Ebrary, quite contrary

OK, maybe I was a little too hard on OverDrive last week. The app itself is easy to use and acts as a one-stop shop for library patrons. Like with other e-reader apps (e.g., Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook), you can search, download, and read books straight from your tablet. As for the gaping holes in my public library system’s offerings … well, I assume those will improve over time.

I learned this week, however, that not all e-book apps are quite so intuitive.

This week’s Burke (2009) reading inspired me to explore what Valdosta State has to offer in the way of electronic reference sources, defined as “a bit of a hybrid of periodical databases and e-books” (p. 128). After checking out this instructions page on Valdosta State’s (n.d.) website, I decided to give ProQuest’s ebrary a shot. There was just one problem, though: The instructions seemed dependent on downloading books from a desktop first, then transferring those books to a tablet and reading them in a separate e-reader app (such as Bluefire). Hoping I could avoid these extra steps, I grabbed my trusty tablet and searched the Google Play store for an ebrary app.

Aha!

I downloaded the application, then signed in using my Adobe and ebrary account IDs. After that, I was able to search the database straight from my tablet. Sweet! I thought, and clicked to download a reference book about geisha.

And then the program crashed. That’s what I get for trying to cut corners! (In retrospect, ebrary’s two-star review in the Google Play store probably should have tipped me off.)

Frustrated, I deleted the app and reinstalled it. Again, I had the same problem: Every time I tried to download an e-book, the application would freeze or automatically shut down. Next, I tried to download the title through my tablet’s Web browser. Sadly, all I got was another error message.

Well, then. Maybe I should've just followed the darn instructions.

I ended up doing just that. I accessed the database on my desktop computer. From there, I downloaded the file I wanted, then transferred the e-book to my tablet via a USB cable. Finally, I loaded the book into Bluefire and was able to read it.

Was it worth all the trouble? I’m undecided. I consider myself a fairly tech-savvy person, but I’m as lazy as the next guy. I’m also confident that a typical patron could figure out how to use OverDrive pretty easily but would give up on ebrary after the first couple of error messages.  

References

Burke, J. J. (2009). Neal-Schuman library technology companion: A basic guide for library staff (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Neal-Schuman.

Valdosta State University. (n.d.). Downloading Odum Library ebooks. Retrieved from http://ww2.valdosta.edu/library/learn/ebookdownload.shtml