Lillian H. Smith Blog

My sister is packing for a relaxing holiday – all ready except some good reads. And of couse I said, why pack all those books when you have an iPad and the library has free eBooks? It's easy.

Yup, it is but I was helping her by phone. I've never done it (I am an eAudiobook fan. No IPad, just iPod.)

Here's what we discovered:

You need to be online to get the software and books. (Okay, you knew that but just wanted to make the point because of course, you don't have to be online to read the books!)

Your iPad operating system needs to be up-to-date (ios4). Update it on the Apple site.

Okay, she updated it. Job done…almost! Now she needed to get the Overdrive software. There is a new version of the Overdrive Media Console for iPads, iPhones, and Android. Download it here right to the  iPad.

Helen didn't have an Adobe ID. She needed to get that. Easy peasy – do it here. The only wrinkle was that Adobe prompted her to download Flash because she was doing it on her desktop computer. Flash doesn't work on an iPad, so just ignore that or better yet, activate the Adobe ID on the iPad: Here's how:

Open OverDrive Media Console on the iPad.
Press 'Get Books' button (top right) > then 'Settings' (along the bottom).
The 'Settings' screen is shown.
Under 'Adobe Account', select 'Authorize with Adobe ID'.
The 'Adobe Authorization' screen is shown.
Enter your Adobe ID (email address) and password.
Press 'Authorize'.
Your device is authorized.

Using the Overdrive Media Console:

With the Media Console, she can download ePub books only, not Adobe PDF eBooks. (I believe you might be able to read PDFs through Bluefire Reader but we are using the Media Console.)

Since she wanted books right away and didn't want to place holds on eBooks, I suggested she use Advanced Search. Select Adobe EPUB format and click the box "Only show titles with copies available" at the bottom of the page. You can click search without search terms or select more options. When you find one you want, click Add to Cart and then follow instructions to check out the book.

Helen was thrilled with her first successful download. The book was there in the Overdrive Media Console and it worked! I hung up the phone, relieved, when she said that she was going to keep hunting for some more good reads to download.

Need more help? Try My Help from the left side of the screen.

I found these tips about reading an eBook on the iPad:

To advance pages, tap the bottom right or left hand corner of the screen or swipe your finger across the screen (right to left to go forward, left to right to go back).

To bookmark your page, tap the ribbon icon in the top right hand corner beneath the battery icon. When the bookmark has been placed it will turn blue. To remove the bookmark, tap it again.

To adjust settings such as font or brightness, or to jump chapters, tap the middle of the screen to bring up the options. Tap the middle of the screen again to send them away once you are finished.

When you have finished reading, or to return to the OverDrive library, tap the middle of the screen to make the setting options appear and click the arrow in the top left hand corner.

The good news? My sister is going on holiday with a fully loaded iPad! And she is pleased to have a librarian sister. Enjoy, Helen.

2010-03-30 – Edits – minor tweaks to layout