Downloadable audio books to be available alongside growing eBook collections

 

(Seattle, WA – February 24, 2004) – At The Public Library Association Tenth National Conference this week in Seattle, OverDrive, Inc. will be demonstrating in Booth #2718 how digital audio books will be made available for download by patrons in Windows Media® format as part of its growing Digital Library Reserve service.  OverDrive® already supplies technology and content for thousands of popular eBook titles for online lending services at Cleveland Public Library, King County Library System (WA), San Jose Public Library, suburban Detroit libraries, and in dozens of other communities in the US and abroad.

“OverDrive is dedicated to providing librarians with growing sources to develop premium digital collections,” stated Pamela Turner, Director of Content for OverDrive.  “Working with the Microsoft Windows Media format means we will enable libraries to obtain rights to provide patrons access to premium audio book titles on a tremendous range of devices including PCs, PDAs, portable audio players, Smartphones, and the new Portable Media Center,” stated Ms. Turner.

With over 500 devices that now play Windows Media® content, OverDrive is taking advantage of the advanced audio and video capabilities of the Windows Media 9 Series platform and the robust copyright management services of the Microsoft Windows Media® Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology.  The announcement signifies OverDrive’s commitment to expanding its role as a technology and digital content partner to both the publishing and the library communities.

For the past year OverDrive has been encoding digital audio book materials as part of Microsoft’s Sync & Go feature in its Plus! Digital Media Edition.  Audio excerpts from the OverDrive Digital Book Channel as part of the Sync & Go feature can be sampled at:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/plus/dme/SampleArchive.asp.

“As we have done with eBooks, we are now preparing to help libraries expand their virtual services with copyrighted quality audio materials for both streaming and offline use by patrons, students, and business users,” Ms. Turner added.  The service will be first tested by current OverDrive library accounts prior to being made broadly available later this year.

 

About OverDrive
OverDrive (www.overdrive.com) provides digital media solutions for leading retailers, publishers and libraries in the US and abroad including Adobe Systems, Sony Electronics, King County Library, Cleveland Public Library, HarperCollins, and others. OverDrive is a strategic partner to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Adobe Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADBE) and Mobipocket S.A, based in France. The company is a Gold Sponsor of the Open eBook Forum. OverDrive is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

Trademarks are owned by respective companies.

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