Can't recommend library books through Overdrive after April 30th

[jhowell]

Originally Posted by 4691mls

I'm confused. I know the Overdrive mobile app is going away. Is the Overdrive website that I currently access via browser on my computer or other devices also going away?

No it is not. From Reaching more users with Libby: FAQs:

Can users still use our library’s OverDrive website?

Yes. Users can still browse, borrow, and enjoy titles from your library’s OverDrive website.

Note: OverDrive website users will also see Libby promotions throughout the site.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by jhowell

No it is not. From Reaching more users with Libby: FAQs:

Thanks

[John F]

Is it just me, or does Libby website just seem weird?

I do a search, and only audiobooks show up as available to borrow; I need to do a deep search to see the ebooks. Is Libby meant to target audiobooks?

There is a blurb at the bottom that more results are available with deep search, but you need to go through filters and scroll down to click on deep search then apply; why not just allow clicking on deep search and apply it from the search page.

And how about some flyovers or actual text, instead of just icons.

[CathyA]

Originally Posted by John F

Is it just me, or does Libby website just seem weird?

I do a search, and only audiobooks show up as available to borrow; I need to do a deep search to see the ebooks. Is Libby meant to target audiobooks?

There is a blurb at the bottom that more results are available with deep search, but you need to go through filters and scroll down to click on deep search then apply; why not just allow clicking on deep search and apply it from the search page.

And how about some flyovers or actual text, instead of just icons.

Yes, it's weirdly terrible because it's just a touchscreen app running in a browser window, so it has all the limitations of the app environment and none of the advantages of a real web browser on a full-sized screen.

I am not seeing the issues you describe with searching though. When I click on the magnifying glass in the footer (navigating from the footer is an app-y thing that's not very friendly on a web page) and type "Peter Robinson [enter]" in the search bar I get a Search Results page with 49 items, 26 books and 23 audio books. Clicking on the Filters icon and selecting Deep Search gives me 350 titles.

Is it possible that you are navigating to a starting URL that has "/audiobooks/" in it? If you click on the magnifying glass in the footer and then search, I think it should send you back to the vanilla search. I've tried to figure out a setting that will always do deep search and exclude audiobooks but have not been successful. I've just bookmarked the searches for things I know will be coming out soon so I can open them all at once and tag new books as they appear.

In more app weirdness, the search results is divided into sections that are labeled as pages, but you can't scroll with the page-up or page-down keys. You have to grab the scrollbar thumb with the mouse and drag it up or down or use the mouse wheel.

[John F]

Originally Posted by CathyA

Yes, it's weirdly terrible because it's just a touchscreen app running in a browser window, so it has all the limitations of the app environment and none of the advantages of a real web browser on a full-sized screen.

I am not seeing the issues you describe with searching though. When I click on the magnifying glass in the footer (navigating from the footer is an app-y thing that's not very friendly on a web page) and type "Peter Robinson [enter]" in the search bar I get a Search Results page with 49 items, 26 books and 23 audio books. Clicking on the Filters icon and selecting Deep Search gives me 350 titles.

Is it possible that you are navigating to a starting URL that has "/audiobooks/" in it? If you click on the magnifying glass in the footer and then search, I think it should send you back to the vanilla search. I've tried to figure out a setting that will always do deep search and exclude audiobooks but have not been successful. I've just bookmarked the searches for things I know will be coming out soon so I can open them all at once and tag new books as they appear.

In more app weirdness, the search results is divided into sections that are labeled as pages, but you can't scroll with the page-up or page-down keys. You have to grab the scrollbar thumb with the mouse and drag it up or down or use the mouse wheel.

Can you try this search "Peter Robinson Not Yet Dark"? When I do a search on this, I get an audiobook available to borrow, and I need to do a deep search to see the ebook available to borrow at another library.

And stranger yet, when I switch to the other library and do the search, I get no results and I can't do a deep search either.

audiobook doesn't appear anywhere in the URL.

[Renate]

I don't get the strong-arming of driving people from OverDrive to Libby.

First of all I don't need some cutesy Libby persona (or a talking paperclip).
I went to look at Libby and it shows books tiled at a 45 degree angle.
Are they trying to melt my brain?

Is there anything useful that Libby has done over OverDrive?

My biggest complaints with OD/Libby:
You can't set a preference for (book) languages.
I just don't care about books in languages that I don't understand.
I don't care to hear about audio books.
I don't care to hear about books that are in Kindle only.
I would like a sane taxonomy where "bodice-rippers" are not classified as "literature".
(No offense to bodice-rippers if that is what you're looking for.)

Edit: "In general where would you like to read your books? Kindle or Libby"
First of all, this whole website is a train wreck.
The above quote is in a graphic block, not actual text.
Next, what the heck happened to EPUB?

