Ebooks in Canadian libraries

[readingglasses]

Audiobooks aren't supported on most ereaders. Only unprotected audio is playable.
Which is curious as I think they're more popular to digitally borrow than ebooks. You need an upmarket mp3 player for 'em (the 20 buck cheapos don't offer DRM authentication).

[jodykihara]

Interesting, because I was looking for an e-reader that would do audio too. Do you know which e-readers work for library e-books and audiobooks?

[tubemonkey]

deleted - forgot to quote

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by jodykihara

Interesting, because I was looking for an e-reader that would do audio too. Do you know which e-readers work for library e-books and audiobooks?

The trend now for the major ereaders (Kobo, Nook, Sony) is to remove the audio player; thereby rendering them useless for audiobooks. Since Amazon owns Audible, I don't see them removing the audio player when they come out with new models later this year.

One other note: ereaders with audio players generally only play MP3 audiobooks. They don't play Audible (except Kindle) or WMA (the most popular format for audiobooks in libraries).

Your best bet for audiobooks is a good MP3 player. I'd recommend the Sansa Clip+. It's very inexpensive, highly rated, and can handle audiobooks in Audible, MP3, and WMA formats. It's used by quite a few members here.

[Sher0808]

Kobo Touch works well with SK Librairy system. I was told the Kindle did not work here.

[readingglasses]

No, I don't have a list. Sony does NOT play protected audio (so you can't borrow the DRM'd audiobooks from your library). But you can listen to non-drm music or whatever, through headphones, as you read.

Kobo doesn't even HAVE an audio jack. (It's the cheapest one).

Idk anything about nook or kindle. But that's only b/c I'm not a fan of amazon or BN so I don't care to find out. Maybe they play not only audio but drm'd library audio to boot. There are other brands. Look at the matrix (google it) on this site.

I was a little disappointed about this meself. But then I thought, wouldn't I rather listen to an audiobook, like music, with a little gadget, if I can? Why would I want to carry the ereader around for a run when I could listen on my mp3 player?

The point to remember when checking what plays what is not wma or mp3, but if it's PROTECTED (meaning DRM'd) or not. both wma and mp3 can have drm that the device has to authenticate and stop playing after your library loan period (so it has to have some drm authentication, either in itself or with software like itunes, it has to have an internal clock/date to stop playing your file after that date...this isn't USUALLY available in the 20 buck mp3 player category at walmart or bestbuy, but check the specs ). And so libraries and overdrive etc offer both wma and mp3 downloads, drm'd.

The only real need for audio with an ebook, is for some impairments/disability of sight, where daisy type text-to-speech software on board can be used to make an epub "accessible" to the blind or if you're driving. Not that it's a great win to have to listen to a robot voice if you're blind and have an epub ebook for which there is no human-read audiobook version. Otherwise, audiobooks make more sense on tiny mp3 players.

Just as an aside, if you are in fact blind, and you want a text to speech device, that's another thing you have to check. For example, I have no idea if any ereaders offer text to speech. So a full computer and recording a text reader to an mp3 file for your mp3 player may be all you have. Epub 3 says that the format will become more accessible, but we'll see if ebook devices actually offer the functionality.

[corona]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

...You may also need to download and install OverDrive® Media Console™ and Adobe® Digital Editions in order to download your eBooks and audiobooks.

I download ebooks from the BC public library system all the time and have never needed the OverDrive thingie. ADE, yes.

[JD Gumby]

Originally Posted by corona

I download ebooks from the BC public library system all the time and have never needed the OverDrive thingie. ADE, yes.

Odds are you'd need OverDrive if you downloaded audiobooks (you need to at the Halifax system, anyways).

[Lesley2]

You can get e-books from anywhere in any format and translate them into whatever your e-reader needs, using Calibre

http://calibre-ebook.com/download

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by Lesley2

You can get e-books from anywhere in any format and translate them into whatever your e-reader needs, using Calibre

http://calibre-ebook.com/download

Not strictly true, Lesley2. Yes, you can do it. But no, you can't do it without removing the DRM from the library book. Of course, removing DRM is trivial in Calibre, if you have the tools. And is legal in Canada.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by JD Gumby

Odds are you'd need OverDrive if you downloaded audiobooks (you need to at the Halifax system, anyways).

Yes, you need OverDrive for most of the audio books in the BC (and other) library systems. (Some are available in MP3 format, without DRM. But most are in WMA, and require OverDrive. )

You do not need OverDrive for eBooks. For those you need Adobe Digital Editions (ADE). And, potentially, some tool to remove DRM and convert to your preferred format. This is what I do so I can read Library books on my Kindle.