Postscript - Mp3 Players Shipping Out

The first batch of mp3 players are shipping out this week - we should finish packing them up today.

They'll look like this in the box:



And like this out of the box:



And like this when you are loading up an Overdrive audio ebook:



Thanks again to everyone who started Learning 2.0 and to everyone who finished up.

#25 - Something To Do With That MP3 Player

To my surprise, we're almost done - today's lesson marks the end of our next-to-last week of Learning 2.0. This also means it's time to go mp3 player shopping. Thanks again to the KCLS foundation for funding this program completion reward.

But with mp3 players on the brain, mine at least, today's lesson offers a perfect excuse to focus on our most popular free Audio eBook service, the OverDrive Audio Book collection.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Overdrive Download Collection

There's a wonderfully wide range of audio books in the Overdrive Download Collection. Popular fiction, history, young adult, you name it.

Overdrive, though, isn't just audio ebooks. Keep an eye out for different formats (text ebooks, video, classical music) in your search results - some of your favorite titles will not be available as audio downloads.

You should also know that most downloads (all but the text ebooks) ask you to install the Overdrive Media Console. This is free software, worry not, but you're not going to be able to install it on a KCLS staff computer.

How, then, do you download audio books?

If you've got a computer and high speed internet at home, it's easy - install the Overdrive software and have at it.

And if you don't have a computer and high speed internet at home? You'll be able to use one of the new public PCs (the thin client replacements) in our branches. Talk to your LTA to find out if your branch has added one or more of these new computers.

Explore the collection

Okay, so where do you find Overdrive downloadable audio books?

First off, there's an Overdrive catalog on our website - ebooks.kcls.org will take you straight in. You can also get there via the ebooks-Audio link found on our main website menu.

Overdrive titles are also in our OPAC and in Catalog Explorer. It's especially easy to limit your search results in Catalog Explorer - choose 'e-book - audio' from the format refinement option on the right side of the screen.

Today we'd like you to focus on the Overdrive catalog - get a feel for the collection and get ready to download ebooks on your new mp3 player in just a few weeks' time.

So, straight off, to our low-key Discovery Excercise

1. Head over to our Overdrive Catalog
2. Explore - search for your favorite authors
   
3. Explore some more - browse a few subjects that interest you
   
4. Make a mental list of the titles you'd like to listen to once you get your mp3 player
   
5. That's all.
   Or, unless you need a visual kick-start - should you be having trouble making sense of our ebook site, feel free to take a look at this hastily-produced 3 and a half minute demonstration

Post-script: a number of you have run into error messages when installing the Overdrive software on your home computers. Read the comments to this posting for suggestions on dealing with 'parameter' and 'security upgrade' problems.

Next up - the wrap up...