Libraries (Overdrive) are slowing down - Page 2

JSWolf · 12-26-2011, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

Why didn't the great unwashed buy skis or skateboards for Christmas instead of e-readers?

(says she who only bought 2 new e-readers for Christmas - but I also bought a skateboard so you can't completely blame me)

I have just been trying to give my daughter an Overdrive lesson on our local library's site - but gave up as it was so slow. We'll try again in a few days when hopefully all the newbies have given up

I don't think they'll give up anytime soon as they have a LOT of eBooks to wade through to see what they may want to read.

JSWolf · 12-26-2011, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

What can we do to make it uncool again?

I have a great idea. Make it so Overdrive only can serve eBooks from servers they own. That would cut down a lot of the users.

FizzyWater · 12-26-2011, 11:03 PM

Wow. I just looked at the home page for one of the eBook libraries I have access to. They have a section for the "most downloaded" books.

Kathryn Stockett's book "The Help" has 590 people on the wait list! Now, there are 52 owned copies, so that puts people at a little over 10th in line.

kiwipippa · 12-26-2011, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I don't think they'll give up anytime soon as they have a LOT of eBooks to wade through to see what they may want to read.

I'm on the other side of the world to most of them - I'll limit my use to when the US is supposed to be asleep.

tubemonkey · 12-27-2011, 12:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

My guess is that a lot of patrons that didn't use Overdrive now have a reader and have been accessing the library. I don't see this getting any better.

It can get better once libraries change their focus. As the demand for ebooks increase, libraries will budget more for their purchase and less for physical books.

carld · 12-27-2011, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have a great idea. Make it so Overdrive only can serve eBooks from servers they own. That would cut down a lot of the users.

How about we get rid of all those silly ePubs? Amazon's servers can handle the load then. It's a win win!

tubemonkey · 12-27-2011, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carld

How about we get rid of all those silly ePubs? Amazon's servers can handle the load then. It's a win win!

Borrowing Kindle books is much easier than borrowing ePub books.

kiwipippa · 12-27-2011, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carld

How about we get rid of all those silly ePubs? Amazon's servers can handle the load then. It's a win win!

Bad idea - last on first off I say.

Ashjuk · 12-27-2011, 04:29 AM

Surrey's eBooks Library is running as fast as it ever did, not that it was ever quick in the first place.

And there has been no increase in the number of digital copies available so 99.9% still have to be reserved.

CRussel · 12-28-2011, 10:40 AM

I had several books come up on my holds in the last few days, and getting Overdrive's servers to complete the transactions was seriously painful yesterday. I could only wish that I was able to use Amazon servers for it, but that's a US option only.

mayoi · 12-28-2011, 11:09 AM

The only recent problem I've had is not being able to download a Kindle book that I'd checked out. Three others were fine, but this one gets an error message from Amazon. An Overdrive tech is investigating. I'm wondering if there'll be a resolution before the check-out expires.

ScalyFreak · 12-28-2011, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kiwipippa

Ah, shades of Monty Python's 4 Yorkshire men. Did you drink tea out of a rolled up piece of newspaper? (if you're not a Monty Python fan you will have no idea what I'm talking about!)

The best we could manage was to suck on a piece of damp cloth.

pidgeon92 · 12-28-2011, 12:11 PM

I had some issues on Monday, but yesterday was fine. I even downloaded a movie from the Chicago Library; an hour and a half long documentary that took maybe 8 or 10 minutes to complete downloading.

JSWolf · 12-28-2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRussel

I had several books come up on my holds in the last few days, and getting Overdrive's servers to complete the transactions was seriously painful yesterday. I could only wish that I was able to use Amazon servers for it, but that's a US option only.

Even if you were in the US and borrowing a Kindle eBook, you would still need to go through the library/Overdrive in order to then get to Amazon.

JSWolf · 12-28-2011, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

Wow. I just looked at the home page for one of the eBook libraries I have access to. They have a section for the "most downloaded" books.

Kathryn Stockett's book "The Help" has 590 people on the wait list! Now, there are 52 owned copies, so that puts people at a little over 10th in line.

One local library I just was looking at has The Help at 10 copies with 88 people on the waiting list and a 21-day maximum borrow time.

So it's going to be about 6 months before everyone on the list gets a turn at it.

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12-26-2011, 11:03 PM	#18
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	Wow. I just looked at the home page for one of the eBook libraries I have access to. They have a section for the "most downloaded" books. Kathryn Stockett's book "The Help" has 590 people on the wait list! Now, there are 52 owned copies, so that puts people at a little over 10th in line.

12-27-2011, 04:29 AM	#24
Ashjuk Fanatic Posts: 500 Karma: 3498633 Join Date: May 2011 Location: Surrey, UK Device: Kobo Aura One, Sony PRS 600/650	Surrey's eBooks Library is running as fast as it ever did, not that it was ever quick in the first place. And there has been no increase in the number of digital copies available so 99.9% still have to be reserved.

12-28-2011, 10:40 AM	#25
CRussel (he/him/his) Posts: 12,322 Karma: 80074820 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Sunshine Coast, BC Device: Oasis (Gen3),Paperwhite (Gen10), Voyage, Paperwhite(orig), iPad Air M3	I had several books come up on my holds in the last few days, and getting Overdrive's servers to complete the transactions was seriously painful yesterday. I could only wish that I was able to use Amazon servers for it, but that's a US option only.

12-28-2011, 11:09 AM	#26
mayoi Member Posts: 127 Karma: 40426 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: USA Device: PW2 and K3 Kindles, TF101	The only recent problem I've had is not being able to download a Kindle book that I'd checked out. Three others were fine, but this one gets an error message from Amazon. An Overdrive tech is investigating. I'm wondering if there'll be a resolution before the check-out expires.

12-28-2011, 12:11 PM	#28
pidgeon92 Wizard Posts: 3,144 Karma: 8426142 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Chicago, IL Device: Kindle PW2, Kindle Voyage, Kindle DXG, Boox M90, Kobo Aura HD	I had some issues on Monday, but yesterday was fine. I even downloaded a movie from the Chicago Library; an hour and a half long documentary that took maybe 8 or 10 minutes to complete downloading.