Nook question for ereader experts

[casjen]

When I went into Barnes and Noble yesterday they had a sample nook. It is plastic. The real ones will be in on 11/30.

At any rate, she told me you absolutely cannot download books from the library onto your nook. She said none of the ereaders do that no matter what I have read online. She says Barnes and Noble has the most free books of any other ereader, no mater what I've read.

I understand she is pushing the nook, but I thought I read here you can get library books and put them on the nook? I don't want an ereader if I can't put library books on it. Help!

 

[Ephany]

Hi, I'm not up on the Nook myself, however I read this thread on the Community board and though that post #6 was quite helpful.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2336571

 

[Darcy03231]

I know you can download library books to the Sony e-reader.

 

[MyDizneyBoyz]

Your library has to offer the Overdrive system in order for you to be able to download books to your ereader, and even then not every book published is available digitally.

Our local libraries only offer audio (mp3) Overdrive downloads, not full text ebooks. It seems that only really big libraries in the larger cities offer the full ebook downloads. Check with your library to see what they offer, if anything. I was kind of surprised to find that ours only does audio as we're in a fairly large suburb... ah well.

From what I've read, the Nook will eventually have the capability to handle Overdrive downloads but it doesn't yet. The Sony does and I think the Kindle does as well, but I won't swear to it. But since Overdrive isn't available to me, it's not a deciding factor in my case. Although I still can't decide which one I want - I want to play with the Nook when the real ones come out.

 

[RitaE]

um - she's wrong.
Most libraries use the Overdrive system which will download eBooks in one of 3 formats - ePub, secure PDF, and Mobi. The nook will not handle Mobi files directly - most traditional type Romance novels are Mobi.

Drm'd ePub and secure PDF are handled by Adobe Digital editions. There is an employee of Adobe posting at mobileread.com who has been working on this project. He is not positive it will be ready to go right on Nov 30th but they will get there pretty quick. The nook will handle these file by a side load method .. ie you will download the Overdrive library books onto your computer and then plug your nook into the computer via a USB cable. The books will then be available to transfer from the computer Adobe library to the nook.

Yes, most Sony readers will also do this. Many heavy eBook users buy a "backup" Sony reader simply for the Overdrive capability. If you go to the Adobe Digital Editions FAQ you will find a list of devices which work with Adobe Digital Editions.

http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/devices/

There are ways to get all these files onto a Kindle and other devices, but it requires running some Python scripts and sometimes doing what is called "Stripping the DRM" which is technically illegal in regards to copyright law so I won't go into that here. If you are interested in that a simple Google search will teach you the method.

As for the free books, Barnes and Noble is working with the Google eBook project to make Public Domain books (out of copyright) directly available to the nook. Every single book that is digitally available in Public Domain is available for every eReader device, either directly from one of many sites (Google, Gutenberg, manybooks etc) or via a short file conversion process. Amazon lists many of the more popular ones directly in their store for free.

Now as for other free books, both Barnes and Noble and Amazon have self-publishing available for Indie Authors...Amazon directly on their site and Barnes and Noble via Smashwords. Many of these Authors make their books available free or very low cost. Right now, Amazon has the bigger library of Indie Authors simply because Amazon has been at this longer. I expect Barnes and Noble will eventually catch up.

 

[3boymthr]

Just a note for the PP who is concerned that her library doesn't offer e-books just audio check with your library as they may have a system already established where you don't have to get a new card to use an alternate library - mine does - they call it a library network and includes libraries in 50 different towns and I can use all the features of those libraries except the passes. If they don't have a network find a library in your state that does and sign up for a card. Legally, as long as you are a resident of that state they can't deny you a card. They can deny you some of the features of the library - which usually means things like passes and entrance to free programs but generally books aren't excluded.

 

[RitaE]

Anybody who lives in Illinois - the Chicago Public Library system has a reciprocal agreement with many smaller libraries where you can get a CPL card for free. So I have cards at both our library and the Chicago Library system and between the two I can get a pretty good selection of eBooks. If you live in Illinois and your library is not on this list the cost is $100 a year for a Chicago Public library card. I don't think the CPL eBook library is worth $100 a year yet but they might be eventually as they keep adding titles.

http://www.chipublib.org/aboutcpl/cplpolicies/policies/reciprocalborrow.php

Legally, as long as you are a resident of that state they can't deny you a card.

That varies widely by state. Some libraries are not supported by State funding at all and so local libraries will deny cards to non-residents.

 

[NotUrsula]

Legally, as long as you are a resident of that state they can't deny you a card. They can deny you some of the features of the library - which usually means things like passes and entrance to free programs but generally books aren't excluded.

I'm afraid that's not universally true. I've been a professional librarian for over 20 years and have worked in seven states, and it it is not true in any of them.

Most public libraries in the US are set up exactly like school districts in terms of funding; your eligibility to borrow books is dependent upon your residency vis-a-vis the property tax rolls. If you live in the district or otherwise pay property taxes there, you are eligible for no-fee service, otherwise you are not unless your district has a reciprocal borrowing agreement with other districts.

As to the folks who are surprised that their libraries' e-book offerings are still slim, the reason is the restrictions imposed by the DRM licensing and the lack of standardized format support. In academia we tend to prefer PDF, and a lot of us have decided to hold back on investing in a big way until we see which data format ends up shaking out as the standard. Once one is established, I promise you will see much larger investment in electronic books. (Note that an annual library license for the Adobe Content Server, the software that controls lending for DRM'd PDFs, is quite expensive. Smaller public libraries will have a hard time justifying paying for it if they don't have extensive demand.)

Personally, I'm holding out. I want to see what happens with the IREX.

 

[bumbershoot]

That varies widely by state. Some libraries are not supported by State funding at all and so local libraries will deny cards to non-residents.

Yep. Or they'll charge you.

My state has no library system; there are county and city systems. When I lived in King County I could belong to them. When I lived in Pierce but not in Tacoma, I could join Pierce County but NOT Tacoma City library system. Now I'm in Tacoma and I belong to that one. Once you have a card, with the two county systems mentioned, they don't take the card away (I've asked), but I couldn't just go get a King County card without paying.

 

[RitaE]

Personally, I'm holding out. I want to see what happens with the IREX.

I really thought that iRex sounded like a dream come true also, but I hear they are having issues with the operating system. I dunno, distribution has currently been moved back to mid-December - originally was supposed to be the last week of October.

Right now I want to see the Plastic Logic device coming out next year. I suspect that one is going to really give the Kindle DX a run for their money.

 

[big_red_s]

If you didn't order one yet you won't get them by Christmas.
Barnes & Noble sold out of the Nook: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34069880/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/