Comments on: What To Do With MP3-CDs

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 13:15:58 +0000

@Edward: thanks for the input – I patrons probably are savvy enough to know what to do with these as long as they are clearly marked. And you’re right about fewer cds = better.

By: Edward Elsner

Edward Elsner — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 12:07:47 +0000

One, this site needs better math problems.

Two, the library I used to run purchased MP3 CDs of books we didn’t have on CD that were already bestsellers or similar. Very popular titles we wanted to have, but didn’t have the money for. Many of them were purchased used from tapededitions.com. We put a large, flourescent paper insert in the cover stating they are MP3 CDs and may not play on all CD players.

Three, patrons really enjoyed them, especially people who had MP3 players of various types. It’s a lot quicker to transfer MP3 files than to convert a dozen regular CDs into MP3 files!

By: Thomas Bailey

Thomas Bailey — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 06:08:22 +0000

I have a number of MP3-CDs, obtained by burning files from the Sony ICD-UX70. These are mostly the audio portion of TV programs. My favorite bitrate is 8 kbps, the LP mode on the digital voice recorder. The other is 192 kbps, ST mode.

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 22:52:47 +0000

@Cari: I'm going to the NELA Conference next week, and am going to ask lots of questions at the Overdrive booth. But I agree with you on the car radio thing - it just doesn't seem common enough yet.

By: Cari

Cari — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 19:37:35 +0000

We have collected them since before I started working here. They don’t circ well at all. I have a MP3/CD player in my car, so I did try one out, and it was wonderful–but only if you have that type of player. My car is a 2007, so that’s only three years’ worth of car owners who *might* be able to play them without an adapter. Lately we haven’t been buying them as much, spending the money on Playaways instead (and don’t get me started on downloadables).

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:27:10 +0000

@Chris: Hopefully, yeah, in a few years this won't be an issue. But by then, some new formats will come out and we'll be struggling with those. After all, we still circulate VHS and audio cassettes, so we support formats long after the rest of the world has moved on. But thank goodness we have no laser disks or vinyl albums anymore. And thanks for the BooksInMotion.com tip. I'd never heard of them, and we do have a few patrons willing to pay for titles that the library doesn't offer, so I'll pass it along the next time I'm asked.

By: Brian Herzog

Brian Herzog — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:23:55 +0000

@Stephanie: I know, right? It’s not exactly an ideal system, but as far as electronic media and digital rights is concerned, it is definitely a situation we can work it.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:19:07 +0000

So let me get this straight: Tantor said it was okay for you to upload their mp3 cds into your OverDrive library? Wow.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:42:24 +0000

Meant to add BooksInMotion.com has been allowing people to rent MP3 CDs for a while. I got a couple from them just over a year ago.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:39:37 +0000

I agree that this might be confusing for patrons, however, my new car came standard with a CD player that plays MP3s burned to a CD. The head unit we just bought for The Wife’s car plays MP3s and WMAs and AAC/M4A (iTunes files) on CD or DVD. So this is new, but I’d bet in a few years people will get used to this. After all it’s a lot easier to listen to books on CD without switching CDs every 74-80 minutes.