Question about library collections

kelly1010 · 06-14-2009, 03:02 AM

I have a question about library collections. I have been compiling a list of different county libraries with ebook collections. Several of them use Overdrive and several use Netlibrary. What I'm wondering is this:

for the libraries that use overdrive....since they all use Overdrive, will ALL of them have the same collection...or is the collection specific to each library? I'm thinking that it's specific to each library since I belong to 3 libraries with Overdrive already, and each of them have different books. I'm trying to plan a road trip to hit several of these libraries, and if they all have the same collection, then there's really no point in going to those libraries since I already have access to overdrive. And I'm also wondering this same thing about Netlibrary collections. Hopefully my question makes sense...

I also found out that Contra Costa County Library has Epub ebooks. I will DEFINITELY be going there.

Thanks in advance

dreams · 06-14-2009, 03:36 AM

I just went to Sac elibrary and clicked browse collection. Can't you do that on the others to check? Wouldn't they all have whichever ebooks they "pay for" and it would be different for each area depending on requested wants?

kelly1010 · 06-14-2009, 03:57 AM

Yeah I already belong to the Sacramento library. Their collection IS a little different than San Jose....but they do have most of the same books. Luckily all the libraries I want to go to are in the same general area so I'll probably hit all of them. I found that alot of libraries require you to have a library card number in order to access their system.

I'm excited to get access to the Northern California Digital Library though. I'll get access to that library by joining the Contra Costa County Library.

dreams · 06-14-2009, 04:21 AM

Have you had any problems with having more than one library's books on the reader at the same time? I think I saw a post about something to do with this..

kelly1010 · 06-14-2009, 04:36 AM

I'm pretty sure I had two books from two different libraries on my reader and there hasn't been a problem.I will have to try it. I can't plug my reader in right now because I have a book that was due a couple days ago that I'm trying to finish LOL.

dreams · 06-14-2009, 04:42 AM

I wish I could remember the problem mentioned. Do the libraries use different programs (ADE and something else)?

I haven't authorized ADE yet, so I haven't tried library checkout. If I have ADE authorized, do all my pdf switch to opening in ADE?

kelly1010 · 06-14-2009, 04:49 AM

No they all use ADE.

dordale · 06-14-2009, 12:22 PM

Kelly--As Dreams suggests, the various libraries all have what ever overdrive books they decide to pay for.

On the Overdrive page for each library, you can click on "Advanced Search" and it'll take you to a search engine. On that page, only change the format type to either "Adobe EPub" or "Adobe PDF" and choose "Search". That'll bring up all of the books that library has with that format type. Right now, when I look at the San Francisco Library collection, I find 478 ePub books compared to only 108 at Contra Costa County library.

The New York Public Libary doesn't currently offer ePubs, but they do have over 12,000 PDF books available. (That's why I felt it was worth $100 for a one year membership!) I'm also hoping they add ePub in the near future--they seem to add books to their collection quite frequently.

I find that most of the libraries I belong to add a few new books every month or so. I've been disappointed with the Northern California Collection though, because they haven't added anything new since August or September of last year.

Another thing I find useful is the search engine on Overdrive's site: search.overdrive.com . You can type an author or name of book your interested in and search on it. It'll bring up all the books by that author or with that title name and list which libraries the books are available at. This is super useful if you belong to several libraries, because you can search them all at once.

Hope this helps!

dordale

kelly1010 · 06-14-2009, 01:38 PM

Thanks to all for your help!! I figure that by joining all these libraries..they may have tiny collections now, but over time hopefully they will grow. I usually check at the beginning of every month. My boyfriend lets me use his library card for the Michigan Library Consortium. They offer epub books and they seem to have alot of newer titles.

hydin · 06-14-2009, 06:59 PM

I recently found out about this elibrary stuff, and was hoping someone could answer a quick question for me..

Are there ANY libraries out there that don't require you to have a library card there? The local ones here don't really have a single book I want to read in epub or pdf, but the ones that carry books I do want to read (The Strain, etc) are all "locked" by library card needed, and also in several different states.

