eBooks: Douglas County Libraries Releases iOS App and David Rothman Offers Praise

In a new Library City blog post, ebook/digital publishing expert David Rothman offers praise for the new iOS ebook reading app (Version 1.0) released by the Douglas County Libraries last Friday.
The app provides access to both ePub and PDF eBooks acquired directly by DCL as well as OverDrive materials.
The app is powered by tech from Bluefire.
Here’s a bit of what David Rothman has to say:

You can search for a book within the DCL Reader and almost immediately be reading it or stashing it away to enjoy later. The main downside is an unavoidable one at this point, the use of Adobe’s cumbersome encryption technology, which, last I knew, had a nasty limit of five or so devices.
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For now, I’m pleased that the DCL app can not only check out library-owned books but also OverDrive ones. Hats off to OverDrive for allowing this, and I just hope that the right billionaire(s) can come along to help carry out the purchase. If nothing else, despite the piggybacking on the Bluefire product, the Douglas County experiment helps dispel the myth that libraries can’t undertake technological initiatives that meaningfully improve the patron experience.

Read the complete review by Rothman including a list of features DCL is planning to offer in later versions of the app.
Direct to iDCL iOS app (via iTunes)

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