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Originally Posted by Khendron
I've been looking at the eBook selection at the Ottawa Public Library. Although the selection is somewhat limited, I am guessing that it will increase over time.
What are people's experiences with other libraries?
One problem I am having getting eBooks from the OPL is that most of the eBooks have a waiting list. Like dead-tree books, I guess the library will only lend out a limited number of copies of an eBook at one time.
That's OK, I can wait. Unlike a dead-tree book, however, I cannot return an eBook to the library as soon as I have finished it. The full lending period must expire before the eBook is sent back to circulation. So although dead-tree waiting lists tend to move fairly quickly, because many people return the books early, the eBook waiting lists crawl.
I can, when I check the eBook out, set the lending period to 7, 14 or 21 days. But most people will automatically choose the 21 day lending period, just to be safe. I might be tempted to choose the 7 day lending period, if I was able to renew the checkout after 7 days in case I haven't finished the book. But renewals are not possible.
Looks like, then, there are some kinks to be worked out in the eBook lending model at the OPL. I am hoping to see this evolve for the better over time.
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What vendor is the OPL using to backend their digital library services? OverDrive? The Toronto Public Library uses OverDrive. Selection is decent but growing. It's filled with a lot of trashy romance novels, so I'm assuming they aimed the initial load at people who might be embarrassed to physically check these out.
What I find most annoying is that on the web site, I can't filter by media type (i.e. only want to see ePub books), but I can do this using the mobile web site from my BlackBerry.
You can actually return books ahead of the expiration date., but you have to use Adobe Digital Editions (only works for PDF and ePub books, Mobipocket books will need to expire if anyone is using that format on another device). In ADE, click the dropdown menu arrow on the book cover, and click the return to library option. Done!