Tag: OverDrive

Database of the Month: OverDrive

Kimberly

Read for Free from a Phone, Tablet or Laptop through the Bentley Library

December is a great time to highlight the Library’s OverDrive Collection. As you pack up to go home for the holidays, remember the OverDrive downloadable collection is available for you to enjoy on break, anywhere, 24×7 on any device.

This collection includes thousands of fiction and nonfiction titles including many bestsellers and award winners.

Simply click into OverDrive to view our newest additions or to browse the ebook and audiobook collections by subject, format or genre.  You may browse the available titles without logging in. You only need to log in when you decide to borrow a title.

Some features of OverDrive:

  • This service is free to you with your Bentley e-mail address and network password.
  • All titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period which is 21 days. There are no late fees and if your time runs out, you can just borrow it again.
  • If a title is checked out, place a hold and you are e-mailed when the title is available.
  • For titles with multiple holds, the Library will purchase additional copies decreasing wait times.
  • The plus sign under a title adds to the title to your personal wish list and you can use your wish list to pull up available content when you have the free time to enjoy it.
  • Curated lists, available from the OverDrive homepage, include: Great American Reads, Newest Additions, Most Popular, Try Something Different, Banned & Challenged Books, and Presidential Biographies. Just scroll the main screen to view these curated lists.
  • Each title is selected and added to the collection by your Bentley Librarians, and new titles are added each month.
  • Bentley students, faculty & staff can suggest titles for purchase using the Suggest a Purchase form.

To get started enjoying ebooks & audiobooks on your device visit Getting Started with OverDrive.

If you need help with this service, help is always available at the Reference Desk and there is a special Overdrive Winter Break Reading session scheduled from 11 to noon on Reading Day in Group Study Room 102. Just bring your device and we’ll get you set up.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to a useful website or Library resource, highlighting key features you should know about. If you would like more information about this resource (or any of the library’s databases), please contact us for research assistance. If you would like a demonstration of this resource for a class, please schedule a research instruction class using the instruction request form.

Learn About Downloadable Books at Our OverDrive Clinic

Kimberly

Have you checked out our OverDrive collection recently?  We’ve been busy adding downloadable ebooks and audiobooks – including some spooky titles just in time for Halloween such as Strange Weather by Joe Hill and Haunted Nights: A Horror Writers Association Anthology. We also have perennial favorites by authors like Stephen King, Glen Duncan and Anne Rice, and classics by Oscar Wilde and Bram Stoker.

Simply click into OverDrive to view our Newest Additions or to browse the ebook and audiobook collections by genre or check out the Getting Started Guide.

If you haven’t already set-up your laptop, Kindle, iPad, NOOK, smartphone or other device, we’d love to help you get started. We are holding two drop-in clinics this week to answer questions about Overdrive:

OverDrive Downloadable Books Clinics

Tuesday, October 31
1:00PM – 2:00PM
and
Wednesday, November 1
1:00PM – 2:00PM

No RSVP is required – just come to our classroom (lower level, room 11) and we’ll be there to lend you a helping hand! If you bring your device with you, we can help you with the initial set-up or troubleshoot any problems you’ve been having. Apple cider and snacks are available until they run out. We hope to see you there.

Database Alert! OverDrive Issue Reported [Resolved]

Lisa

Update – 9:07 a.m., Thursday, June 6, 2017:  We are happy to report that the OverDrive sign-in problem has been fixed. Please contact us if you continue to have a problem or need help. Thank you again for your patience while we worked to resolve the issue.

 

We are very sorry to report that access to the OverDrive downloadable book platform has been disrupted for some Bentley users. The problem has been reported, and we hope that the issue will be resolved quickly. An update will be posted here when access has been restored. You can also follow the library’s updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Our apologies for the inconvenience. Please contact the Reference Desk at 781.891.2300 or refdesk@bentley.edu if you have any questions.

OverDrive Launches Upgrade.

