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Overview
The following types of materials can be checked out and downloaded from this website:
- WMA Audiobooks in the OverDrive Media Console™ format
- MP3 Audiobooks in the OverDrive Media Console™ format
To access digital
materials at Montgomery County Library District, you will need:
- A valid library card
- Access to the Internet
- Free software for the computer and/or device on which you wish to use the material you download from this site
Please note that digital downloads can be enjoyed at home, at work, or when you travel, but are generally not for use on the computers in your library.
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Step 1: Download & Install Free Software
As a first step, you will need to install free software. To read more about the free software for your preferred format, click below:
To review software system requirements and download software, click below:
Note that upgrading OverDrive Media Console will not affect any content that you have previously downloaded; all items in the 'Media Library' will be maintained through this process.
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Step 2: Register Free Software
Before you use a title checked out from this website, you need to activate the software that you downloaded. You only need to activate the software once for each computer on which you plan to use the material. See below for more on activation.
OverDrive Media Console:
OverDrive Media Console utilizes Windows Media® Player 9 Series (or newer) to play DRM-protected files. The first time that Windows Media Player attempts to open a DRM-protected file, it will alert you that a Security Update must be
performed before the file may be opened. The update takes just a few moments, and must be performed before Microsoft® Windows Media Player will allow any DRM-protected files to be played.
For more information on WMA Audiobooks, OverDrive Media Console, and Windows Media Player, click here.
OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks do not require the Windows Media Player Security Upgrade. For more information on MP3 Audiobooks, OverDrive Media Console, and Windows Media Player, click here.
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Step 3: Check Out, Download, and Enjoy
You can browse or search this site for downloadable materials. When you locate a title of interest, simply add it to your cart and check out the title. For more information on the checkout process, click here.
If a desired title is not available, you may place a hold on the title. For more information on placing a title on hold, click here.
Once you have checked out a title, a download page will be displayed. Click the 'Download' link to start the download. Once the download is complete, you can close your Internet connection and enjoy the materials offline.
You will never accrue late fees with titles you download from this website. At the end of the loan period, titles will expire and be automatically 'returned' to the library. At this time, you can delete the expired file(s) from your machine.
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Step 4: Transfer Audio to Your Portable Audio Player (Optional)
Click here to review instructions for transferring MP3 audiobooks to portable devices.
Click here to review instructions for transferring WMA audiobooks to portable devices.
Click here to review a list of supported portable devices.
Additionally, please note that in order to use OverDrive WMA Audiobook on a device, the device must either support the bit rate of 32kbps or be able to transcode 32kbps files to a supported bit rate.
You may want to check device documentation to determine if a device supports DRM-protected Windows Media content at 32kbps.
Note: If you are using a Pocket PC, OverDrive Media files must be transferred to a memory card. Be sure you have a memory card with sufficient memory space installed, and be sure to specify the memory card in the course of the transfer process.
Audiobooks, like print books, come in a variety of lengths, and this makes it difficult to estimate how many books you will be able to fit on your device. Please note the following:
- One Part = One CD
- One CD = 80 minutes (or less) of audio content
- 80 minutes (or less) of audiobook content = not more than 18MB of disk storage space for WMA audiobooks, 36MB of disk storage space for MP3 audiobooks.
Using these numbers you can assume that you'll be able to store the following number of audiobook Parts on your portable device. (Please note that these numbers do not take into account actual vs. theoretical disk space as well as storage space used by the firmware of your device.)
- 128MB = 7 WMA Parts = 3 MP3 Parts
- 256MB = 14 WMA Parts = 7 MP3 Parts
- 512MB = 28 WMA Parts = 14 MP3 Parts
- 1GB = 56 WMA Parts = 28 MP3 Parts
- 2GB = 112 WMA Parts = 56 MP3 Parts
- 5GB = 280 WMA Parts = 140 MP3 Parts
- 10GB = 560 WMA Parts = 280 MP3 Parts
- 20GB = 1120 WMA Parts = 560 MP3 Parts
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