OverDrive
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Your library card now gives you access to popular and award winning audiobooks & eBooks from home. Selections can be "checked-out" and read or listened to on a computer or audio device. Most titles can even be burned to CD. The new online service is available to anyone with a valid library card.
There are already over 1,000 titles to choose from. There are popular novels by authors such as Nora Roberts, Catherine Coulter, Dean Koontz, and Amy Tan as well as nonfiction and children’s titles.
You will need to install some free software from our website, then browse the collection and select the titles you want. When you’re ready, check out your materials by entering your library card and download the digital books to your home computer. Once downloaded, you can transfer them to your portable device, or burn the audio books directly to CD. When the lending period is up your digital books are automatically returned so there are never any late fees!Listen to audiobooks on your computer, using your digital audio device or by burning CDs.
What
is OverDrive? | How do I access OverDrive? | How
do I use OverDrive? How do I checkout audiobooks? How do I download them
to my computer? | How do I download audiobooks to
CD or transfer them to my digital audio device? | Downloading
books to your I-Pod?
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What is OverDrive?
OverDrive is a subscription database of audiobook content. The William K. Sanford Library, as part of the Upper Hudson Library System, has access to this shared collection of audiobooks. It is a service meant to be used from home. Using your library card, you can browse for audiobook titles to download to your computer. You can then burn the book onto CDs or download it to your portable digital audio device.
How do I access OverDrive?
Anyone with a valid library card and access to the internet can use OverDrive. Access the Database here. Use the menus on the left to browse titles, or the search box to find a specific book or author. When you find a book to download, you will be prompted to enter your full library card number without the spaces.
How do I use OverDrive? How do I checkout audiobooks? How do I download them to my computer?
To use the service, you'll need to install the OverDrive Media Console. Follow the steps below when using the service for the first time.
Begin
by clicking on the "OverDrive Media Console' button on the lower
left corner of the page.
Review
the System Requirements. If your computer meets them, click on the light
blue 'OverDrive Media Console' icon at the top of the screen.
When
the File Download window appears, click 'Run'
You
may want to save the OverDrive Media Console installer to the desktop,
as you may need it in the future.
Once it is saved, click run, then run again (if that prompt comes up.)
It may take a few minutes to fully install.
A series of pop-up windows will come up. Click 'I agree' to the license agreement. Click 'Next' in each subsequent box. When it is finished, click 'Close.' The OverDrive Media Console will then be a program with a shortcut on your desktop. (You may want to go to your desktop to check.)
You'll likely still need to perform the Windows Media Player Security Upgrade before you can successfully download audiobooks from OverDrive. To do so now, go to the webpage that is likely still open (look at the task bar on the bottom of your screen) labelled OverDrive, Inc.
If you closed that window, just go to http://www.overdrive.com/MediaConsole/download.asp now.
Click
on the link at the bottom of the screen shown above, 'Instructions for
performing the Windows Media Player Security Upgrade.'
The instructions for doing this upgrade are listed there. The steps below illustrate what to do.
Go
to the desktop and open OverDrive Media Console (double click to open
it.)
If this is the first time you've used OverDrive, this box will come up. Click OK.
Click
Next, then adjust the Privacy Options page as you care to, but be sure
to keep the 'acquire licenses' box checked. Click 'Next.' Customize the
'Installation Options' window as you care to, then click 'Finish.'
Windows
Media Player will automatically open with this text box. Click 'OK.' It
will acquire the license it needs and when done will look like the screen
below. Click 'Play.' A voice will tell you it is installed. Your installation
is now done.
To look for audiobooks to check-out, return to the database
Click
on the 'Quick Start Guide' at the top to get an overview on how to search
for and checkout books, or just do some searching on your own. To check
out a title you must first click on it and add it to your cart.
The item must also be available for checkout (it will say 'Add to my Cart'
if there are available copies. If all the available copies are checked
out it will say 'Place a Hold.') To see only items that are available
right now for checkout, click on the 'Ready to Go' link on the left of
the screen.
Add
the title to your cart and click 'Proceed to Checkout' (or continue browsing).
Type
in your full library card number and PIN.
Click
the green 'Confirm check out' box.
Click
the green 'Download' box.
A
window will pop-up to confirm you'd like to download the book, and where
you'd like to save it on your computer's hard drive. Alter the location
if you'd like, then click OK.
Each
audiobook is divided into parts. You can download some of the parts at
a time, or do it all at once. You'll probably decide based on how much
time you have (A two hour book took about 15 minutes to download to a
brand-new laptop via a wireless connection). To download the entire thing
now, be sure all the parts are checked and then click OK.
This
screen will appear and stay there while the audiobook is being downloaded.
You can see its progress on the lower left and lower right-hand side of
the screen.
The length of time it takes to download the audiobook to your computer varies (due to internet connection type, length of audiobook, age of computer, etc.) A two hour book took about 15 minutes to download to a brand-new laptop via a wireless connection. To burn CDs or to transfer it to a portable device takes additional time.
When it is done, the progress status on the bottom of the screen above disappears.
To listen to the audiobook on your computer, simply go to the desktop and double-click on the OverDrive Media Console. Highlight 'View All Media' on the left if necessary. Highlight the one you'd like to hear and click the green Play arrow on the upper left of the screen.
Remember that audiobooks you download are only checked out for 2 weeks. If you've had the title longer, it will still display on this screen but will not play. If you still want it, you'll need to check it out again (go to the original page where you browsed for audiobook titles and put it in a cart, then check it out.) If you no longer want the title, highlight it and click Delete.
How do I download audiobooks to CD or transfer them to my digital audio device?
- burn to a CD using Windows Media Player 9
- burn to a CD using Windows Media Player 10
- burn to a device using Windows Media Player 9
- burn to a device using Windows Media Player 10
Most WMA Audiobooks are now iPod®-compatible – with a quick upgrade to OverDrive Media Console™ v3.2!
With OverDrive Media Console v3.2 for Windows®, most audiobooks can now be transferred to the iPhone™ and the iPod®! In just a few clicks, send audiobooks to your Windows-formatted iPod using the built-in Transfer Wizard! The 'Plays on' icons at this site indicate whether titles are compatible with Apple® devices.
To install or upgrade OMC for Windows v3.2, click here. For more information on transferring WMA Audiobooks to your iPod, click here. For a list of iPod-friendly audiobooks, click here.