Just wonderin

kelly1010 · 06-14-2009, 07:14 PM

All the ones I belong to require you to have a library card with them. That's how they keep track of books you've checked out. I have yet to find one that doesn't. I do know that some libraries allow non-residents to have library cards for a small fee. NYPL is one, and I think you can apply for the car through the mail. And luckily some states allow you to have the cards as long as your a resident of that state, not just the city, which is why I'm going on my road trip.

Ankh · 06-14-2009, 07:19 PM

Have you guys checked our own Wiki page dedicated to ebook lending libraries?

Some of them are marked "free".

kelly1010 · 06-14-2009, 07:42 PM

I just looked at that wiki page.

I found that a couple libraries that were free for non-residents but they still require you to come in and sign up for the library card. I also found a couple online lending libraries that were free for limited access, but the ones I found only offered mobi formats. I'm actually going to look into the online lending libraries more and see if I can find something that works with either pdf or epub. I'd be willing to pay a price for something like that if they had enough books that I would read.

RaggedReader · 07-08-2009, 03:03 PM

I was looking into getting a NYPL library card for out of state residents on their website. I couldn't find any information about applying/fees etc so I sent them email asking if they still offered cards for out of state residents. Unfortunately, I got this reply:

"Unfortunately, the New York Public Library ("NYPL") has discontinued the library cards for out of state applicants for $100 a year or any other fee. This may continue to appear on our web page but that information is out of date and invalid. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you."

dordale · 07-08-2009, 04:47 PM

I'm sorry to hear that. My year will be coming up in August. Guess I won't be renewing!

Thanks for posting that RaggedReader. Maybe they'll change their policies again to allow non-resident cards again.

dordale

06-14-2009, 03:02 AM	#1
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	Question about library collections I have a question about library collections. I have been compiling a list of different county libraries with ebook collections. Several of them use Overdrive and several use Netlibrary. What I'm wondering is this: for the libraries that use overdrive....since they all use Overdrive, will ALL of them have the same collection...or is the collection specific to each library? I'm thinking that it's specific to each library since I belong to 3 libraries with Overdrive already, and each of them have different books. I'm trying to plan a road trip to hit several of these libraries, and if they all have the same collection, then there's really no point in going to those libraries since I already have access to overdrive. And I'm also wondering this same thing about Netlibrary collections. Hopefully my question makes sense... I also found out that Contra Costa County Library has Epub ebooks. I will DEFINITELY be going there. Thanks in advance

07-08-2009, 03:03 PM	#14
RaggedReader Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 42 Join Date: Jul 2009 Device: Sony 505	NYPL discontinued non resident library card application I was looking into getting a NYPL library card for out of state residents on their website. I couldn't find any information about applying/fees etc so I sent them email asking if they still offered cards for out of state residents. Unfortunately, I got this reply: "Unfortunately, the New York Public Library ("NYPL") has discontinued the library cards for out of state applicants for $100 a year or any other fee. This may continue to appear on our web page but that information is out of date and invalid. We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you."

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06-14-2009, 03:36 AM	#2
dreams It's about the umbrella Posts: 25,112 Karma: 56250158 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505\| K Fire \| KK 3G+Wi-Fi \| iPhone 3Gs \|Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF	I just went to Sac elibrary and clicked browse collection. Can't you do that on the others to check? Wouldn't they all have whichever ebooks they "pay for" and it would be different for each area depending on requested wants?

06-14-2009, 03:57 AM	#3
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	Yeah I already belong to the Sacramento library. Their collection IS a little different than San Jose....but they do have most of the same books. Luckily all the libraries I want to go to are in the same general area so I'll probably hit all of them. I found that alot of libraries require you to have a library card number in order to access their system. I'm excited to get access to the Northern California Digital Library though. I'll get access to that library by joining the Contra Costa County Library.

06-14-2009, 04:21 AM	#4
dreams It's about the umbrella Posts: 25,112 Karma: 56250158 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505\| K Fire \| KK 3G+Wi-Fi \| iPhone 3Gs \|Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF	Have you had any problems with having more than one library's books on the reader at the same time? I think I saw a post about something to do with this..

06-14-2009, 04:36 AM	#5
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	I'm pretty sure I had two books from two different libraries on my reader and there hasn't been a problem.I will have to try it. I can't plug my reader in right now because I have a book that was due a couple days ago that I'm trying to finish LOL.

