Digital membership to Singapore Public Library - Page 3

unboggling · 01-24-2011, 09:43 AM

Singapore allows 4 books at a time. Free Library of Philadelphia allows 10. My local library allows 4. Anyone know of a library where outsiders can buy a card, that has a huge selection of ePubs, and that allows 10 or more at once? The more at once, the less hassle, probably making a fee worth it in the long run.

Catlady · 01-24-2011, 10:43 AM

Don't stuff that tin hat in your pocket, let me wear it.

HarryT · 01-24-2011, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unboggling

Singapore allows 4 books at a time. Free Library of Philadelphia allows 10. My local library allows 4. Anyone know of a library where outsiders can buy a card, that has a huge selection of ePubs, and that allows 10 or more at once? The more at once, the less hassle, probably making a fee worth it in the long run.

Can you really read 10 books in a two-week loan period? Remember that if you check out a book but don't read it, you're stopping someone else who might be waiting for it from reading it!

Mortis · 01-24-2011, 02:07 PM

Harry I'm sure you could do it, I've yet to meet a proofreader that couldn't out read the average person, but I have to agree, 0.7 books a day would be a little difficult, if you want to enjoy it that is.

I just put the books on my wish list (hold) at the Singapore Library, I'll see how that goes, although I have to admit I really look for the books that are available rather than a specific book.

Cheers

unboggling · 01-24-2011, 08:54 PM

Well, lest anyone get the wrong idea, I'm retired so have a lot of time to fill with reading. Even before eBooks I read on average 1 to 2 novels/day and I'm not a particularly fast reader. With eBooks I tend to skip more and read even faster than with pBooks. (Not sure why.) And off the top of my head without double-checking, I think my library has 2 week loan period but Singapore's and Philadelphia's are 3 weeks. For me when I'm not wasting reading time here on MR Forums, going through 20 - 30 books in 3 weeks is common rather than rare. Some I don't read in entirety, some I do. And I return each book as soon as I've read it, or partially read it and determined it wasn't to my taste.

I haven't found a way to save search queries in the library-digital-loan apps and their search capabilities while barely adequate are cumbersome and time-consuming to use for multiple selections and backiing/forthing between search-produced-browselist, and the wishlist, holdlist, and loanlist. The overall quantity and quality of the digital catalogs at my local library and at Singapore suck. Philadelphia is somewhat better. Due to availability issues it usually takes a week or more to obtain a desirable title, with odds improved by checking the wishlist daily. When it comes to trying to read a series in order by borrowing in order series-title 1, then 2, then 3, etc, it's nearly impossible during the short term (2 or 3 months).

I hope that gives some perspective on the question I posted earlier. Don't get me wrong, I like the library thing in general. It's just often frustrating, and that would be immensely alleviated by better quality/quantity.

thaigreg · 01-24-2011, 09:37 PM

Hi Loosheesh,

Thank you for the info.

Very easy to setup an account.

Greg

jehane · 01-25-2011, 10:34 AM

Hi unboggling. I haven't checked Singapore or Philadelphia but my library (not open to nonresidents, sorry) allows a choice of 7/14/21 day loans. They also say that books *cannot* be returned early - I haven't tested this. So books I know I'm going to read quickly I will borrow for 7 days, and books that might take me a bit longer I will borrow for 14 or 21 days. And I stagger my borrowing, so that I might borrow 2 or 3 one day, then later that week I will borrow a few more. This way I never run out of space on my card.

skyblue23 · 01-25-2011, 12:36 PM

Unboggling, have you checked out the Orange County (FL) Public Library? The fee for a non-resident card is $125 per year, but they have a pretty large ebook collection and they allow you to check out 20 books at a time.

Also, you can choose the lending period at the Philadelphia library. If you go to "Your Account," there should be an option to specify your lending periods. I can also do this with my home library, so I'm assuming it's an option available in most Overdrive libraries?

unboggling · 01-25-2011, 12:41 PM

jehane, have you tried returning books to your library early even though they said you can't? In Adobe Digital Editions, in library view, when I put cursor over a particular title, an arrow appears to the left of that item. Clicking that arrow gives some options, one of which is "return borrowed item." If that is greyed out you can't, though I haven't seen that happen yet. If it's not greyed out, try returning a book early, wait a few minutes, then go look at your account at that library to see if it disappeared from your digital loan list. If it disappeared, you *can* return early. If it didn't disappear, oh well.

