and then OverDrive sends it to us.  All this sending back and forth means that there will always be a delay between the time that the book is available for download, and the time that it reaches CARLweb and CARL Solution.

So download an audio book today.

FYI An order for the CD version of this book has been placed and  will be in the catalog soon.  More copies of the print edition are on order as well.  Currently there are 152 people waiting on the hardcover.

Currently this book is not compatible with the iPod, as has been mentioned here before OverDrive will be releasing more information about iPod compatible titles at ALA at the end of the month.

A 2007 Audio Publishers Association survey has released that the majority of publishers seeing the format being completely replaced by digital, and downloads in less than 10 years.

From Library Journal:

How much longer for CDs?
It is clear, however, that many expect the CD to reach extinction. A 2007 APA survey showed audiobook sales to libraries steadily rising, with CDs still the format of choice among library patrons and the sale of cassette sets declining overall. Despite the current health of CD sales, OverDrive’s Potash predicted a remaining lifespan for the format of just ten years, and the panelists all seemed to agree that the future of the industry lies in digital and downloadable audio.

Strengthening their point, and in an Audies’ first, a novel created exclusively for audio and only available as a download, The Chopin Manuscript (Audible), won Audiobook of the Year. More proof of confidence in the digital audio sector came with Ingram Digital’s recent acquisition of the iofy digital audiobook platform from the Audiofy Corporation.

OverDrive has released version 3.0 of their media console. This version will be compatible with the iPod DRM free titles that are coming later this summer.

(See below for more details)

Version 3.0 also includes a new improved wizard that makes burning CDs easier. For titles that allow CD burning, all patrons need to do is to click the ‘Burn’ button and the burn wizard (ooh he sounds scary doesn’t he? ‘Hey lookout here comes the burn wizard!) will launch which guides the patron through the burn process. The burn wizard makes the whole process a seamless experience for the patron, since the Windows Media Player is completely bypassed.

Version 2.1(the one most of you already have on your desktops) will continue to be supported but all new registrations are going to be installing the new version. This could mean that a patron might call you for help and be looking at a different screen than you are, to avoid this you may wish to replace version 2.1 with the new version of the OverDrive Media Console (OMC).

Read the OverDrive press release for more detail.

OverDrive Media Console OMC v.3.0 now available at your digital library website, offers many features that your patrons have been anticipating.  You and all your users are invited to upgrade to the new OMC v.3.0.

In response to the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received from our Transfer Wizard, we have added a Burn to CD Wizard.  With OMC v3.0, patrons no longer need to launch Windows Media Player to burn to CD.  Instead, in just a few clicks, patrons can burn WMA audio titles through OMC.  Clicking the ‘Burn’ button launches the Burn Wizard, which guides the user through this simple and straightforward process.  For your audiobook users who burn titles to CD, they will be excited to learn that the new Burn Wizard splits OverDrive’s Audiobook parts into tracks (based on the existing MediaMarkers), allowing users to more easily navigate content they have burned to CD.

As announced and covered in the press, OverDrive will introduce the new OverDrive MP3 Audiobook (compatible with iPods).  OMC v3.0 supports the new MP3 format.  When OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks are available (coming Summer 2008).  Windows users who have already installed OMC v3.0 will be able to use titles in this format.  Users of earlier versions will need to upgrade to OMC v3.0 to enjoy OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks.  To learn more about OverDrive MP3 Audibooks, read the press release and Library Journal’s coverage of this exciting news.

OverDrive is grateful for your feedback and suggestions that have allowed us to release this exciting new version of the OverDrive Media Console.  If you have any questions, please contact your Project Manager or the OverDrive Support Team.

If one of your friends said to you,

“Hey, wanna go to a show? I got tickets to this band I haven’t heard of, but they’re supposed to be great.” And assuming you had nothing better to do, would you go?

That’s a bit of what this new group of downloadable music is like–there’s folk, power pop, punk, emo, broadway, alternative rock, classic rock, and children’s–and even a Neil Sedaka collection with some Irish Tenors thrown in as well.

Not all of it’s for everyone-but there is some very good indie label stuff here from the folks at Razor & Tie.

A few snippets that caught my eye this morning.–biographies and reviews from All Music Guide-definitely the site to have open as you browse these artists and titles.

