Digital Audiobooks

[Kyle Cook]

Do you love to listen to books on tape or CD? What about on mp3?

[Susan P.]

I love digital audiobooks! Unfortunately, as an iPod owner I can't use the library's collection and rely instead on a subscription with Audible. I have found that if we stop listening in the middle of a book and don't resume for several days (for example, during a conference), my iPod doesn't resume right where we left off -- rather, it backs it up a bit, perhaps 30 minutes or so. Not perfect, but if we're enjoying a book in the car (like any of Diana Gabaldon's massive epics) a short refresher isn't a bad thing. And being able to carry all her books (ranging from 28 CDs to 50 or so) at one time is a joy!

[Bernadette]

I'm looking forward to the iPod compatible OverDrive format - hope it's soon!

[Mona Batchelor]

Bernadette and other iPod users,

I found this on an OverDrive FAQ:

OverDrive uses the WMA (Windows Media Audio) format. The IPod uses the AAC format. That means you can’t download directly from OverDrive and listen via an IPod. Of course, IPod users can take audio files off any CD and convert them into AAC for an IPod through ITunes.

Since I'm not an iPod user, I don't know anything about the mechanics of this, but thought it might help.

[Polly]

Summer months are the time to download and copy Christmas books from OverDrive to your mp3 player. Being able to copy to another media format is dependent upon the publisher's permissions so look for that capability when browsing in OverDrive's holiday collections.

Since I don't have an mp3 player, I burn the story collections to CDs.

Come December, when the holiday theme books are usually checked out, I can play the CDs because copying to different media keeps the book "alive" beyond the checkout limitation.

[Tricia]

That is a great idea Polly. I always want Christmas stories for our annual Christmas Eve trip to Cincy and they are all out then. I am going to check some out today and save them for then!

[Christi U.]

Um, what about the copyright issues here? I mean, you are checking out an item from the Library & then copying it onto a CD. One could conceivably copy the library's audio music CDs onto one's MP3 player and it would be the same thing. As they say on "Boondocks", "I'm not hatin', just askin'."

[Polly]

Christi U,
In OverDrive, the publisher sets permission to allow CD burning so there is no copyright violation.

I was writing only about the get-it-now-for-listening-later use of audiobooks downloaded from R.E.A.D.S.

If you download one of the travel guide ebooks from OverDrive, the publisher sets the permission of how much copy-and-paste you are allowed. You might want to copy the pages pertaining only to your destination (especially the attractions and restaurants) and create a one page travel guide to carry in your pocket rather than the several hundred pages of the paper book. Again, the copy permission is set by the publisher so copy-and-paste is acceptable.

Yes, there are people devoted to hacking DRM-protected media and they populate the web with how-tos. The debate about what constitutes fair-use is complicated so I will not get into that subject.

[Mona Batchelor]

Thanks, Polly!

[Christi U.]

"The debate about what constitutes fair-use is complicated so I will not get into that subject."

That's an understatement. LOL Thank you for replying to my query with eloquence and simplicity. Enjoy!

[Tao You]

Although I do such things occasionally for the really good books/songs that I cannot pass by, I also have the same concerns on the copyright. Maybe we can get away with it by "Fair Use"? Since we can copy an article or few chapters of a book for personal and educational use, maybe we can also burn a few tracks and some sessions of the books to a CD as long as it is for personal and educational use.

[Mona Batchelor]

Polly's explanation alleviated any concerns or reservations I may have had regarding copyright violations.

[Serafina]

Two problems with this assignment: One, the first READS link and the temporary-card READS link give an invalid URL error. Two, this assignment requires downloading and installing software, which my staff cannot do. (Not that I don't trust them. We're phasing out the roadblocks previous IS folk had up but it's slow going.) Can the assignment be considered completed if they download from Librivox instead? Is there something else we can do for this week's credit? They've worked too hard to be defeated by pesky DRM!