Also my local library overdrive account page doesn't give me any choices about loan length.

unboggling · 01-25-2011, 01:06 PM

skyblue, welcome to Mobile Read. Thanks for the info on Orange County. I checked just now and their ePub collection seems to have grown to 8000+. And [edit: in a quick look] most of it looks like fiction. So that plus the 20 limit is good for me. Re choice of loan period, seems some libraries allow that and some don't.

HarryT · 01-25-2011, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mortis

Harry I'm sure you could do it, I've yet to meet a proofreader that couldn't out read the average person, but I have to agree, 0.7 books a day would be a little difficult, if you want to enjoy it that is.

Actually, I'm rather a slow reader. I like to savour my books and enjoy them. If you watch my sig you'll see that it generally takes me a couple of weeks to proof-read a book, but that's because it involves so much concentration that I only do 2 or 3 chapters a day.

Mortis · 01-25-2011, 01:55 PM

I should have worded that differently, what I meant was that all the proofreaders I know read a lot faster when they are reading for pleasure and not work. I have yet to have a proofreader that reads as fast as I want him/her to, with out making mistakes

I would think 2 or 3 chapters a day would be considered fast, although my experience isn't in novel proofing, so I could be way off.

kindlekitten · 01-25-2011, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyblue23

Unboggling, have you checked out the Orange County (FL) Public Library? The fee for a non-resident card is $125 per year, but they have a pretty large ebook collection and they allow you to check out 20 books at a time.

Also, you can choose the lending period at the Philadelphia library. If you go to "Your Account," there should be an option to specify your lending periods. I can also do this with my home library, so I'm assuming it's an option available in most Overdrive libraries?

125 bucks a year works out to over 10 a month for which several "free and inexpensive" books could be purchased and permanently owned.

welcome to the forums!

unboggling · 01-25-2011, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

125 bucks a year works out to over 10 a month for which several "free and inexpensive" books could be purchased and permanently owned.

Yes, but for the majority of titles that I'm not sure I want to own, how do I find out? Particularly for authors I haven't read before. That's where libraries excel.

Billi · 01-25-2011, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mortis

I should have worded that differently, what I meant was that all the proofreaders I know read a lot faster when they are reading for pleasure and not work.

Of course, you're reading much faster for pleasure than for work, that lies in the nature of proofreading, but that doesn't necessarily mean reading fast. I partly earn my money with proofreading, and I'm a slow reader when it comes to reading in my leisure time.

01-24-2011, 08:54 PM	#35
unboggling Wizard Posts: 1,065 Karma: 858115 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kobo Clara, Kindle Paperwhite 10	Well, lest anyone get the wrong idea, I'm retired so have a lot of time to fill with reading. Even before eBooks I read on average 1 to 2 novels/day and I'm not a particularly fast reader. With eBooks I tend to skip more and read even faster than with pBooks. (Not sure why.) And off the top of my head without double-checking, I think my library has 2 week loan period but Singapore's and Philadelphia's are 3 weeks. For me when I'm not wasting reading time here on MR Forums, going through 20 - 30 books in 3 weeks is common rather than rare. Some I don't read in entirety, some I do. And I return each book as soon as I've read it, or partially read it and determined it wasn't to my taste. I haven't found a way to save search queries in the library-digital-loan apps and their search capabilities while barely adequate are cumbersome and time-consuming to use for multiple selections and backiing/forthing between search-produced-browselist, and the wishlist, holdlist, and loanlist. The overall quantity and quality of the digital catalogs at my local library and at Singapore suck. Philadelphia is somewhat better. Due to availability issues it usually takes a week or more to obtain a desirable title, with odds improved by checking the wishlist daily. When it comes to trying to read a series in order by borrowing in order series-title 1, then 2, then 3, etc, it's nearly impossible during the short term (2 or 3 months). I hope that gives some perspective on the question I posted earlier. Don't get me wrong, I like the library thing in general. It's just often frustrating, and that would be immensely alleviated by better quality/quantity. Last edited by unboggling; 01-24-2011 at 09:03 PM.

