#22 Overdrive

I enjoyed looking through Overdrive to see what new titles have been added since the last time I used it at least two years ago. Looks like there are some new titles since I last looked, so that's pretty cool.

It was easy to log in with my library card number & PIN - I liked not having to set up a separate account in order to use Overdrive like we have to do on so many of our online services (and in the ILLiad system as well - customers get very confused having to have two separate accounts for requesting things. But I digress.)

I'm not a fan of having to download a piece of software onto my PC in order to use Overdrive but I guess in order to have a book checked out and usable on your PC for a length of time, you have to have the software that enables you to access it until your checkout period has expired. I have the software loaded onto my home computer and have listened to a few titles (again, this was a while back) but probably won't do it at work - no time!

It was easy to search for titles and look at the selections by category, although I wish there were an easy way to break down the levels within each category. For example, I can look at all fiction, juvenile fiction and young adult fiction but I can't limit the SciFi/Fantasy category to exclude juvenile fiction and have to wade through many titles I'm probably not interested in. It would be nice if some additional searching capabilities were implemented to make it easier to find exactly what you want. The keyword search box is fairly limited but works well.

Other than that, though, I wonder how long we can afford to continue offering this online resource? Are people using it enough to justify the cost? I am not a big fan of audio books but I can see this increasing in popularity as more and more people get MP3 players that they can carry with them on trips, etc. If we can't afford to buy more titles due to the budget situation I'm concerned it won't get enough use to justify the cost. We can let customers know about it but if it doesn't offer what they want, they won't use it.

Nevertheless, an interesting resource, and one I tend to forget about, so thanks for the reminder.