[CathyA]

Originally Posted by John F

Can you try this search "Peter Robinson Not Yet Dark"? When I do a search on this, I get an audiobook available to borrow, and I need to do a deep search to see the ebook available to borrow at another library.

And stranger yet, when I switch to the other library and do the search, I get no results and I can't do a deep search either.

audiobook doesn't appear anywhere in the URL.

Sure. Here's the URL I end up at ("serra" is my main library): https://libbyapp.com/search/serra/se...%20dark/page-1

And a screenshot of the results:

Neither of these books is available at Serra, so the little card icon is color coded to show which of my other libraries has it. When I click on the card next to the e-book, I get this:

[CathyA]

Originally Posted by Renate

... Is there anything useful that Libby has done over OverDrive? ...

Well, when I just went in there to take screenshots to answer John F, I was notified that I could take advantage of a "skip-the-line" book, so that's something Overdrive didn't have. It's very nice for me, but not so much for the 100+ people who were in front of me. Anyway, I now have 7 days to read "City of Dreams". Here's the Libby help on how skip-the-line works: https://help.libbyapp.com/en-us/6172.htm

Of course, when I go to the Overdrive page for the library I just borrowed this book from, I see it is still on my Holds page as well as on my Loans page.

... I would like a sane taxonomy where "bodice-rippers" are not classified as "literature".
(No offense to bodice-rippers if that is what you're looking for.)...

To be fair, Libby/OD is not actually categorizing the books. They're using the genres and subgenres that are assigned by the publishers, same as every other bookseller.

Edit: "In general where would you like to read your books? Kindle or Libby"
First of all, this whole website is a train wreck.
The above quote is in a graphic block, not actual text.
Next, what the heck happened to EPUB?

Yeah, this is painful. Maybe it's useful for people who actually read books on their phones, but I am not one. I want epubs! The steps to get an epub from Libby to your computer are:
- borrow a book
- go to your shelf
- Manage Loan
- Read With
- select EPUB

Or you can just go to the Overdrive loans page for the library and click one button that says Download EPUB ebook. As long as there's still an Overdrive website, that's by far the easiest way to deal with the actual borrowing and downloading of books. Libby is only needed to set up notifications so you can go and manually put the books on hold.

[j.p.s]

But what can be done to prevent the brain melt from the 45 degree tilted tile arrary of cover thumbnails?

[Renate]

Also, the stupid icons at the bottom of Libby (web) don't even have popup titles.
There does not appear to be any advanced search in Libby.

[CathyA]

Originally Posted by Renate

Also, the stupid icons at the bottom of Libby (web) don't even have popup titles.
There does not appear to be any advanced search in Libby.

Go to Menu (3 lines icon in the nav bar at the bottom of the page), scroll to the bottom and click Settings, then scroll to the bottom of that page and click Customize Navigation, then at the bottom of that page is the switch for "Labeled Icons".

Yep, no advanced search in Libby, but fortunately Overdrive search still works.

[Renate]

Originally Posted by CathyA

Go to Menu (3 lines icon in the nav bar at the bottom of the page), scroll to the bottom and click Settings, then scroll to the bottom of that page and click Customize Navigation, then at the bottom of that page is the switch for "Labeled Icons".

Oh, that makes sense.
Have the guidance for basic top-level navigation for newbs hidden in a lower level menu.

[library addict]

I wrote myself a reminder to use up the few requests I have left by Sunday.

Hoping an upcoming audio book will be listed by then, but if not I'll find something to ask for since the feature is going away. It will be greatly missed.

[John F]

Originally Posted by CathyA

Well, when I just went in there to take screenshots to answer John F, I was notified that I could take advantage of a "skip-the-line" book, so that's something Overdrive didn't have. It's very nice for me, but not so much for the 100+ people who were in front of me. Anyway, I now have 7 days to read "City of Dreams". Here's the Libby help on how skip-the-line works: https://help.libbyapp.com/en-us/6172.htm

...

That does sound like a nice feature. Unfortunately for me, none of my 4 libraries has the feature.

[Flaneurette]

Originally Posted by Renate

I don't get the strong-arming of driving people from OverDrive to Libby.

First of all I don't need some cutesy Libby persona (or a talking paperclip).
I went to look at Libby and it shows books tiled at a 45 degree angle.
Are they trying to melt my brain?

Is there anything useful that Libby has done over OverDrive?

My biggest complaints with OD/Libby:
You can't set a preference for (book) languages.
I just don't care about books in languages that I don't understand.
I don't care to hear about audio books.
I don't care to hear about books that are in Kindle only.

Edit: "In general where would you like to read your books? Kindle or Libby"
First of all, this whole website is a train wreck.
The above quote is in a graphic block, not actual text.
Next, what the heck happened to EPUB?

I have spent untold hours trying in vain to filter out romance from my overdrive/Libby searches! It seriously makes me unreasonably angry because can it really be that difficult?