Beta Progress-3M
05/16/12
Ongoing Holds Checkout Issue
Our account is currently experiencing a glitch in the checkout of holds. Normally, when a book comes available on 3M Cloud Library you should have 72 hours to check out that book. Some users are receiving the error message of: "Could not check out the book. Maybe because the book was already checked out by another patron."
3M has been looking into this problem and taking it very seriously (they have added more staff to the team working on this problem. It is not happening to everyone, and those people are not experiencing it on every hold that comes available. The cause of the problem remains elusive. If you experience this error, please send a report with this information to audiobooks@library.ks.gov :
• Kansas Library Card number
• Date of error
• Time of error-the more exact the better.
This information allows 3M to look at the activity logs on their server.
Shelves & Categories Update
"Shelves" is the first area you see on the 3M Cloud Library. This is supposed to be a display area and is made by the library. Unfortunately, most of the shelves must be made manually (books must be loaded one at a time to each shelf) at this time. As you can imagine, this is difficult to keep up with, and sometimes it is easier to detele a shelf and start over instead of trying to edit it. What we have decided to do for now:
- Continue the two system-generated shelves available at the top--the "Newly Added" which contains newest purchased or transferred books, and a "Popular" shelf. We have updated how these generate results, and the books inside the "Popular" shelf should update more frequently than before.
- Genre spotlight shelves--based on what has been purchased in the last 2-3 months. These are not meant to contain all books in that subject/genre, but to highlight types of books we have. If you see an author on the shelf that you are interested in, please use the search feature to find all of the books we have by that author.
Categories (subject browse) continues to receive work behind the scenes at 3M, so if you see a book in "Mystery" and it is not a mystery, realize that work is ongoing. Once Categories are complete you will be able to browse all books in a specific area. We will then have more flexibility in what types of Shelves we can create easily. For example, we would like to set up shelves that could show you "the 25 newest books in Category: Romance" or "Fiction Spotlight: Historically-Set Mysteries."
04/06/12
There is now a portal for downloading the 3M Cloud Library software (for mobile and PC) as well as a website for checking out the books (you can finish downloading them at home). http://ebook.3m.com/library/en/patrons/
3M released an update to the 3M Cloud Library app for PC yesterday. Please be sure that you are install this upgrade. The top bar of your computer software should say it is Version PC - 1.24 (etc) now. Updates to the video tutorials and screenshots in the written instructions will be made as needed. Changes you'll notice:
- Your library card number now shows in the upper right side of the menu bar. This will help you realize who is logged in if you share your computer with others.
- Do not want your reading history saved? You can clear this at your discretion. Go to My Books -> Reading History and you will see the red "Delete Reading History" button.
03/28/12
Computer Access Release-PC version
3M still did not have an accessible place for their computer app software to download, but we were allowed to put the installation files up on our own server. This is temporary until their software download page is ready. A tutorial page on how to use the computer app has been completed, along with two short videos. This is the exact address for the tutorial page: http://www.kslib.info/kansas-ez-library/digital-help/3m-computer-app.html It can also be reached from the main Kansas EZ Library page. http://www.kslib.info/digitalbooks
This software is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, and 7. The Mac version is still in development.
Known Issues
Not all Cloud features are working properly yet. The 3M Cloud Library is supposed to allow you access to your checked out books, on all versions of the app, throughout your checkout period. For now, if you use both versions of the app, please check out the book on the version of the app you intend to use it on. This means if you intend to transfer a book to your Nook (or other ereader) you should check it out on the computer version of the app.
Realize that regular ereaders (Nook, Sony) will save your place in the book on that reader, but cannot communicate what page you are on to the 3M Cloud Library apps.
Adobe Authentication Issue: some librarians and power-users may run into an Adobe ID authentication problem. Adobe IDs can only be used on 6 devices total (this is computers, ereaders, tablets, etc). The 3M Cloud Library mobile apps generate an Adobe ID for you. It is a code based on the library card number used to log in to the app. The computer app may use your personal Adobe ID or the system-generated one based on your situation. If you test a lot of devices you may run up against this issue. Once you hit your limit of 6 you will suddenly be unable to get the 3M Cloud Library to work with device #7, and the reason will not be clear. We will be working on support solution documentation for this issue.
Mobile App Report
Mobile access for Apple device users continues to go well. Some Android device users are still experiencing errors, despite an upgrade to the 3M Cloud Library app for Android. If you are experiencing issues, please see our help section for 3M Cloud Library. http://www.kslib.info/kansas-ez-library/digital-help.html#ebooks If the solution there does not work, please follow the instructions for reporting an issue.How You Can Help!
