Australian Library goes into Overdrive

[SneakySnake]

You all need to have a holiday on the Sunny Coast! Drop into the library whilst you are here and they will give you a library card, then you can borrow ebooks/.

[MacEachaidh]

I like the way you think, SneakySnake!

[mikel12323]

Originally Posted by SneakySnake

You all need to have a holiday on the Sunny Coast! Drop into the library whilst you are here and they will give you a library card, then you can borrow ebooks/.

I will be right down SSnake! Leave the lights on for me.

Thanks to all for your comments, almost all of our US libraries require ID and in-person applications. Philly is our one notable exception. Enjoy it while (whilst) you can.

[iandix]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

G'day Mikel,
Most of the libraries here where I've enquired about this require proof of residence within their area to process a membership application, so I'd have to say generally, no.

I'd be delighted to be proved wrong, though! I live in western Sydney, and the library system within our local council has "absolutely no plans" for moving into eBooks "in the foreseeable future", I've been told.

Boo hiss !!

Ashfield Library in Sydney allows people from outside the area to join... you just need to go to the library in person. They have had Overdrive for a while now

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by iandix

Ashfield Library in Sydney allows people from outside the area to join... you just need to go to the library in person. They have had Overdrive for a while now

Thanks iandix, I'll try them again. Ashfield was one of the libraries I tried -- because I'd read that Ashfield and Strathfield had implemented Overdrive -- and I was told in no uncertain terms I had to have an electricity or phone bill proving I lived in the area before I could apply. But sometimes the answer you get depends on who you ask, so I'll try again.

Is it ePub they support, or (erkk!!) PDF? (Pardon my ignorance, but I've never actually used Overdrive before.)

[CazMar]

Originally Posted by Metal Mick

Hi Cazmar, et al,

I didn't mean to make you feel bad! Have you tried petitioning the highest levels of the library administration? Quoting other libraries' policies might also help.

Cheers,

As our wondrous state government is now talking about cutting library funding I guess my chances of having a new system implemented are about those of the proverbial snowball in hell. And electing a different party will probably just mean the cuts will be bigger.

[CazMar]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Is it ePub they support, or (erkk!!) PDF? (Pardon my ignorance, but I've never actually used Overdrive before.)

I don't know about this particular library, but Overdrive does seem to support EPUB.

[iandix]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Thanks iandix, I'll try them again. Ashfield was one of the libraries I tried -- because I'd read that Ashfield and Strathfield had implemented Overdrive -- and I was told in no uncertain terms I had to have an electricity or phone bill proving I lived in the area before I could apply. But sometimes the answer you get depends on who you ask, so I'll try again.

Is it ePub they support, or (erkk!!) PDF? (Pardon my ignorance, but I've never actually used Overdrive before.)

They have mostly epub and a few pdf files.

their website
http://ashfieldcouncil.sitesuite.cn/...ry_member.html

maybe print out that page and take it in ..as it has this line in it

"You can join the library even if you live outside the area. Your card can be used to borrow from either Ashfield or Haberfield libraries and is current for three (3) years."

[viviena]

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Thanks iandix, I'll try them again. Ashfield was one of the libraries I tried -- because I'd read that Ashfield and Strathfield had implemented Overdrive -- and I was told in no uncertain terms I had to have an electricity or phone bill proving I lived in the area before I could apply.

Definitely depends on the person. For what it's worth, I live in Western Sydney also, and I had no problems creating a library membership at Strathfield Library. They didn't care at all about my residence outside the council area, just gave me a form and asked to see my driver's licence.

You can see the libraries' group catalogue here, you don't have to be logged in: http://elibrary247.lib.overdrive.com/. Unfortunately, this small collection has more PDFs than EPUBs, but at least the collection's growing.

[MacEachaidh]

Yay! CazMar, iandix, viviena, thanks heaps for your replies.

[MacEachaidh]

Originally Posted by CazMar

As our wondrous state government is now talking about cutting library funding I guess my chances of having a new system implemented are about those of the proverbial snowball in hell. And electing a different party will probably just mean the cuts will be bigger.

Well that's pretty crap eh, CazMar? (Aussie politics is so frustrating at the moment, both state and federal -- there's almost nothing to differentiate the two major parties, and neither actually stands for anything.)

Here in the circling-the-drain NSW, I had an idea that funding allocation for libraries happened at a local council level. Am I wrong in that?

Anyway, the demographic of my area is swinging sharply towards non-English-speaking being in the majority (mostly Arabic, Indian and east Asian), so the library system has decided to put the bulk of its funding into those languages, rather than expanding (or even maintaining!) its English-language facilities. I guess I understand why (though I think we Aussies have a habit of making everybody else more "worthy" than ourselves, even in our own country), but it's pretty obvious that it makes me unhappy.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

Yeah. I got a look in exactly the same Swahili language about whether I could ask to inter library loan a book by email - so I could put in the details rather than have the not-too-bright local library types with less than up to date database searching skills take 15 minutes to find while I am standing there waiting.

Our public library does Inter-Library Loan requests via e-mail. You fill in the details, including an ISBN#, and there's a box to tick if you only want that edition. Even before that, it was the same info on paper in-person - never a need for them to do anything, but accept the form from you.

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Is it ePub they support, or (erkk!!) PDF? (Pardon my ignorance, but I've never actually used Overdrive before.)

Our library has mostly Epub Overdrives, some PDF (although a fair number of books come in both formats, not just PDF only), and a smaller amount of Mobi.

Originally Posted by MacEachaidh

Anyway, the demographic of my area is swinging sharply towards non-English-speaking being in the majority (mostly Arabic, Indian and east Asian), so the library system has decided to put the bulk of its funding into those languages, rather than expanding (or even maintaining!) its English-language facilities. I guess I understand why (though I think we Aussies have a habit of making everybody else more "worthy" than ourselves, even in our own country), but it's pretty obvious that it makes me unhappy.

We have some Overdrive books in Chinese, though few, if any, in Spanish.