Kimberly

OverDrive launched a new version of its website today. There are many changes, but as a heavy OverDrive user, I’m thrilled to report on the new feature called Wish List.

When looking at a title in OverDrive, you can click the plus sign, circled in red on the image below, to add that title to your Wish List.


My Wish List allows me to keep a running list of titles that I’d like to read/listen to without placing them on hold. Why is this exciting you ask? Because it puts the control in my hands. When I have time to read, I can now just go to my wish list to see which of my options are available instead of placing a hold and getting an e-mail that a title is available at a time that is inconvenient for me. I absolutely love this feature. You can still place holds and get an e-mail alert when a title is available, but the immediate-gratification side of me loves the Wish List feature. Having the items on my Wish List also makes it quicker and easier to access them on the smaller screen of my iPhone.

Did you know that we now offer more than 2,100 downloadable eBooks and audiobooks via OverDrive ? The Bentley Library’s OverDrive collection includes fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, award winners, classics and perennial favorites. Current Bentley students, faculty and staff can borrow titles from OverDrive at http://bentleydownload.lib.overdrive.com/ using a Bentley email address and password. New titles are added monthly, so check back often.

You can enjoy OverDrive titles on all computers and devices, including iPhone®, iPad®, NOOK®, Android™ phones and tablets, and Kindle®. If you are new to OverDrive, check out their Getting Started page for information and assistance. Enjoy!

Learn About Downloadable Books at Our OverDrive Clinics

Kimberly

overdriveclinicHave you checked out our OverDrive collection recently?  We’ve been busy adding downloadable ebooks and audiobooks – including current bestsellers Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, The Widow by Fiona Barton, Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg and perennial favorites by authors like J.R.R. Tolkien, Bill Bryson and John Irving, and classics by Jane Austen and Bram Stoker.

Simply click into OverDrive to view our Newest Additions or to browse the ebook and audiobook collections by genre or check out the Getting Started Guide.

If you haven’t already set-up your laptop, Kindle, iPad, NOOK, smartphone or other device, we’d love to help you get started. We are holding two drop-in clinics this week to answer questions about Overdrive:

OverDrive Downloadable Books Clinics

Tuesday, April 12
2:30PM – 3:30PM
and
Thursday, April 14
4:30PM – 5:30PM

No RSVP is required – just come to our classroom (lower level, room 11) and we’ll be there to lend you a helping hand! If you bring your device with you, we can help you with the initial set-up or troubleshoot any problems you’ve been having. We hope to see you there.

How (and Why) to Enjoy Audiobooks

Kimberly 3 Comments

As June is Audiobook Month, I’ve been pondering why I enjoy them so much.

They save time. I can listen to them in the car [commuting or on road trips]; walking my 10,000 steps; waiting around for music lessons and the other kid’s activities to be over; de-cluttering the house; folding laundry and the ever popular, Yard Work. These are all activities that I really don’t like and listening to a book can makes the task less odious.

I listen to all kinds of content: fiction & nonfiction; short stories & full length novels; all types of genres. I try to mix it up. Here are some recommendations from our CD Audiobook Collection:

Fiction:

NonFiction:

You’ll note that when I recommend an audiobook, I’ve included the reader in this blog write up. A good audiobook is all about the reader. A good reader makes the book a great listening experience. Sometimes I’ll explore a book just because I enjoy listening to the reader. Who knew that cholera could be so fascinating! Alan Sklar makes it so in Steven Johnson’s The Ghost Map.

CD audiobooks are wonderful in the car and in the house [I play mine on my son’s Xbox] but there are times you just want the tale on something a little more portable so why not try the audiobook content the Bentley Library provides through OverDrive. OverDrive adds hundreds of titles for you to choose from. Just download the free app or stream audiobooks online via OverDrive Listen and away you go on your own device [I use my iPhone, but the files play on many different devices.]