We need a list of compatible devices for both the mobile app and the computer app. If you are having success with a device on either version of the app, please let us know. Android mobile app users-please give us your device name and the version of Android on your device. Please email your findings to audiobooks@library.ks.gov
Kindle Update
In a webinar this week, 3M told the beta participants that Amazon had asked to postpone further conversation about Kindle compatibility until June. As we have more information this will be posted.
03/07/12
An update is available for both versions of the app today. Changes you will see:
--Channels, the first tab of the app is now called "Shelves" instead.
--Categories now show only content owned by the library, and will not show you an empty space if we do not currently have any books for that subject area. iPad/iPod/iPhone users: update your app as normal.
Android users: if you were having severe problems, you may wish to uninstall the app and then reinstall from the Android Marketplace. At the State Library we were experiencing just a few issues with our device. We just ran the update, and had to clear our device cache and reboot the device to get the updated app to open properly.
03/06/12
The Android app update is unexpectedly delayed. The Android Marketplace sent the update back to 3M asking for a modification. At this time 3M does not have a handle on how long this will take to accomplish. We will continue to update you on this issue, and will post when we know more.
03/02/12
The Android app update that was released last Friday has still not posted to the Android Marketplace. We are watching for it and will post an update on our website and the 3M Cloud Library app when it is available, so you do not have to check everyday yourself. Reason for the update: there are a lot of versions of Android out there on a lot of different devices. While 3M did test their app before publication, some issues did not become obvious until your wide variety of devices were using the app daily.
02/23/12
Computer App Access--Progress
As you know, 3M has been behind on releasing the full access to the ebooks library. The computer app (the software that will allow you to download & transfer a book to your ereader) has now entered the final test stage. Techies at the company believe they have solved the ongoing glitch that delayed its release. As soon as the final testing phase is done, the computer app and our full 3M Cloud Library product will be available. Our 3M Cloud Library has set the release date to March 9, as this gives them the appropriate time to complete the testing and setup of our full product. When asked how sure they are of this, they are reasonable certain that all will be finished by that day.
Mobile App Notes
- Android App Update--some Android users have been experiencing persistant use problems. 3M is releasing an update to the app Friday, 2/24/12, and all Android users should download it. We do not know if this app will be available in the marketplace Friday or Saturday. Please check for updates. If your use problems have been severe, you might want to reinstall the app entirely.
- Categories Being Fixed--Categories are to be our "subject browse" on the 3M Cloud Library. This tab had not been working properly--it was showing ALL books in the 3M ebooks catalog instead of just the books owned in our library. Now the categories will only show books we own. Categories that do not have any books in them yet will look like they are continually loading. 3M will be running a process that will hide all empty Categories and SubCategories soon.
02/02/2012 Beta Progress Update
Computer App Access--Hold Up
3M Cloud Library will use Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) in the background of their computer access software. Integrating ADE means the 3M computer software can transfer to your ereader (Nook, etc). If you have used ADE before, you know that it requires that you sign up with an Adobe ID and authorize your device the first time you try to transfer a book through the program. This is the part holding up the software release. The technical team is attempting to make the software provide the login and authorization to ADE so the transfer will go through.
Mobile App Notes
- Categories tab will pull up information now, but it is not correct yet. Categories are supposed to be our subject browse area. In the future you will be able to go into Categories, select Fiction, then browse the Mystery section. Right now a glitch has Categories showing the entire 3M sales catalog instead of just our owned books! Obviously this makes it nearly impossible to use the feature. Our beta representatives say this glitch will be solved in an upgrade to their system the week of 2/6/12.
- Android version of the app is not functioning properly for some users (log in problems, some tabs not pulling up properly while others are fine). 3M will be releasing an update to the Android app to address these issues, and they intend to have this ready mid-February. Until then, please see the 3M section on the Digital Help page for what you can try and instructions on reporting errors to the State Library. The more information we can provide the company now, the better the app will become!
Transfer & Purchase of Materials Notes
- On the Channels tab, you will notice that there is a "New this Week" channel at the top of the list. All newly purchased or transferred titles will make an appearance in this Channel.
- A 3M Cloud Library technician has been working since January 1 to load our previously owned ebooks to this new system. To date, he has transferred about 800 books, starting with the ebooks we own from the publishers Harper Collins and Random House.
- Just like the app, the library purchasing portion is also in beta. More libraries will be able to start purchasing next week. 3M did not want to overload the new system, so only 2 librarians at a time have had access to the shopping interface. They have purchased around 150 books in less than 2 weeks.
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