OverDrive Overload

BACKSTORY: I looked to OverDrive from home several months ago for an audiobook title that Sno-Isle owns only on cassette (Going Solo by Roald Dahl). Even though I wasn’t really looking forward to copying an audiobook to CD to listen to in my car, I was happy to find the title available through OverDrive. My happiness was short-lived, however, as I found this particular title was not available for copying to CD -- I would have to listen to the download on my computer. I don’t know about anyone else, but the thought of listening to an entire audiobook on my computer does not appeal to me. I listen to audiobooks while I am driving. If I am able to sit at my computer, then I am also able to sit in a chair and pick up a book. (Turns out the Dahl title is not available on CD to purchase, either – so much for putting in a staff request...)

TODAY: Despite my misgivings, I tried to approach today's assignment without my baggage (see previous paragraph). I downloaded the OverDrive console, updated Windows Media Player, and then attempted to do the security upgrade. Unfortunately, I got an error message stating that a problem had occurred in retrieving the digital rights management machine identification and I was directed to contact Microsoft support. I went to Microsoft's help and support site for Windows Media Player. While I learned a little bit more about digital rights management, I was not able to find a solution to my particular problem. It looks like I will have to look for help elsewhere, so I will talk to my one of my coworkers about the issue when the opportunity presents itself.

In the meantime, I did explore the digital collection and went so far as to put one audio title on hold and checked out another "always available" title (which I was unable to download due to the issues described above -- got a very similar DRM message since I hadn't done the security upgrade). Question: If there are no holds on a title, why didn't I get an immediate e-mail stating that I could check out the title I put on hold? I found this frustrating. On the other hand, I did like that I could preview the audio before putting titles in my cart, because as anyone who has listed to audiobooks knows, the reader makes all the difference. You can have a great book, but if the reader's voice grates on your nerves, there is no way you are going to listen to 10+ hours of it!

Overall, I think that I might use OverDrive more if I owned a MP3 player. I was pleased to see a lot of classic titles (Austen, Dickens, etc.) in the "Always Available" section -- this could be very useful for those teens who wait until the last minute to find a book on their reading list!