Netlibrary: Library 2.0 Activity #27

I use Netlibrary and Overdrive (via the County Library website). I find Overdrive easier to download and copy to an MP3 player than Netlibrary, which has to work through Windows Media Player and seems to incur Digital Rights Management warnings whenever I perform the operation incorrectly. It has always felt more awkward to me. They also download as one long file. Overdrive breaks the files up into 1-2 hour segments. On the other hand, I don't have to wait to download a book from Netlibrary. Overdrive seems to license only one copy at a time, which seems absurd for a digital download portal. The collections don't seem to overlap. I haven't tried downloading to my mobile phone yet; ebooks would be probably easier to read on that, with a larger screen, than with my MP3. I do like the audiobooks, in any case. Although the initial downloads to my PC have a time limit, the copies synced to my MP3 seem to stay indefinitely. While I always wish more of my favorites were available from the two sites, I can usually find something worthwhile. And both vendors are getting surprisingly new titles. While not all books lend themselves to audio formats, I'm able to do much more reading this way, since I do a lot of listening while walking and doing data entry at my other job. It's much more convenient then schlepping large containers of cassettes and CDs around with you, which may or may not be damaged, and which can easily go missing. More patrons need to be aware of this service. It would, of course, be very nice if these and other services worked with Ipods. I hate the way DRM obstructs the sharing of information, discourages patronage, and ultimately stifles potential commerce.