01-25-2011, 12:41 PM	#39
unboggling Wizard Posts: 1,065 Karma: 858115 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kobo Clara, Kindle Paperwhite 10	jehane, have you tried returning books to your library early even though they said you can't? In Adobe Digital Editions, in library view, when I put cursor over a particular title, an arrow appears to the left of that item. Clicking that arrow gives some options, one of which is "return borrowed item." If that is greyed out you can't, though I haven't seen that happen yet. If it's not greyed out, try returning a book early, wait a few minutes, then go look at your account at that library to see if it disappeared from your digital loan list. If it disappeared, you can return early. If it didn't disappear, oh well. Also my local library overdrive account page doesn't give me any choices about loan length. Last edited by unboggling; 01-25-2011 at 01:00 PM.

01-25-2011, 01:06 PM	#40
unboggling Wizard Posts: 1,065 Karma: 858115 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kobo Clara, Kindle Paperwhite 10	skyblue, welcome to Mobile Read. Thanks for the info on Orange County. I checked just now and their ePub collection seems to have grown to 8000+. And [edit: in a quick look] most of it looks like fiction. So that plus the 20 limit is good for me. Re choice of loan period, seems some libraries allow that and some don't. Last edited by unboggling; 01-25-2011 at 01:12 PM.

01-25-2011, 01:55 PM	#42
Mortis Canucklehead in Malaysia Posts: 1,633 Karma: 3127774 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Device: iPhone, Kindle	I should have worded that differently, what I meant was that all the proofreaders I know read a lot faster when they are reading for pleasure and not work. I have yet to have a proofreader that reads as fast as I want him/her to, with out making mistakes I would think 2 or 3 chapters a day would be considered fast, although my experience isn't in novel proofing, so I could be way off. Last edited by Mortis; 01-25-2011 at 02:02 PM. Reason: grammar issue

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01-24-2011, 09:43 AM	#31
unboggling Wizard Posts: 1,065 Karma: 858115 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Kobo Clara, Kindle Paperwhite 10	Singapore allows 4 books at a time. Free Library of Philadelphia allows 10. My local library allows 4. Anyone know of a library where outsiders can buy a card, that has a huge selection of ePubs, and that allows 10 or more at once? The more at once, the less hassle, probably making a fee worth it in the long run.

01-24-2011, 10:43 AM	#32
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,418 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Don't stuff that tin hat in your pocket, let me wear it.

01-24-2011, 02:07 PM	#34
Mortis Canucklehead in Malaysia Posts: 1,633 Karma: 3127774 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Device: iPhone, Kindle	Harry I'm sure you could do it, I've yet to meet a proofreader that couldn't out read the average person, but I have to agree, 0.7 books a day would be a little difficult, if you want to enjoy it that is. I just put the books on my wish list (hold) at the Singapore Library, I'll see how that goes, although I have to admit I really look for the books that are available rather than a specific book. Cheers

01-24-2011, 09:37 PM	#36
thaigreg Connoisseur Posts: 70 Karma: 9282 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Pattaya, Thailand Device: BeBook/JBL/Kindle 3	Hi Loosheesh, Thank you for the info. Very easy to setup an account. Greg

01-25-2011, 10:34 AM	#37
jehane Book addict Posts: 441 Karma: 2650464 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Antarctica/Australia/Ohio Device: Sony PRS-300/T1/Asus TF101	Hi unboggling. I haven't checked Singapore or Philadelphia but my library (not open to nonresidents, sorry) allows a choice of 7/14/21 day loans. They also say that books cannot be returned early - I haven't tested this. So books I know I'm going to read quickly I will borrow for 7 days, and books that might take me a bit longer I will borrow for 14 or 21 days. And I stagger my borrowing, so that I might borrow 2 or 3 one day, then later that week I will borrow a few more. This way I never run out of space on my card.

01-25-2011, 12:36 PM	#38
skyblue23 Enthusiast Posts: 30 Karma: 123724 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Nook	Unboggling, have you checked out the Orange County (FL) Public Library? The fee for a non-resident card is $125 per year, but they have a pretty large ebook collection and they allow you to check out 20 books at a time. Also, you can choose the lending period at the Philadelphia library. If you go to "Your Account," there should be an option to specify your lending periods. I can also do this with my home library, so I'm assuming it's an option available in most Overdrive libraries?

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