The Marshalltown Public Library or just MPL is part of a consortium of Iowa Libraries referred to as Wilbor and is in the business of offering both e-books as well as audio books that can be downloaded into suitable devices such as e-readers or tablet PCs. But then, MPL is not only into making available downloadable digital content. Rather, they are willing to reach out to prospective consumers that bit more so that the library has now set up plans to offer a workshop on ways to download e-books which should be a boon to those who aren’t that geeky or tech oriented.
The venue for the event is the MPL facility situated at 105 W. Boone St. and is scheduled to take place at 6 in the evening on the 18th of January and will be repeated again at 10 in the morning on the 20th of January.
“eReaders were very popular Christmas gifts this year, and now we’re having people stop in to figure out how to use them,” stated the Librarian Jenelle Hutchens, who will be there at the workshop trying to make users comfortable with their e-readers and how best to use them so as to ensure they have the most hassle free e-book reading experience.
What is also good is that the workshop would start right from the very basics such as setting up their PCs to accept the e-books in the first place (in cases where the e-reader itself is not equipped to download books directly from the internet). The next step includes making choices followed by the actual download of those books that the users have selected. Finally, the last step involves transferring the e-books from the PCs to the e-book reading device.
Such workshops are essential on the back of the growing popularity of e-readers though on the other hand, not everyone is comfortable with technological terms and such. Also, such workshops will also contribute to a wider acceptance of the e-readers on the one hand and an awareness of the developments in this field on the other.
For instance, as Hutchens points out, the notion of an e-reader conjures up thoughts of only the Amazon Kindle in the minds of consumers. This when there are scores of other e-readers out there each with its own characteristic features and with almost all of them differing from the other as widely as chalk is from cheese.
In fact, as Hutchens says, “Amazon is a little proprietary right now,” while also adding: “As far as I know, the Amazon Kindle is about the only thing that doesn’t work with Wilbor at this time.”
However, the majority of e-readers are compatible with their e-book formats and users can also have the list of e-readers that Wilbor currently supports. The consortium had launched the software on Dec. 6 and since then, a total of 1,421 books have been purchased by those financial institutions meant to be downloaded by the public. Titles numbering more than 100 had been acquired at the library itself.
Those interested may visit visit the library’s website – www.marshalltownlibrary.org and click on the “Wilbor” icon or can reach Assistant Director Sandy Gowdy at 641-754-5738.
The two workshops will be held in the library’s Community Meeting Rooms and there are fees or prior registration required.
via timesrepublican
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.
