Amazon to launch Library Lending

[copyrite]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

It's not evil enough to get me to impulse buy something I didn't want to buy.

True. But if it's something I am kinda sorta interested in, it usually gets bought.

I really need to get in the habit though of sending samples to the Kindle and put them in the samples collection rather than buying impulsively.

Don't mean to get OT.

[SCION]

Originally Posted by copyrite

True. But if it's something I am kinda sorta interested in, it usually gets bought.

I really need to get in the habit though of sending samples to the Kindle and put them in the samples collection rather than buying impulsively.

Don't mean to get OT.

Yeah, that's what I do (save samples). It's a good system.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

I used the library a lot when I was unemployed. I walked too and from the library three or four times a week. It gave me something to do, got me some exercise, and let me read new material without spending money.

I don't use the library right now but I am going to check it out. I think my Mom and Dad will end up using it.

Yes, last year when times were really, really tight, my wife and I both re-discovered our local library. Where we had been buying pretty much any book we wanted, mostly from Amazon, that was no longer an option. So we started borrowing books from the library. Best part here is that there is a thriving inter-library loan system, so we could get most anything if we were willing to wait. (We rarely are reading the latest "hot" title, so that's not an issue.)
Then, last summer, I got a gig that allowed me to splurge on a K2. Discovered all sorts of places for free books, and set a hard limit on Amazon books of 7.99. (Take that, Agency!) Then, of course, I had to figure out how to get books from the Library, which is now much easier. And as work has picked up, my wife has gotten a K3 WiFi, and I managed a K3 3G, giving the K2i to a friend's young son. But what hasn't changed is our appreciation for the library system we have, and we do what we can to support it.
Allowing regular Kindle loans from the Library is all good. Pure and Simple.

[tomsem]

[QUOTE=JSWolf;1505577]So why is it that Overdrive and/or Adobe is/are not getting the info about early returns out there to the public so the wait times can decrease faster?

Well, first of all, there should be more than one way to return early:
- from ADE (when ADE is used)
- on any wireless-enabled device or reading app that licenses Adobe RMSDK
- from your overdrive bookshelf

Of these only ADE and exactly one iOS reading app that I know of (Bluefire) have a 'return early' button. So even though there is a way, it is very easy to overlook, and/or to find it inconvenient to get to.

But there's no way to make it perfect, even in theory. A reading device that doesn't have a way to communicate with the server (either because wireless does not exist or is turned off), can only assume the book is still checked out, if the original lending period is still in effect. I'm sure plenty of people return early and continue reading - probably a technical violation of the license agreement, but one that is unenforceable.

So it is a nice idea, but maybe not so important in practice. The pragmatic thing is to let the borrower set their own lending period, or start with a 7 day lending period but allow a limited number of renewals, or something along those lines. The libraries I borrow ebooks from let you set it as 7, 14, or 21 days as a default, which you can change on checkout.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tomsem

So it is a nice idea, but maybe not so important in practice. The pragmatic thing is to let the borrower set their own lending period, or start with a 7 day lending period but allow a limited number of renewals, or something along those lines. The libraries I borrow ebooks from let you set it as 7, 14, or 21 days as a default, which you can change on checkout.

It is important in practice. I just looked at an eBook that at the full 21 days per borrow would take about 4 months for the last 16 or 18 users to get it. When we add in Kindle users, this will most likely increase. So being able to borrow for 21 or 14 days and return early is important.

[SensualPoet]

There is also a crystal clear entry in the Overdrive Help - FAQ, which I assume is generic and not specific to Toronto Public Library, with the title: "Borrowing Help ... Can I return items early?" which includes click-by-click instructions on how to accomplish this. Yes, this feature could be more prominent; but curious customers can easily find this info.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by tomsem

So it is a nice idea, but maybe not so important in practice. The pragmatic thing is to let the borrower set their own lending period, or start with a 7 day lending period but allow a limited number of renewals, or something along those lines. The libraries I borrow ebooks from let you set it as 7, 14, or 21 days as a default, which you can change on checkout.

