[LM_NET] HIT--> Audio books in mp3 format

[Sara Kelley-Mudie <librarian.skm@GMAIL.COM>]

Thanks to everyone who responded.  I'm still researching and deciding, and
will probably go with a few different sources.

The results:

audible.com and iTunes were both mentioned many times by many people.

We use NetLibrary to download audiobooks; they offer approx. 28,000
audio and e-books.  They have some great titles.  You can choose to
download CD quality or radio quality, which produces a much smaller
file.  I think Gale has a reference service that uses audiobooks, as
well.

I ordered some through Follett last spring.  They are called
"Playaways".  It's a prerecorded book on an MP3 player.   They are still
in my processing center, so I haven't checked them out to students.

Netlibrary

We currently have a subscription through Recorded Books.  Because it does
not work with Ipods the service isn't used as much as we'd hoped.

Try Audiobooks.com
Simplyaudiobooks.com
Booksfree.com
Recordedbooks.com

Brilliance Audio has some.

A couple of years ago, we got a grant to do this and downloaded quite a
few books from audible.com.  Last year we got Playaways. Both are
circulating. From my point of view, the ones I downloaded myself were
much more time intensive to set up and download and are easier to
corrupt and have to be recorded again.  I spent hours and hours getting
35 mp3 players working.  But they do work.

Audiobookstand DL

www.overdrive.com
We provide downloadable MP3 audio books through their service.

Follett is fabulous
Also Recorded Books LLC has some

I personally use and like audible.com, but I don't think they yet have a
level of copyright that lets you download a book and share it with several
people. Someone said they did, so you might check. I think audible also
supplies the audiobooks sold at iTunes, which I believe can be copied
something like 25 times. A subscription to Audible would definitely be your
most cost-effective route.


-- 
Sara Kelley-Mudie
Librarian, The Forman School
Litchfield, CT
librarian.skm@gmail.com

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