Library2Go is a terrific service-- free audiobooks! If you're a dedicated Book on CD listener, and always wishing we had more in stock, it may be time to add digital audiobooks to your repertoire. Even if it seems a little bit intimidating, the rewards are great. In the past 2 weeks, Library2Go has added 23 new fiction books, including Nevada Barr's 13 1/2, Debbie Macomber's 92 Pacific Boulevard, and Linwood Barclay's Fear the Worst. For me, it's been extremely worthwhile to use Library2Go, although I did initially find it frustrating because many popular books have a holds list, so there's not usually instant gratification.
How did I overcome that? I learned to work with the Library2Go System. Here are my tips:
1. Store as many books as possible on your player. Many reasonably priced players these days have 1 or 2 gigabytes of storage, and you are allowed to have 6 books checked out at a time. The books will expire from your hard drive in 7 or 14 days, depending on the checkout period you select. Personally, I can't listen to that many books in that amount of time-- they used to expire before I could get to them. Then I realized: the books will not expire from my MP3 player once they are transferred. If you have enough memory on your player, check the book out as soon as it's available, download it, and listen at your leisure.
2. Keep adding to your holds list. You may have 6 books on hold at a time, meaning you are waiting in line for each of those books. Your account will always tell you what number you are in the queue. You will see ridiculously high numbers sometimes, which is why you need to keep your list full, so that you are always approaching the front of the line for at least a couple of items.
3. Use your wish list. Whenever you receive a notice that something is available to check out, check it out and download it. It will disappear from your holds list. Immediately go to your wish list and move one of the items to the hold list. The wish list does not have a limit of items; fill it whenever you browse, and use it to keep your holds list full to the brim.
4. Browse every couple of weeks. (At least if you're a fiction fan. Once a month or so is probably adequate to check for new nonfiction, they seem to expanding that side of the collection more slowly.) Use the advanced search option, select Fiction, (or Mystery, or Thriller, or Fantasy, or whatever you'd like to limit your results to,) and then choose "within the last 14 days" in the "Date added to site" field. I do this because I feel fairly sure I've exhausted the backlog of books I'm actually interested in; you may choose to browse more generally. Anything you're interested in goes into your "Wish List".
*Note: Instant gratification is possible. If you absolutely need something to listen to on the car trip you're taking later today, choose a genre and then mark off the "Only show titles with copies available" box at the bottom of the page. Chances are, the bestselling Dan Brown book you wanted won't be there; but you might find an intriguing new book or an old favorite which doesn't have a holds list, either because no one knows how wonderful it is, or because Library2Go is allowed to loan many multiple copies at once on that book's particular licensing agreement.
We have "How to" sheets available at the library to help you with the technical side of starting out with Library2Go, and you can always call us or stop by the reference desk with questions as well. Library2Go is terrific entertainment at an unbeatable price-- well worth the effort.
How did I overcome that? I learned to work with the Library2Go System. Here are my tips:
1. Store as many books as possible on your player. Many reasonably priced players these days have 1 or 2 gigabytes of storage, and you are allowed to have 6 books checked out at a time. The books will expire from your hard drive in 7 or 14 days, depending on the checkout period you select. Personally, I can't listen to that many books in that amount of time-- they used to expire before I could get to them. Then I realized: the books will not expire from my MP3 player once they are transferred. If you have enough memory on your player, check the book out as soon as it's available, download it, and listen at your leisure.
2. Keep adding to your holds list. You may have 6 books on hold at a time, meaning you are waiting in line for each of those books. Your account will always tell you what number you are in the queue. You will see ridiculously high numbers sometimes, which is why you need to keep your list full, so that you are always approaching the front of the line for at least a couple of items.
3. Use your wish list. Whenever you receive a notice that something is available to check out, check it out and download it. It will disappear from your holds list. Immediately go to your wish list and move one of the items to the hold list. The wish list does not have a limit of items; fill it whenever you browse, and use it to keep your holds list full to the brim.
4. Browse every couple of weeks. (At least if you're a fiction fan. Once a month or so is probably adequate to check for new nonfiction, they seem to expanding that side of the collection more slowly.) Use the advanced search option, select Fiction, (or Mystery, or Thriller, or Fantasy, or whatever you'd like to limit your results to,) and then choose "within the last 14 days" in the "Date added to site" field. I do this because I feel fairly sure I've exhausted the backlog of books I'm actually interested in; you may choose to browse more generally. Anything you're interested in goes into your "Wish List".
*Note: Instant gratification is possible. If you absolutely need something to listen to on the car trip you're taking later today, choose a genre and then mark off the "Only show titles with copies available" box at the bottom of the page. Chances are, the bestselling Dan Brown book you wanted won't be there; but you might find an intriguing new book or an old favorite which doesn't have a holds list, either because no one knows how wonderful it is, or because Library2Go is allowed to loan many multiple copies at once on that book's particular licensing agreement.
We have "How to" sheets available at the library to help you with the technical side of starting out with Library2Go, and you can always call us or stop by the reference desk with questions as well. Library2Go is terrific entertainment at an unbeatable price-- well worth the effort.
Great overview. Makes me want to try it NOW...wait I don't have a player. Soon. Very, very soon.
ReplyDelete