Audio News Briefs

This month, digital media distributor OverDrive upgrades its Media Console software (overdrive.com/software/omc) to enable Windows PC users to transfer "the vast majority" of its Windows Media Audio (WMA) files from OverDrive-powered libraries to their iPods, iPhones, and other portable devices.

Last month, Ingram Digital launched MyiLibrary Audio, an audiobook service for library patrons that is fully iPod/iPhone-compatible. More info at www.ingramdigital.com.

Baker & Taylor has partnered with OverDrive to expand its digital media distribution platform. Over the coming months, via a new Digital Media Library label, library customers worldwide will be able to access the wholesaler's collection of downloadable audiobooks, ebooks, music, and video titles. More info on all of these developments at www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6661095.html.

Barnes & Noble, too, has collaborated with OverDrive to launch an Audiobook MP3 Store offering over 10,000 iPod/iPhone-compatible titles ranging from $10–$20 per download. More info at www.bn.com.

In May, BBC Audiobooks America began making titles from its Sound Library catalog available as digital downloads through OCLC NetLibrary (www.oclc.org/netlibrary). More info at www.bbcaudiobooksamerica.com/library.

Members of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) can now download any of 50,000-plus recorded texts in the national nonprofit's DAISY-format AudioPlus collection. Technical requirements include a Windows-compatible computer with DAISY software or a specialized DAISY player. More info at www.rfbd.org/audioplus.

Be sure to read King County, WA, librarian Angelina Benedetti's list of favorite adult/YA crossover audiobooks, including John Marsden's Tomorrow, When the War Began (Bolinda Audio), read by Suzi Dougherty, and Kate Thompson's The New Policeman (Recorded Bks.), read by Marcella Riordan, from her web-exclusive column 35 Going on 13 (www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6659229.html). It runs monthly in LJ's free BookSmack! e-newsletter.