e books from public library?

[Jayco52]

Does anyone know if borrowing e books from public library is available in the UK?

Message was edited by: StartTheCar

[Drumzman]

Hi PuppyDog,

Thanks for the update .... by luck (or accident!) this isn't a scenario that I've been through, so interesting to hear about your findings.  Can I ask when you transferred the second borrowed eBook to your Reader whether you did this by synchronsing or by drag and drop?

[PuppyDog]

Hi, Drumzman

Drag and drop. I never use synchronize.

Cheers

PuppyDog

[Cymraes]

Hi everyone

Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. I'm away at the mo, but will have a look at it again when I get back to my "home" computer (by when the book will nearly have expired!). I'll try downloading another one.

I have also sent a message via the website I accessed it from, which is managed by the Welsh Government but they haven't had the courtesy to acknowledge my message yet let alone responde to it. Serves me right for writing in Welsh, maybe ...

Thanks again

[mabenso45]

Hi there - first post on here, so hi to all of you.

I've semi-successfully used the system - I have borrowed two ebooks from my library, which both appear in Adobe Digital Reader and work fine.  However, when I drag and drop them into the reader, (PRS-350) they give the dreaded "Protected by Digital Rights Management" message.  I also tried dragging them into my old PRS-505 and I get a "Protected Page" message.  Purchased DRM'd books work fine.  Any suggestions?

Message was edited by: mabenso45

Message was edited by: mabenso45

Message was edited by: -Finn-

Dear mabenso45, Welcome to the SONY forum we hope you are enjoying the site. Thank you for your post which will definitely be of interest to others on the forum. I have had to edit your post slightly and omit the details regarding your library to make the post generic and to be fair to other libraries in the country. I do hope you understand and hope you keep providing such useful information to the forum. Many Thanks again Regards Finn

[Drumzman]

Hi mabenso45,

Welcome aboard!  Sounds a bit odd this, as if you can successfully download and read purchased Adobe digitally protected content on to your Readers, then in theory library-borrowed eBooks should work just the same.  The only thing I can think to check is the date and time settings on your PRS350/650.

The only difference as far as I can see between a purchased and a borrowed eBook, is that the borrowed eBook is lent only for a number of days after which it 'times out' (and you would get the protected message you describe).  Perhaps if the date and time settings are not correct on your Readers it might make them think that the borrowed eBooks are outside the loan period from the date you downloaded them?

Normally date and time settings on a Reader are probably not all that critical, but this would be different for library loans.

Hope that makes sense - worth checking anyway!

All the best.

[mabenso45]

Very puzzling.

I have also now bought a competitor's product and I have exactly the same issue.  I think I'll have to try emailing Adobe - but they'll probably say it's not their fault, as it works on the desktop app.

Good thought about the clock, btw, but all my three machines show the right time.

PS - I understand why my post above was edited but it removed the major point I was trying to make.

So let's try again.

If your regional library does not have ebooks, it's worth checking others - some do allow anyone to join from anywhere.  And the nice thing about ebooks is that they get delivered to you!

[spinningwoman]

My public library (Devon) doesn't yet do ebooks, though they are supposedly starting soon.  But two neighbouring authorities, Dorset and Torbay both do and were fine about allowing me to join.  I had to join in person, but that was just a couple of little trips and it was all sorted.  I can borrow 4 at a time from one and 3 at a time from the other.  The main reason I bought the PRS-T1 was to have a reader that could download library books directly when travelling rather than going through a laptop with Adobe Digital Editions.  I do have the Kobo Vox but the battery life on that is so short it is useless for travelling.

[spinningwoman]

I know this is probably a stupid question, but you are doing the drag-and-drop inside Adobe Digital Editions to the device icon displayed under the library shelves, are you?  I ask because I had an ereader of a different make which didn't show up on ADE so I tried to drag and drop to the icon on 'my computer' which doesn't transfer the rights.  I also find ADE just very unreliable - sometimes it takes a couple of tries to get a file that will open on the ereader.  One of the main reasons I bought the PRS-T1 was to be able to download library books directly and skip the ADE step.

[spinningwoman]

Plus, just checking you know your Sony Reader Store registration has to be the same email and password as Adobe Digital Editions.