Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Week 9, Post #22 Downloadable Media

I have used Overdrive several times since it was introduced to us through the HCPL website. I love having books on my MP3 player and not having to mess around with CDs and cassette tapes (although I still use those too since Overdrive doesn't have all of the books I am interested in).


LibriVox was a great sight. Not only was there a catalog 0f digital books, but Podcasts were also available. There was a volunteer link and a place to visit forums. You can volunteer to record entire books, or chapters of books.


The goal of LibriVox is to record all books in the public domain. I searched for Emma by Jane Austen and found that is was all recorded by one person, whereas Daisy Miller by Henry James had each chapter recorded by a different person. The books on Overdrive are not in the public domain and are read by the author or by a professional and Overdrive is not free.

WOWIO is based here in Houston. Here is information from their website:
"WOWIO opened on the World Wide Web in August 2006 endeavoring to dramatically expand access to important written works by eliminating the economic, geographic, and logistical barriers of readers while also ensuring that content owners are fairly compensated.WOWIO is today the only source where readers can legally download high-quality copyrighted ebooks from leading publishers for free. Readers have access to a wide range of offerings, including works of classic literature, college textbooks, comic books, and popular fiction and non-fiction titles.WOWIO is a privately owned company with headquarters in Houston, Texas. "
These are not digital audio books, but are e-books. They are not in the public domain, but are still free.

I have found the Overdrive has many of the titles that I am interested in listening to, including: Winesburg, Ohio by Anderson, Legacy of Ashes by Weiner, God in not Great by Hutchins and Pontoon by Keillor.

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