06-14-2009, 04:42 AM	#6
dreams It's about the umbrella Posts: 25,112 Karma: 56250158 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505\| K Fire \| KK 3G+Wi-Fi \| iPhone 3Gs \|Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF	I wish I could remember the problem mentioned. Do the libraries use different programs (ADE and something else)? I haven't authorized ADE yet, so I haven't tried library checkout. If I have ADE authorized, do all my pdf switch to opening in ADE?

06-14-2009, 04:49 AM	#7
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	No they all use ADE.

06-14-2009, 12:22 PM	#8
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	Kelly--As Dreams suggests, the various libraries all have what ever overdrive books they decide to pay for. On the Overdrive page for each library, you can click on "Advanced Search" and it'll take you to a search engine. On that page, only change the format type to either "Adobe EPub" or "Adobe PDF" and choose "Search". That'll bring up all of the books that library has with that format type. Right now, when I look at the San Francisco Library collection, I find 478 ePub books compared to only 108 at Contra Costa County library. The New York Public Libary doesn't currently offer ePubs, but they do have over 12,000 PDF books available. (That's why I felt it was worth $100 for a one year membership!) I'm also hoping they add ePub in the near future--they seem to add books to their collection quite frequently. I find that most of the libraries I belong to add a few new books every month or so. I've been disappointed with the Northern California Collection though, because they haven't added anything new since August or September of last year. Another thing I find useful is the search engine on Overdrive's site: search.overdrive.com . You can type an author or name of book your interested in and search on it. It'll bring up all the books by that author or with that title name and list which libraries the books are available at. This is super useful if you belong to several libraries, because you can search them all at once. Hope this helps! dordale

06-14-2009, 01:38 PM	#9
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	Thanks to all for your help!! I figure that by joining all these libraries..they may have tiny collections now, but over time hopefully they will grow. I usually check at the beginning of every month. My boyfriend lets me use his library card for the Michigan Library Consortium. They offer epub books and they seem to have alot of newer titles.

06-14-2009, 06:59 PM	#10
hydin Connoisseur Posts: 66 Karma: 186 Join Date: Nov 2008 Device: Paperwhite, Nook Glowlight 3	I recently found out about this elibrary stuff, and was hoping someone could answer a quick question for me.. Are there ANY libraries out there that don't require you to have a library card there? The local ones here don't really have a single book I want to read in epub or pdf, but the ones that carry books I do want to read (The Strain, etc) are all "locked" by library card needed, and also in several different states. Just wonderin

06-14-2009, 07:14 PM	#11
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	All the ones I belong to require you to have a library card with them. That's how they keep track of books you've checked out. I have yet to find one that doesn't. I do know that some libraries allow non-residents to have library cards for a small fee. NYPL is one, and I think you can apply for the car through the mail. And luckily some states allow you to have the cards as long as your a resident of that state, not just the city, which is why I'm going on my road trip.

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06-14-2009, 07:19 PM	#12
Ankh Guru Posts: 714 Karma: 2003751 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Ottawa, ON Device: Kobo Glo HD	Have you guys checked our own Wiki page dedicated to ebook lending libraries? Some of them are marked "free".

06-14-2009, 07:42 PM	#13
kelly1010 Book Addict! Posts: 533 Karma: 1070 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: CA Device: Sony PRS-505, iPod Touch, Kindle 3G + Wi-Fi	I just looked at that wiki page. I found that a couple libraries that were free for non-residents but they still require you to come in and sign up for the library card. I also found a couple online lending libraries that were free for limited access, but the ones I found only offered mobi formats. I'm actually going to look into the online lending libraries more and see if I can find something that works with either pdf or epub. I'd be willing to pay a price for something like that if they had enough books that I would read.

07-08-2009, 04:47 PM	#15
dordale Wizard Posts: 1,731 Karma: 3472866 Join Date: Apr 2008 Device: Sony PRS-650 & 350; Kindle Voyage; Kobo Aura HD, Aura One, and Forma	I'm sorry to hear that. My year will be coming up in August. Guess I won't be renewing! Thanks for posting that RaggedReader. Maybe they'll change their policies again to allow non-resident cards again. dordale