3M Cloud contents...

[dkperez]

Have others in here had success with the 3M Cloud? I've been able to access it through one of the libraries for which I have a card, but I'm finding VERY few current, mainstream (by mainstream, I mean well-known, widely reviewed, ordinary, not-esoteric) fiction/mystery authors with books that are close to current... No new Lee Child, James Patterson, Tess Gerritsen, etc.

I thought the 3M cloud would be an ADDITIONAL source - getting books and authors that Overdrive doesn't. Was my thinking incorrect?

[FizzyWater]

It should have the Penguin books, at the very least, right? Since they ran away when Overdrive started lending to Kindle?

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

It should have the Penguin books, at the very least, right?

They have four days to meet their publicized plan of having the whole Penguin backlist available via the New York and Brooklyn public libraries in August. I doubt they will make it.

For weeks they have had a grand total of 21 non-fiction titles available via the New York Public Library, as can be seen in this glacially-loading web page:

http://ebook.3m.com/library/en/nypl/

As for the Brooklyn Public Library, I can't find anything yet.

Of course, software projects are often (usually?) late. I predict patience will eventually be rewarded, at least if you have an EPUB reader.

[dkperez]

So I"m not the only one that finds their content "limited"?

Unfortunately, the search function is so utterly worthless they could have a thousand books I'd like and I probably couldn't find 'em. Of course, it seems like quite a few of the authors I read are Penguin or one of it's multitude of sub-publishers, so it'd be nice if they had the books. So far, it doesn't seem like they're adding much of interest...

But, at least when you DO find a bunch of books, you can sort them by release date, unlike Overdrive, where I can't find any way to sort so it shows the newest books by an author first...

[FizzyWater]

The libraries I have access to use Overdrive. I haven't noticed if they also offer the 3M libraries. (I thought 3M was still testing in limited locations, anyway).

[dkperez]

I thought there were a half dozen systems providing access. I sure hope they make some significant improvements before they turn it loose on everybody.

[SteveEisenberg]

Now it is completely down.

I've seen individual library web sites down when doing Overdrive searches, but never the whole system.

[dkperez]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

They have four days to meet their publicized plan of having the whole Penguin backlist available via the New York and Brooklyn public libraries in August. I doubt they will make it.

For weeks they have had a grand total of 21 non-fiction titles available via the New York Public Library, as can be seen in this glacially-loading web page:

http://ebook.3m.com/library/en/nypl/

As for the Brooklyn Public Library, I can't find anything yet.

Of course, software projects are often (usually?) late. I predict patience will eventually be rewarded, at least if you have an EPUB reader.

So, it's been about 20 days. Have they put the Penguin stuff up? And if its up in New York, will they be putting it up in the other libraries they support some time soon? 'Cause so far, I've got several books that are stuck with Penguin, and none of 'em are showing up...

[glendalekid]

Is Penguin actually signed with 3M? I would think that if Penguin was on board, they would be at the top of the list, like Random House and Harper-Collins are. The site says there are 300 publishers signed up, but only 26 are on the posted list. Having found an excuse (Kindle/Amazon) to break their contract with Overdrive and now not following through with 3M, is this their way of opting out of library e-books while proclaiming their "love" of libraries?

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by glendalekid

Is Penguin actually signed with 3M? I would think that if Penguin was on board, they would be at the top of the list, like Random House and Harper-Collins are.

They're supposedly doing a trial program with certain libraries (just NYPL?).

[glendalekid]

I believe there are about 10 libraries in their trial. NYPL is one of them. Brooklyn was supposed to be, but is not. However, on the 3M Cloud web site, Penguin is not listed as one of their participating publishers; Harper-Collins and Random House both are, as is Harliquin. The "list" of publishers only contains 26 names.

[dkperez]

I went through the 3M cloud with my list of 130 or so want-to-find books... Found TWO... In the VAST majority of cases, I couldn't find any mention of the author, much less specific books.