Tora! Tora! Torrance! (punk revival)

Tora! Tora! Torrance! hails from the same neighborhood that brought listeners the Replacements, Hüsker Dü, and Suicide Commandos; however, the energetic indie rock quintet arrived nearly 20 years after those pioneers. Just as ironic and passionate as their mentors, Tora! Tora! Torrance! is comprised of Travis Even (bass), Sam Johnson (guitar/keyboards), Nick Koenigs (vocals), Jesse Panzer (drums), and Jon Tester (guitar).

Dar Williams (folk)

Williams takes pains to avoid the coy, and the quirky; her songwriting and performing style has been compared to that of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez but with a few acidic and, at times, hilarious twists.

Rufio (pop punk, emo)

The Rancho Cucamonga, CA, pop-punk quartet Rufio is comprised of members Scott Sellers (guitar, vocals), Jon Berry (bass, vocals), Clark Domae (lead guitar), and Mike Jimenez (drums). Musically comparable to such early 21st century chart-toppers as blink-182 and Sum 41, Rufio issued their debut recording, Perhaps, I Suppose…, in 2001 on the Revelation Records label.

Yerba Buena (Latin)

The Latin American collective Yerba Buena was organized by producer and multi-instrumentalist Andres Levin, a native Venezuelan who’d appeared on records by Marisa Monte, Arto Lindsay, Aterciopelados, and Tina Turner, as well as helming the critically acclaimed Fela Kuti tribute Red Hot + Riot. Yerba Buena arose from Levin’s wish to bring together a band capable of melding forms old and new, learning from each other in the form of a school.

“So, c’mon do you wanna go to a show? I’ve got tickets and these guys are s’posed to be really good”

an object of buzz at BEA was the much publicized Kindle.  the device is not exactly the new, popular kid in school with booksellers envisioning reduced sales and an increase of Amazon’s power in the marketplace.

Sarah over at Smart Bitches devoted a posting to the Kindle and ebooks in general and brings up a very important point:  ebooks are not significantly cheaper to the consumer, especially compared to the price of a mass market pb, and this is a major hurdle.  the way i see it, it’s a similar phenomena to what’s happening in the music industry:  downloading a cd from itunes is not that much cheaper than going to the record store.  and for someone who is lazy like myself, downloading an album and then burning it to a cd for my car is much more time intensive, less enjoyable than a trip to the record store, and results in a far less attractive product than a cd with the glossy cover art, tracts, and lyrics.  if ebooks are going to hit mainstream, changes on many levels will need to be made.

Projector Lens, originally uploaded by libraryman.

Movie studios are considering selling you downloads of current movies in high definition BEFORE they offer them as DVD or Blu-ray. As if it isn’t already obvious enough, if they sell it to you as a download the studios profit is significant, since there’s no physical product to produce, package, and distribute. Currently, the hangup is over, you guessed it our old friend DRM. Right now it seems to be all in the early talking stages, but the landscape is definitely changing for libraries offering downloadble feature films. Definitely something to keep an eye on in the future.

Read more in the U.S. News and World Report article.

If you love free stuff, and you’re a Star Wars junkie–check this out.

The LJ Bookroom blog writes:

Free Star Wars Novel Download
April 29, 2008

“This just in from Del Rey: As a special gift to Star Wars fans, Del Rey will be offering Book One in the series, Star Wars: Legacy Of The Force: Betrayal, as a free downloadable PDF, audio book, and eBook. This promotional offer will run for two weeks, from 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, April 29, until midnight on Tuesday, May 13. The free download, which can be shared, e-mailed or printed, will be available here. “

I downloaded the audiobook in about two minutes. Now to try the e-book…..

Ars Technica has details of a movie service to be unveiled in late May.  The service will require customers to download the movie to their pc and then sync to their phones.  This sounds similar to all the other services out there to me.

Excerpted from Ars Technica:

“Apparently, the service will not be designed so that users can download movies directly from their phones—rather, they will have to download first to their PCs and then sync it to their devices. This makes the description of a “breakthrough” service somewhat curious, as the idea of just sticking video content onto a mobile device is neither new nor innovative, even for Motorola. Last June, the company rolled out a Moto Z8 preloaded with a full-length version of The Bourne Identity, and later this month, Motorola plans to introduce Moto Z10s in the UK with the Ultimate Bourne Collection.’

Full article