I think if libraries see a sharp spike in wait times, they'll probably institute shorter loan periods for popular / new releases; say 7 days. I don't see them buying more copies because their budgets are already strained.

[aagstn]

This is great news and takes care of my main complaint about the kindle. Either type of library books will be fine with me as long as the kindle ones work with the kindle app on my ipad.

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

That's because people know how to return a paper book when they are done. Most do not know that using ADE they can return them early.

You've said this in this thread before. What do you base that on? I would think most people do know they can return it early, it's right there in the same menu as when you delete an item.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by Barty

The waiting time is undoubtedly exacerbated by people not knowing how to return their books when they're done reading; instead they just leave the book until it expires.

Idiotically, overdrive's web interface dies not allow you to return books.

I've always thought Overdrive should allow returns from the web interface as well. A couple of times, I've had returns fail from ADE and then was stuck with the book until it expired. It wouldn't re-download so I could attempt to return again, and though absent from ADE, it was clearly present in my checkouts! A web return option would be handy.

I'm figuring that Amazon will not be able to do early returns, since it's not through ADE and that will just make wait lists worse.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

So why is it that Overdrive and/or Adobe is/are not getting the info about early returns out there to the public so the wait times can decrease faster?

I have no idea. I really wish that Overdrive would make this info prominent. Of course, some folks wouldn't bother themselves anyway, but many would if they knew how simple it was to do.

Early returns were not available for Mobipocket eBooks. But that doesn't mean that Amazon cannot implement that. You return it early on the Kindle and the eBook get deleted from the Kindle and from the users account and back into the pool it goes. That would work well.

Well, I certainly HOPE that Kindle will have the option. But it is a worry that it might not. After all, it's more in Amazon's interests for waits to be long in hopes of selling more ebooks.

I have returned a book once the day after I got it because another was available that I wanted more and my check outs was full.

That happened to me once! Probably will happen again at some point, though I try, if I know I'm coming up on getting a title, to leave a spot free for it, instead of checking out my full allotment.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I think if libraries see a sharp spike in wait times, they'll probably institute shorter loan periods for popular / new releases; say 7 days. I don't see them buying more copies because their budgets are already strained.

It's possible. I don't see them buying more copies. I mean, if my library has 232 people waiting for a book that they have 5 copies of, and this has been roughly the case for that title since last summer, I'm guessing that numbers of people waiting don't influence them to buy more copies! Clearly, they can't afford to. It's a rural area and money is tight. As it is, my library has to be part of a consortium to afford Overdrive at all.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.

As I told a Kindle owning friend, I'm glad for her, but kinda sad about what will be longer wait times. And of course, hoping the other agency publishers don't go all Harper Collins on us!

At any rate, love my library, will continue to use it no matter what the wait times get like. There's always paper books if I can't get the ebook timely.

[Wait_For_It]

This is great news!

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by twowheels

I wonder if we'll be able to buy books as gifts for our local library. If so, and especially if I can be the first to instantly 'check it out', I'd gladly buy books for them, since I read most of them once and never read them again anyhow. Anything that I actually plan to read multiple times I would buy in paper anyhow.

I have bought ebooks to donate to my local library.

The process is:

1. Email your local library.
2. Tell them you'd like to donate X money for A, B, C, & D ebook titles.
3. They will check and see if the titles are available on Overdrive, and what the prices are.
4. The prices will be higher for them than they are for you on any other site (Amazon, B&N, Sony, etc.). You will write a larger check or discard D title from your plan.

It's a very fulfilling process. I highly recommend it.

[anamardoll]

Originally Posted by Astrakan

You've said this in this thread before. What do you base that on? I would think most people do know they can return it early, it's right there in the same menu as when you delete an item.

I didn't know for the longest time because I just used the "delete" key on the keyboard in ADE, not the ridiculously hidden drop down menu.

And if you're using the Overdrive app (phone, rooted Nook, tablet, whatever) and you don't have ADE installed, then you can't return early at all, as far as I know.