Downloading Audio with Overdrive
Presented by Michelle Devins, JCLC Trainer
In order to use Overdrive you will need:
- A valid library card
- Personal computer (or access to one of the kiosks at BPL Central, Hoover, Five Points West, Gardendale or Springville Road)
- Overdrive Media Console Software installed
- Access to the internet
The Process:
· On 1st visit, install free Overdrive Media Console Software
o Click the Link in the Left Column under “Software Downloads”
· Browse and Search the collection
o On the main page Search by author or title
o Use advanced search to search by Title, Keyword, ISBN, publisher, subject and date added to site
o On the results list, you may sort results by title, creator, release date, most popular and date added to the site.
· Select titles by adding them to “My Cart”
o Click the title from the list to view a full page of information about the book
o Click “add to cart” under Format Information
· Reserve a title that is currently unavailable
o Click “reserve a title” under Format Information. This will appear instead of “add to cart” if all available copies are checked out
o You will be taken to the “My Reserves” page. Type a valid email address. Then click the “reserve a title” button.
· Checkout and Download digital titles
o On the “My Cart” page click “proceed to Checkout”
o On the following page click “confirm checkout” button
o Book will remain on your bookshelf. You may download anytime.
o Click the “Download” button under the title you wish to download.
o Follow the prompts.
· Listen to the selection on the computer
o Open the Overdrive Media Console or Window Media Player
o Select the title from the library
o Click Play
· Burn titles to CD or transfer to portable device
o The Overdrive Media Console has several tools:
§ Play- play the selection
§ Transfer- launches a wizard that will download the title to a portable audio device
§ burn – opens Windows Media Player to begin the burn process
§ download parts- allows you to download additional parts of your title if you did not initially download the entire selection
§ delete – select titles to delete from your library
§ properties- will give file details. For example if a title can be burned to a CD
File Definitions:
- mp3- Stands for MPEG-2 Layer 3. The MP3 format compresses audio files in such a way that the file size is relatively small, but the sound is nearly perfect.
- Typically 1 MB is equal to one minute of music or several minutes for spoken word/audiobooks.
- wma- Stands for Windows Media Audio, an audio compression format similar to MP3, but with digital rights management (copy protection and usage restrictions) built-in by Microsoft.
- DRM- Stands for digital rights management, a file add-on that is used to protect digital products from copyright infringement.
How many titles will fit on a device?
Each title is divided into approximately 1 hour parts (This is Approximate). The file size of each part is approximately 18 MB or less. Therefore, for a 10 part book you would need about
180 MB of space. Remember that the player will need some space for Firmware. Firmware is the software on the portable device that makes it work.
Potential Problems:
- Library Card expired
- Title has been checked out but not downloaded
- Portable Audio Device not compatible
- Device must play DRM protected WMA files. Also must be able to support the 32 kbps bit rate or be able to transcode 32 kbps files to a supported bit rate
- Check with manufacturer if not working, perhaps there is a “patch” available for download that will allow the player to support overdrive
- ipods do not support wma files
- Windows Security Update not accepted
- After a book is downloaded, the patron will be prompted with a dialog box to accept a Windows Media Player Security Upgrade. This is what allows overdrive to play wma DRM files
- Older version of Windows Media Player
Plugin error: googlegadget (Plugin not found ../common/plugins/googlegadget.inc)
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.