Digital versions of magazines prove a big hit
DDO card- holders have no limits on downloads and time period
The Dollard- des- Ormeaux public library has launched a new service called Zinio, which offers library-card holders digital versions of popular magazines, i ncluding Reader’s Digest, House Beautiful and the New Yorker.
Members can download as many of the magazine titles as they want and keep them for as long as they want.
The service was introduced Feb. 2 and was an instant hit with 466 downloads recorded as of Feb. 16.
“People began using the service immediately and often. It’s exciting,” said Dollard library and culture division manager Lise Brosseau.
The library already offers e- books in both French and English. That service proved so popular that the next natural step was to introduce digital magazines, Brosseau said.
“It is such a user- friendly service,” Brosseau said. “I’m not what you would call a digital whiz, and I caught on right away.”
The digital magazine service works along the same lines as the ebook service. A company negotiates with individual magazines, compiling a significant list of titles, and then the library pays the company a fee for access to those titles.
The one hitch is that only a limited number of each issue of a magazine is available for download each month, so keeping tabs on the release date of an issue and downloading early is recommended. The number of downloads available for each issue of each magazine varies — from as few as 25 to as many as 150 — depending on the negotiated terms between the magazine and the holding company and the library.
Brosseau explained that if it be- comes clear, over time, that one magazine repeatedly runs out of downloads early in the month, the library can “up the subscription” to increase the number of available downloads.
“The universe of e- books and digital magazines is constantly evolving,” Brosseau said.
In the world of e- books, some literary properties are so popular, the publishing houses have yet to release an ebook version. Take the enormously popular Hunger Games series for example.
Brosseau said there is a print version, an online audio version, a talking- book version, but no ebook version in North America, as yet.
The list of available digital magazines through the Dollard public library reflects a variety of interests with titles such as The Economist, Bon Appétit, Oprah Winfrey’s O magazine, Canadian Living and Clin d’Oeil.
Library- card holders interested in using the service are directed to a “how to” page through the city ’s main website at www. ville. dd0. qc. ca.
Residents of Dollard can join the library for free. An annual membership costs $ 50 for nonresidents.