There currently are 403 fiction & 268 nonfiction audiobooks available through OverDrive. Here are a few to start with:

Audiobooks are a great way of refreshing your memory in anticipation of the next book in the series or the next movie release. I can’t wait for the next book in the Lisbeth Salander series called The Girl in the Spider’s Web which will be out in September 2015, so I’m listening to the earlier novels now. The movie, A Walk in the Woods, is also coming out in September, so it might be fun to listen to the book first.

[Audiobook tip: Depending on the content, you might want to pause before going through the drive through. Some clerks can give you interesting looks when certain words or phrases travel to their ears.]

Listening can be a fun family activity especially on a road trip. I wouldn’t recommend all the titles in this blog post as examples of stories to listen to with your kids, but I have listened with my 10 year old to the Rick Riordan’s Heroes of Olympus series [Read by Joshua Swanson] and the Harry Potter series [Read by Jim Dale] which are available through most public libraries and the following titles from the Bentley Library: Gregory Maguire’s Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West [Performed by John McDonough], The Graveyard Book and Watership Down, both listed above. The choice really depends on the interest and maturity of your kids, but an audiobook can make a road trip much more enjoyable especially when the charge for their electronics fade…

[OverDrive tip: Check with your local public library for additional OverDrive content.]

Well, if you’ve never tried an audiobook, I hope that this post has encouraged you take a chance on one. If you already are an audiobook fan, I hope you enjoy these suggestions. If you have any suggestions of titles you’d like the Bentley Library to consider purchasing, please let us know. Your recommendations and feedback are always welcome. As I am always looking for the next great reader and stories to follow, feel free to drop me a line when you find one. Happy summer listening.

–Kim

kmorin@bentley.edu

Want more audiobook title recommendations? Check out the Bentley Library’s Top 10 listings.

Load Your Devices With eBooks & Audiobooks from OverDrive

Lisa

What’s better than “prime” or “unlimited”? We think OverDrive is! Before you make a purchase from Amazon or Audible, take a look at the Bentley Library’s OverDrive downloadable book collection, which is currently stocked with more than 1,700 downloadable eBooks and audiobooks. You will find fiction and nonfiction new releases, bestsellers, award winners, classic literature and perennial favorites to read for pleasure or for class.Click to go to OverDrive

Best of all, it’s free for current Bentley students, faculty and staff. Log-in to OverDrive at  http://bentleydownload.lib.overdrive.com/ using a Bentley email address and password. New titles are added monthly, so check back often.

OverDrive eBooks and audiobooks can be enjoyed on all major computers and mobile devices, including iPhone®, iPad®, NOOK®, Android™ phones and tablets, and Kindle®. Many eBooks can be also read immediately (no download required) on any device with an internet browser. Bentley users may checkout up to five OverDrive titles at a time for a borrowing period of 21 days. Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period, so there are no late fees!

If you are new to OverDrive, check out this Getting Started page. If you need further assistance, bring your device to the Reference Desk or contact a librarian at refdesk@bentley.edu or 781.891.2300

Stock your iPad, Kindle & other mobile devices with OverDrive eBooks

Lisa

Did you know that we now offer more than 1,200 downloadable eBooks and audiobooks via OverDrive?  The Bentley Library’s OverDrive collection includes fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, award winners, classics and perennial favorites. Current Bentley students, faculty and staff can borrow eBooks and audiobooks from OverDrive at http://bentleydownload.lib.overdrive.com/ using a Bentley email address and password.   New titles are added monthly, so check back often.

OverDrive eBooks and audiobooks can be enjoyed on all major computers and mobile devices, including iPhone®, iPad®, NOOK®, Android™ phones and tablets, and Kindle®. Many eBooks can be also read immediately (no download required) on any device with an internet browser. Bentley users may checkout up to five OverDrive titles at a time for a borrowing period of 21 days. Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period, so there are no late fees! If you are new to OverDrive, check out their Getting Started page for information and assistance. Enjoy!

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