[Web4lib] Audiobooks for iPods?

[Houghton-Jan, Sarah]

There simply is not an audio eBook vendor who both provides an eBooks product to libraries and is Macintosh compatible.

 

The best recourse that we as librarians, and you as one of our customers, have is to write letters to both Apple and to Overdrive/NetLibrary complaining about the situation.  As an iPod owner myself, I have done just that.  The more voices they hear, the more likely they are to change.  And you're right--it all has to do with digital management schemes.

 

If users are looking for audio books for a Macintosh or iPod, their two main options are currently Audible.com and iTunes, both of which are individual for-pay services.

 

If libraries want to provide audio eBooks for iPod users, they also have two options, both of which are being used by libraries currently.  Libraries can purchase iPods (Shuffles, usually) as well as eBook titles through Audible.com or iTunes, pre-load audio books onto the iPods (either a set title the library has chosen or something the user has specifically requested) and check them out with the audiobook as one item.  Libraries can also allow users to bring in their own iPods, and load the Audible.com/iTunes eBooks onto the users iPods, checking out the eBook only, sans device.  Or, libraries can do a combination of the two.

 

Apparently Apple does not consider the library market profitable or important enough to take the time to bother to create a platform for libraries so that their users can use library materials on their iPods.  It makes me sad, but in a world where money talks, I am not surprised.  I had, in the early days of audio eBooks, hoped that this would change after a couple of years, but that hsa not proven to be the case.  

 

Sarah Houghton-Jan, Information and Web Services Manager

San Mateo County Library

 

________________________________

From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Robert Sullivan
Sent: Tue 1/2/2007 2:25 PM
To: web4lib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Web4lib] Audiobooks for iPods?



We started to subscribe to NetLibrary and naturally our patrons have
questioned why they can't used the service with their iPods.

I know that NetLibrary, OverDrive etc are not available for iPods
because of digital rights management issues, but how many (if any)
libraries using a service that does allow iPod use?

Thanks for any information,

--
Bob Sullivan
Schenectady Digital History Archive
<http://www.schenectadyhistory.org/>
Schenectady County (NY) Public Library
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