Now Playing: Video Tutorials!

For all of you folks who learn best by watching, you’re in luck!  OverDrive, the service the library uses to provide downloadable e-books and audiobooks, has released a series of videos to help new users get started downloading library books to their devices.

We have linked to the new videos on the OverDrive Information portion of our website.  Please click a link below to get information about how to use your device to download library books.

We also have information to get you started on the following devices, but no videos yet:

As always, feel free to call or stop by the Reference Desk (477-7476 option 5) with any questions you may have.  You can also drop us an email using our contact form.  Please be very specific when describing your question/issue.

Until next time…

LinkedIn Security

If you have a LinkedIn account, you may want to change your password…immediately!  They’ve been hacked.  According to this c-net article, millions of LinkedIn user passwords were leaked online.  Users of both the website and the smartphone apps are at risk.  The article also gives instructions on how to change your password.  Even if you don’t think your password is at risk from this attack, it is good practice to change your passwords regularly.

Gmail Tips

gmail logoI am a Gmail power user.  I use labels, labs, IMAP and all kinds of tweaks to personalize my email experience.  Even so, I learned a bunch of neat tricks from this post, “Top 10 Clever Tips Built Right Into Gmail,” by Lifehacker.  My favorites are:

#5 – Sort Gmail messages by size and get rid of data hogs.

#3 – Access Gmail when it’s down.

#2 – Set Gmail as your default email client.

If you use an iPod/iPad/iPhone for your Gmail, you may also be interested in:

#4 – Set up Gmail on iOS like it was meant to be.

What’s your favorite Gmail feature/tip/trick?

OverDrive Catalog Updates

The Upper Hudson Library System has been selected by OverDrive, our e-content manager,  to take part in a pilot program that will add functionality to our current digital collections catalog.  The change is slated to take place Monday, May 7.   The new catalog will add three major features:

  1. Recommend to library – allows cardholders to browse the entire OverDrive catalog and suggest the purchase of titles to the library.  Within the recommendation screen, you can choose whether to be emailed if the item is purchased, automatically added to the request list, or both.
  2. Buy it now – if a title is unavailable for immediate download, there will be an additional option to purchase the title (for personal use, not for the library) from a list of vendors.  Side note:the library system gets credit toward e-content for every purchase made through the OverDrive catalog.
  3. Advertising – There will now be a space for advertisements from publishers, OverDrive, and member libraries.  When the pilot program is concluded, the library system will receive credit towards e-content in exchange for the ad placement.

Hopefully, these changes will be a win-win.  Patrons will be able to have a say in the development of our e-collections, as well as the option to get immediate access to desired content.  Libraries will not only benefit monetarily, but will also be able to build collections that may more accurately reflect the tastes of our patrons.

Let us know what you think of the changes, once the new catalog is up and running.  We look forward to your feedback!

Kindle Glitch with New Harry Potter E-Books

As announced by OverDrive, the e-book and audiobook versions of the Harry Potter series became available for download today (through the library).  Unfortunately, there seems to be a glitch with the Kindle version.  Amazon is aware of the issue and working to correct it.  In the meantime, those users attempting to download Kindle versions of the Harry Potter series will receive an error message.

The ePub and audio versions of the books are not affected.  We’ll let you know when this issue is fixed.  Thanks for your patience!