Nook Owners, I need help...

[Kathi OD]

figuring out how to get library books onto my nook.

You guys know everything, so I figure you can help me out.

I installed Adobe Digital Edition and was able to get a book from my library downloaded to ADE.

Then I dumped the book into my nook, but it's not there; at least not that I can see.

What am I doing wrong? The directions for this don't seem very clear.

Thanks!

 

[Kathi OD]

OK, I did find it. But when I try to open it, I get the message "user not activated."

 

[NotUrsula]

Call your library, preferably during weekday business hours. Someone should be able to walk you through the process. Different libraries differ in the way that they authorize users, so you really need to speak to someone who can access your account from the admin side.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Hope the OP isn't in my library district!

I am a librarian, and we been getting this question non-stop now. Everyone wants to know how to get the free library books on their e-readers so they never have to come here again. Sadly, at our library, we shrug and tell the patron to look at the website. We use a third party service (Overdrive) and their website has the instructions, not our local library website. Our library doesn't have any e-readers and none of the staff has ever held one, let alone trained to use one. We have no clue how to set those things up.

I feel so stupid at my reference desk feeling like an idiot with all these e-reader questions which I can't answer. But I can't justify buying an expensive e-reader just to train myself, especially when I prefer paper books.

Oh well - it seems the entire world bought an e-reader for Christmas!

 

[momof1princess]

OP, this is what i do: i choose a book on bn.com, then download it to my computer. i connect my nook via usb cable, then open it's files. i then open the folder where the downloaded book is stored on my computer, and drag and drop it into the "my documents" folder on the nook. if you drag and drop it to "my b&n library" folder, the book will not open. i haven't tried an e-book from a library yet, but hopefully, the process is similar. oh, and you must be registered on bn.com to download books.

 

[NotUrsula]

Hugs, has the library district tried asking Overdrive to provide a few units for hands-on training? If the contract is a decent size they should be willing to pony up either loaners or eat the cost of giving you a couple of used demo units. (They demo the things all the time at ALA and regional conferences, so the reps definitely have them.) Otherwise, the district might consider buying one of each type of device that will work, and having someone on staff who can be designated the point person for these questions.

Beyond that, try to make it a point to attend a "petting zoo" session at your next library conference. Many of the people who attend bring units that they don't mind letting you play with -- that's the point.

 

[HugsForEeyore]

Hugs, has the library district tried asking Overdrive to provide a few units for hands-on training? If the contract is a decent size they should be willing to pony up either loaners or eat the cost of giving you a couple of used demo units. (They demo the things all the time at ALA and regional conferences, so the reps definitely have them.) Otherwise, the district might consider buying one of each type of device that will work, and having someone on staff who can be designated the point person for these questions.

Beyond that, try to make it a point to attend a "petting zoo" session at your next library conference. Many of the people who attend bring units that they don't mind letting you play with -- that's the point.

Our library did buy 2 ipads, which can read books, I believe. The director and our assistant director got them, which they now use for their own personal use; so we libarians aren't ever going to touch them. Me and my fellow librarians also never go to libary conferences or programs of any sort, or attend anything with Overdrive or any of our vendors - only the assistant director is allowed to do that. But all that doesn't help us "front-line" librarians, since the assistant director does not deal with the public or run a desk (strictly office work in the back now). So we librarians who actually deal with the public are on our own on this. I haven't heard anything that we will be trained in e-readers. I don't think we will be.

The other librarians don't seem concerned that we are so clueless - they instead get mad that the patrons are too stupid to read the Overdrive website, and they get bothered by the e-reader questions, almost like it was beyond the scope of our job.

So I bet nothing will change (as usual here). Guess I will continue feeling stupid at my reference desk until I pony up and buy an e-reader and train myself!

I have a feeling my library is run a bit differently than most!

 

[bekkiz]

Calibre is a free program you can download which has many functions, but in this case helps you to organize and load books onto your Nook.

When you download it from your library, you open Calibre and import the book. You then plug in your Nook and Calibre has a little button that says "send to device" and boom, it's there!

The other thing, you can drag books onto your Nook just like any harddrive, but you have to choose the right folder. I can't remember off the top of my head which is the right one, but maybe you can experiment.

 

[RitaE]

When you say you "dumped the book onto your nook" what exactly do you mean? Did you transfer it over using Adobe Digital Editions or did you simply do a copy and paste?

The nook has to be authorized as a Device on your Adobe Digital Editions Account. Open Adobe Digital Editions and then Plug the nook into your computer. If the nook isn't authorized yet, it should do that. If it is authorized, then you should see the nook as a device in ADE.

If you have any further troubles I'd suggest you go here.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=209

 

[bas71873]

subbing....cause I'm hoping a Nook is under the tree for me this time next week

 

[Cindy B]

The library and Nook is not the best thing is the world. It is a little complicated and not very seamless. I tried it and I'm doing better with just the free offerings from B & N. My Camden county library uses the South Jersey Library cooperative so the selections are fairly limited but it does work.

