Troubleshooting: Missing Items In Your Basket

Have you had a book that you've put it into your basket on Listen Up! Vermont, only to go to checkout and receive a message that there is nothing in your basket? OverDrive says that such problems usually arrive when the site has trouble authenticating your account, which might happen if you are visiting the http://gmlc.lib.overdrive.com address (which you might have bookmarked), rather than the http://www.listenupvermont.org address. The sites look exactly the same.

Here's the full explanation:

"We have seen similar issues in the past with patrons losing items in their basket when they log into their account using EZProxy authentication. This can occur if the URL you added the items to does not match the URL that the EZProxy server sends you back after logging into your account. (This is most common if the URL of the live digital library website changes and the EZProxy login is not updated.) When the patron is shot back to the new URL, the item(s) they had in their cart go into limbo until they expire.

The EZProxy server seems to be working for this library as it is sending the user back to the correct live website (http://www.listenupvermont.org) after logging into their account. But,
it is possible that your colleague is starting out with the CNAME website we have for the Listen Up! Vermont (http://gmlc.lib.overdrive.com). This website looks and functions like the live website. Though this website does not appear to be linked anywhere, if your user starts at this website, it is possible they will experience the behavior reported.

That said, if your colleague continues to experience this behavior, please ask them to note the URL of the website when they first go to the website (before logging into her account)."

Two articles of interest

Folks might like to take a look at two positive stories about libraries in the news:

From the Times-Argus Sunday Magazine Section: Check it Out, about libraries that circulate non-book items (mp3 players mentioned by many)

From the Monday Burlington Free Press: Library use up as economy dives

Elements from the Free Press article were also mentioned on VPR this morning.

Congrats to the libraries in the articles!

News from OverDrive

From the most recent Digital Dispatch:

Enhancements to Your OverDrive Download Service in 2009
OverDrive, the Global Leader in Library downloads, will continue its leadership in 2009 by bringing you the latest innovations to better serve your patrons, at no additional cost. We have been briefing many of our library partners on the enhancements you can expect from us this year, including: New Services for Mobile Devices Optimized browsing on-the-go A mobile version of your download website will allow users on-the-go access to browse and check out OverDrive media from web-enabled phones and PDAs. OverDrive servers will detect if a patron is visiting your website from a mobile device and seamlessly provide an optimized web browsing experience. Try browsing now from your Blackberry, iPhone®, or other device at http://ebooks.nypl.org (pictured right). EPUB eBooks will soon be available to purchase for your download collection. The emerging industry standard for eBooks, EPUB offers an enhanced reading experience on PCs, Macs, and portable devices like the Sony® Reader. Many leading publishers are now providing their frontlist titles in the EPUB format, exclusively. Social and Interactive Features Patrons will be able to select their own lending periods, reducing holds and helping solve the early return issue. Motivated by the growing popularity of websites like Facebook and Twitter, OverDrive is bringing social interaction into your download service; enabling patrons to experience download media in new ways. Helping reduce the issue of no early return (except with Adobe eBooks), users will soon be able to select their own lending period, resulting in increased turnover of download books, music, and video. We will also be adding star ratings to your website (pictured above). Later this year, we will introduce OverDrive Media Console v4, which we hope will more than exceed your expectations. Coupling familiar functionality with an enhanced, fresh look and navigation, the next generation of OverDrive Media Console is definitely something to look forward to. New Content Licensing and Business Models Expanding the OverDrive catalog of 150,000 digital titles Our mission to bring you the best and largest selection will continue. DRM-free MP3 Audiobooks have been so well received that we plan to increase our catalog of DRM-free content with more audiobooks, eBooks, music, and video. This will expand your reach to a wider range of mobile devices. If you're interested in scheduling a teleconference for your library to discuss these new services and how your library can benefit, please contact your Partner Services Associate or partnerservices@overdrive.com.

The most exciting one for me is that patrons can choose their own checkout period -- I will be looking forward to seeing how that will look for our Listen Up! Vermont users.

Missing MARC records

Hello all,

Jennifer Lucey at CVU is looking for the MARC records for the four David Sedaris titles in the Listen Up! Vermont collection. Rather than make her hunt through all the MARC files, could someone who has downloaded the records into their catalog export them for her? Her email is
jenniferl[at]cvuhs.org.

Thanks!

Stephanie