Library Books for the Kindle?

[desertgrandma]

Just as an aside, the clevnet library, for anyone interested, allows you to 'fine tune' your check out period...

anywhere from 7-21 days.

[greenery]

When you say that the library allows 12 downloads at a time, what exactly does this mean? How do you 'return' an ebook?

[slayda]

Originally Posted by greenery

When you say that the library allows 12 downloads at a time, what exactly does this mean? How do you 'return' an ebook?

There is a time limit on the ebooks you check out. At that time the DRM prevents you from reading the book, effectively automatically checking it in for you. Many libraries allow you to vary this time between something like 3 - 21 days, so if you're a fast reader, you can shorten the time you check it out and then can check out new books.

I know that the Fictionwise library is like that and I believe it is free if you're a member of their "Buywise Club" (cost is $29.95 for one year or you can reduce the annual rate by buying multiyear membership). The Buywise Club also gets you discounts on purchasing Fictionwise books as well. There are some other libraries that also use their setup. They are listed in our WIKI under Widely Accessible Libraries .

[Leep]

With U.S. public libraries, the number of books that you can have on your "borrowed bookshelf" varies as does the number of days. The ones I'm familiar with range from a 7 to 21 day checkout period, and allow from 5 to 20 items (which includes audio books) at any one time. This is individual library specific and a couple of libraries lets you choose your own expiry period within their limits.

Once you have "checked out" your limit, you must wait until something expires before you can check out additional items. One exception to this is Adobe ADE ebooks which allow you to "return" them early at which time they come off your account and you can checkout additional items.


After the checkout period expires, your checkout ebook simply won't open on your ereader . An exception to this is that ebooks on the Kindle do not expire until you reconnect your Kindle to either whispernet or to your computer.

cheers

[Sydney's Mom]

Originally Posted by Leep

With U.S. public libraries, the number of books that you can have on your "borrowed bookshelf" varies as does the number of days. The ones I'm familiar with range from a 7 to 21 day checkout period, and allow from 5 to 20 items (which includes audio books) at any one time. This is individual library specific and a couple of libraries lets you choose your own expiry period within their limits.

Once you have "checked out" your limit, you must wait until something expires before you can check out additional items. One exception to this is Adobe ADE ebooks which allow you to "return" them early at which time they come off your account and you can checkout additional items.


After the checkout period expires, your checkout ebook simply won't open on your ereader . An exception to this is that ebooks on the Kindle do not expire until you reconnect your Kindle to either whispernet or to your computer.

cheers

Didn't know this. Thanks!

[Spartacus2112]

I will be getting my card next time I am in Manhattan...which will be tomorrow!

[Nate the great]

Originally Posted by KindleKat

Yeah, i had the same problem in college. 90% of the students in Computer Science had either Macs or Linux machines, and the school insisted on using as much microsoft software as possible.

Really? I had the exact opposite problem. My CS department had (still has) an obsession with Linux. About 70% of students run Windows. Very few had a Mac.

One thing I've noticed is that you can tell the socioeconomic status of a student body based on how many have a Mac. Also, the more Macs, the more the school costs to attend.

This mainly applies to the CS department, though.

[Soccergirl94]

Originally Posted by limecello

I don't know if there's a thread on this - I tried searching in a few places (and running a search) - but didn't get anything.

I'm considering buying a Kindle 2 (after over a year of waffling and leaning towards a Sony). Anyway - a number of my libraries use Overdrive, and have digital books you can check out, but the vast majority are .pdf files - is there any way I could check out the books and convert them so they'd be readable on a kindle, or would I just out of luck?

yes, you can view these on your kindle. i am positive you can do this with the new kindle 3, and i am pretty sure you can read PFD's with the Kindle 2. You just read them as PFD's. if they have the stystem were they take them off you reading device after a certain aount of days like a literal library, i don't know if it will work.

[curstpriest]

you can most deff break adobe DRM on epub and pdf from the library >>
python scripts been out for along time

[cdhanks]

Originally Posted by Gideon

You'd just be out of luck.

I'll never understand why public institutions always use some assbackwards format for things. You'd think there would be a real priority on interoperability.

It's like my university... most the students have Macs and they go through an incredibly expensive transition to an Exchange server instead of something free everyone can use. Or using Ruckus (wma encryption, now defunct) which is Windows only for a music service.

It is the universities that has it backwards, the VAST majority of the business world 90+% use Windows machines.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by cdhanks

It is the universities that has it backwards, the VAST majority of the business world 90+% use Windows machines.

To note my school used to have macs (a few) but got rid of them.

The latest ones they installed were linux thin clients in a lounge area.

The idea of the operating system having a real meaning these days is pointless. Windows doesn't really dominate as much as what they used to because there are cheap programs. Unless something is totally specialized then people can get around windows.

What programs would these be?

Voice recongnition
rosetta stone
propreitary software made in the 80's or 90's
20/20 (kitchen design software cad stuff)

What really doesn't matter.

Web browsing. anyone can do it
desktop publishing. Libreoffice just came out and it replaces office with ease.
art programs - there's GIMP

If windows really worked well we would see it everywhere but we don't. Windows does not dominate e books, pda's, smart phones

Because of the general economy it just makes more economic sense to use open source. Especially since it is easier to adjust as the code is open. It also helps due to viruses. I worked at a place once where a virus affected the place and it took about an hour for me to remove..from each pc

What keeps people using windows for the most part at least in companies is there are programs made for it that there has not been a open sourced version yet. Now ROI can be established once you factor in the downtime for maintence etc. I don't have to run scandisk or defrag on my ubuntu laptop.I also don't need a virus checker. It took at least a half hour at that same job to run a antivirus checker..it's hard to justify people going to work to stare at a screen for a half hour and waste productitivty.

[GoSharks]

Originally Posted by curstpriest

you can most deff break adobe DRM on epub and pdf from the library >>
python scripts been out for along time

I've been doing this with epub's via the plug-in in Calibre....is there a plug-in for drm pdf's also???!! That would be very, very cool...

[CWatkinsNash]

Originally Posted by GoSharks

I've been doing this with epub's via the plug-in in Calibre....is there a plug-in for drm pdf's also???!! That would be very, very cool...

Yes there is, in the same place one would find the other plugins. I don't know which version started including it, but it's definitely in the latest package.

[GoSharks]

I found it in the latest tools version (v3.4)....THANKS!! I'm going to have to try this karma thing and send some along

[FF2]

Tools 3.4???? Yikes - got to keep up. And DONE.