[bookport] Libraries Offering Audiobook Downloads
- From: "Neal Ewers" <ewers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bookport" <bookport@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 10:26:43 -0500
Libraries Offering Audiobook Downloads
Associated Press
Aug 25, 2005 2:35 PM (ET)
By MICHAEL HILL
<http://apnews.myway.com//article/20050825/D8C70V582.html>
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20050825/D8C70V582.html
GUILDERLAND, N.Y. (AP) - A new way to borrow audiobooks from the
library
involves no CDs, no car trips, no fines and no risk of being shushed.
Rather, public libraries from New York City to Alameda, Calif., are
letting
patrons download Tom Clancy techno-thrillers, Arabic tutorials and
other
titles to which they can listen on their computers or portable music
players - all without leaving home.
Librarians say such offerings help libraries stay relevant in the
digital age.
Barbara Nichols Randall, director of the Guilderland Public Library in
suburban Albany, said the library considered the needs of younger
readers
and those too busy to visit.
"This is a way for us to have library access 24/7," she said.
(AP) Visitors to the audiobook section of the Guilderland Public
Library in
Guilderland, N.Y., on...
Full Image
There's still one big hitch, though: The leading library services
offer
Windows-friendly audiobook files that can't be played on Apple
Computer
Inc. (AAPL)'s massively popular iPod player.
Vendors such as OverDrive Inc. and OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Inc.'s NetLibrary have licensing deals with publishers and provide
digital
books using Microsoft Corp. (MSFT)'s Windows Media Audio format, which
includes copyright protections designed to help audiobooks stand apart
from
the often lawless world of song swapping.
A patron with a valid library card visits a library Web site to borrow
a
title for, say, three weeks. When the audiobook is due, the patron
must
renew it or find it automatically "returned" in a virtual sense: The
file
still sits on the patron's computer, but encryption makes it
unplayable
beyond the borrowing period.
"The patron doesn't have to do anything after the lending period,"
said
Steve Potash, chief executive of OverDrive. "The file expires. It
checks
itself back into the collection. There's no parts to lose. It's never
damaged. It can never be late."
Potash said about 1,000 libraries have signed up for OverDrive's
audiobook
service since its debut late last year. NetLibrary, teaming up with
Recorded Books, launched a similar service in January and counts 200
library customers.
Libraries offering audiobook downloads range from large institutions
in New
York and Los Angeles to smaller ones for Cleveland, Ohio, Maricopa
County,
Ariz., North Little Rock, Ark. and Omaha, Neb. The Hawaii State Public
Library System signed up earlier this month.
Guilderland pays NetLibrary about $6,000 a year for more than 850
titles.
Randall considers that a good deal, noting that a single audiobook can
cost
the library up to $80 when bought on CD.
Under the NetLibrary program, Guilderland gets a set number of
downloads
for all titles each year, and a single title can be borrowed by
multiple
patrons simultaneously as long as the cap hasn't been reached.
Downloads
over the cap cost extra. Patrons must provide their own audio players,
although they may listen on their home computers if they do not have
one.
Other libraries make different arrangements. OverDrive, for example,
generally takes a more traditional approach. When a copy is checked
out, no
other patron may download it until the borrowing period ends.
It's still unclear what impact such services will have on audiobook
download sales from companies such as Audible Inc. (ADBL), although
one
analyst suggested it could inspire more sales as patrons buy for keeps
a
title they had borrowed.
"It's certainly smart for the publishers to do this," said Phil Leigh,
a
senior analyst with Inside Digital Media.
Digital downloads are a part of a natural progression for libraries,
which
have evolved from lending books to cassettes and videotapes to CDs and
DVDs. OverDrive recently launched a video download service for
libraries.
Librarians say they had little interest in audiobook downloads just a
few
years ago, but they have since noticed what everyone else has: the
ubiquity
of people sporting earbuds on streets, buses and malls.
Nearly 28 million portable audio players were sold last year,
according to
In-Stat, a technology research company. With more than 21 million
sold, the
iPod remains the signature portable player. But it uses the Advanced
Audio
Coding format with FairPlay, its own digital rights management system
and
one incompatible with Windows' technology.
Just as the lack of a standard digital audio format has fragmented the
music download market, it affects audiobooks.
Users of iPods can still listen to books purchased through sources
such as
audible.com or Apple's own iTunes Music Store, but the library
services,
for now, are geared toward computers and devices that support Windows
Media
Audio files. OverDrive files can be burned to CDs and converted to
iPod
friendly formats, but NetLibrary's cannot.
Marge Gammon of NetLibrary said that despite iPod's cache, the company
wanted a product that could be played on a range of devices.
OverDrive's
Potash notes there's a growing market of portable audio players, some
priced lower then $50 (Regular iPod models start at $299, though the
Minis
start at $199 and Shuffles at $99).
Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris said the company has no plans to
change
its copy-protection formats and would not comment on the
incompatibility issue.
Librarians say they have heard complaints from iPod users, but there's
little they can do beyond waiting for the industry to sort out its
differences.
One California library shunned the download services completely,
largely
because of iPod's popularity. Instead, Newport Beach Public Library
bought
15 iPod Shuffles and loaded them up with audiobooks from iTunes to
loan
out. Patrons are liable for any loss or damage, though librarian
Genesis
Hansen said there's been no problems so far.
---
On the Net:
OverDrive's library service: <http://dlrinc.com/> http://dlrinc.com
NetLibrary: <http://netlibrary.com/> http://netlibrary.com
Neal Ewers
Trace Research and Development Center
608-263-5485
ewers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.trace.wisc.edu <http://www.trace.wisc.edu/>
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