eAudiobooks from Netlibrary

I am a late bloomer in utilizing eAudiobooks, even though I have written about them in two of my papers, Library Innovations in the 21st Century and Language Learning Resources at Santa Cruz Public Libraries.

Even though a new adopter, I do have fun with those cdless and cassetteless eAudiobooks. There are a number of advantages in doing so: 1) I do not have to wait a long time for Cataloging and Processing to handle new titles; 2) I do not have to wait in the queue for popular titles. I can acquire in an hour, instead of months; and 3) I do not have to worry about damaged cds or cassettes during the playing.

To utilize eAudiobooks, you may consider the following steps:
1. For first-time users, sign up with Netlibrary by creating a user name and password;
2. Conduct a search at http://www.netlibrary.com/Search/SearchResults.aspx;
3. Click Download this eAudiobook;
4. Select Check Out & Download CD Quality;
5. Login with your user name and password;
6. Choose either Open with (Window Media Player (default) or Save to Disk;
7. Open the downloaded file an hour or so later, depending on its size;
8. Put in your user name and password again the first time to acquire a listening license for 21 days;
9. Renew as needed, if you cannot finish listening in 21 days. At CHECKOUT, choose option 3: Check Out (No Download. Only license to play file); and
10. Trash the file from your computer or player, when you have completed listening.

So far I have managed to download two titles: The Italian Secretary and Set in Darkness. The downloading time is not as formidable as I was warned. The quality is excellent. What is more, there is no trouble at all when you resume your listening later.