First make sure Adobe Digital Editions is downloaded and you have registered your machine. Make sure your nook is registered at well. Once you select your book you want in your cart, make a folder on your deskstop (i called mine ebooks). Then download your library books to this folder. Then attach your nook which will be shown as an external device. Drag the material from the folder to the nook.

You can check out visuals at Youtube (sideloading for Nook)

I tried to use Calibre and it just wasn't for me. To me that was complicated.


Heres another solution.

Go to the Cherry Hill Barnes and Noble behind the racetrack plaza. Ask for Matt the Nook guy. He will sit with you and help you set it up. He has a little table in the Nook station and its sort of like an unofficial "genius bar". He's amazing and the "Nook genius" in the store. I saw him helping someone with thier laptop and the nook right there in the store. He's great and really willing to help anyone. He doesn't get paid extra for Nook technical support, so I did write a comment card to his boss and he was appreciative. I wouldn't do it this week-- unless you did it very early or very very late.

 

[Kathi OD]

Hope the OP isn't in my library district!

I am a librarian, and we been getting this question non-stop now. Everyone wants to know how to get the free library books on their e-readers so they never have to come here again. Sadly, at our library, we shrug and tell the patron to look at the website. We use a third party service (Overdrive) and their website has the instructions, not our local library website. Our library doesn't have any e-readers and none of the staff has ever held one, let alone trained to use one. We have no clue how to set those things up.

I feel so stupid at my reference desk feeling like an idiot with all these e-reader questions which I can't answer. But I can't justify buying an expensive e-reader just to train myself, especially when I prefer paper books.

Oh well - it seems the entire world bought an e-reader for Christmas!

Hugs, I'm not in your library district, I live in Burlington County. They use Overdrive too, but I'm not understanding the directions. I did ask about a week ago when I was in the library and the librarian also had no clue. She just shook her head and said she didn't know. I kind of felt bad for her. You would think that there would have been some kind of training since the libraries are offering this service, and I'm sure taxpayer dollars are going to pay for Overdrive. I feel bad for all of the librarians who are going to have to deal with us in the coming weeks.

I'm going to have another look at it again today and see what I can figure out.

 

[bicker]

Just curious... Isn't B&N providing customer service for customers who bought the Nook, at least in part due to its advantage for library borrowing, and are having trouble with that heavily-touted feature?

In an analogous situation, TiVo provides special customer service for folks having difficulties with CableCARDs from their cable companies. TiVo bridges the gap in the service provided by the cable companies, because the ability to connect to digital cable is touted as a major feature, along with other features such as clear QAM and ATSC.

 

[Buckalew11]

I loaded mine just like I load downloaded music to my iTouch. The process was similar.

 

[SaraJayne]

I've never tried loading library books onto my nook, because I haven't been interested in it. I prefer to own books.

But the entire process sounds very complicated.

 

[Kathi OD]

When you say you "dumped the book onto your nook" what exactly do you mean? Did you transfer it over using Adobe Digital Editions or did you simply do a copy and paste?

The nook has to be authorized as a Device on your Adobe Digital Editions Account. Open Adobe Digital Editions and then Plug the nook into your computer. If the nook isn't authorized yet, it should do that. If it is authorized, then you should see the nook as a device in ADE.

If you have any further troubles I'd suggest you go here.

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=209

I see the nook as a device in ADE. When I say dump, I mean that I dragged it from the right side to where my nook shows in ADE. It's on my nook. I can't access it though because when I try to open it I get this message "user not activated."

 

[Kathi OD]

I loaded mine just like I load downloaded music to my iTouch. The process was similar.

that's how I thought it would work.

 

[RitaE]

When you first plugged the nook in, did it ask you to authorize the device to the same Adobe ID that you used to authorize Adobe Digital Editions.

 

[TLuvsD]

Call BN Customer Service. They are very helpful, even if it isn't a BN purchase. They stay on the phone with you until you are happy....
I use Calibre for the James Potter books, worked great, very easy.

 

[Kathi OD]

After much research on the web, I figured it out.

Evidently, although you "authorize" your nook with ADE, there is a glitch and the "authorization" doesn't really occur.

So, here's what you have to do to "re-authorize" the nook.

Plug your nook into your computer.
When the Auto Play window comes up, click on "view folders."
Highlight the folder that says ".adobe-digital-editions"
Delete that folder.
Eject your nook.
Unplug your nook.
Open ADE.
Plug your nook in again.

ADE should ask you to authorize your nook again. Do so.

It should be authorized properly this time. Although, I had to do it 2 times.

Then I was able to reload the book I had borrowed from the library to my nook and it's there.

WHEW! I was ready to get rid of this thing. Seems like now it will be really easy to get books from the library.