What is OverDrive?
OverDrive is the leading worldwide digital distributor to libraries. While they offer music, videos, eBooks and eAudioBooks, the current integration with Boopsie’s library branded mobile apps focuses on delivering eBooks and eAudioBooks to library patrons.
How does the OverDrive Integration work?
In order to set up an OverDrive Integration in your Boopsie app, we only need your library’s unique OverDrive account page (for example, the Peninsula Library System’s URL is: http://pls.lib.overdrive.com/). After we receive the URL, we will set up a channel in your library branded mobile app for your OverDrive account in a test setting, so that you can make sure everything displays properly. Once we’ve received the go-ahead from your library, we’ll add the channel to your live menu so patrons get easy-to-use access your OverDrive subscription, wherever they are on whatever mobile device they are using!
The OverDrive Integration in Action
Our OverDrive integration is featured seamlessly in our library’s apps, allowing library patrons to access your eContent easily through your mobile app.
Peninsula Library System (PLS) has one OverDrive account for all of their libraries, so patrons have access to PLS’s OverDrive subscription, regardless of their preferred library location.
PLS offers their patrons access to both eBooks and eAudioBooks while in their library-branded Boopsie app.
After a patron finds an eBook or eAudioBook that they want to check out via Boopsie’s high speed Smart Prefix search(™), they can easily select the title to access the details page. On this screen users will find additional information about the book, including its availability.
If the title is available to be checked out, the patron can select the “Check out now!” banner, to log in with your library’s credentials. The patron is then prompted to log in with their library credentials, as well as with an email address so they can receive a notification when an OverDrive item that was place on hold is available. Boopsie recently added this notification functionality to its Platform-as-a-Service offering to help deliver a better experience to mobile library users.
After a patron has logged in to their account, they can access a listing of the books that they have already checked out. In order to download the book they just checked out, the patron simply selects the title.
Patrons downloading eBooks and eAudioBooks from OverDrive’s eContent catalog within the library’s Boopsie app will have to download the OverDrive Media Console. but, Boopsie’s App Finder and App-to-App linking technology makes this easy. Your library branded app will automatically launch the OverDrive app-or download it seamlessly from the appropriate app store. Now, your patrons can read the titles they just checked out.
Want to learn more about OverDrive?
Boopsie’s Director of Accounts, Bryan Murray, hosted a webinar for librarians in March that highlighted the recent technology and user experience related updates that Boopsie and Overdrive have made.
If your library has an OverDrive subscription, and you are interested in adding an OverDrive integration to your library branded Boopsie app, please contact your Account Manager.
