Using Ebsco eBooks with an Android Tablet

Our academic library recently purchased over 100,000 eBooks from a collection entitled the eBook Academic Collection from Ebsco.  While the collection looks pretty good, meaning I can find recent and relevant books on various subjects (many offerings for all kinds of topics- not full of filler international titles like many eBook packages), I was curious how the content would work on a tablet, since I had not been able to load previous Ebsco ebooks to mobile devices, which was once maintained by eBrary. 

If you want to read Ebsco eBooks on a tablet, you need BlueFire.

Step One

One of the first things you will need to do on your Android tablet is to download the Bluefire Reader App (you can find the App in the Google Play store and download at no charge).  The Bluefire app will find those public domain eBooks that came with your Kindle app or ones that you have downloaded on to your device.  Downloaded eBooks will appear in your Bluefire library along with the time remaining on your checked-out eBook.

Step Two

You will need an Ebscohost account.  So, you need to go through the process of signing up to Ebsco if you have not already done so.

Step Three

Search the Ebsco eBook collection on your tablet.  Find an eBook that you want to read on your tablet.  Checkout the book (for the book I checked-out it gave me a default period of seven days).  Then, go to your checked-out items and click "Download this item for offline use".  You should see the download item icon in the right lower corner of your Android device.  It took several attempts to get the item to download to my Android (Motorola Xoom running Ice Cream Sandwhich OS).  Once you see the download icon in your notification bar you can open up Bluefire.

Step Four

When you open up the Bluefire App you are greeted with an invitation to sign-up (once again) or log-in to your Adobe ID.  The first couple of times I went quickly and clicked the "I will do it later" button (ignoring the fine print) and went to my library and could not find the Ebsco ebook I had downloaded.  After closing the Bluefire App again and examining the landing page I could see that I was going to have to dig up my Adobe ID or create a new account to access the downloaded eBook.  Adobe apparently handles the DRM (Digital Rights Management) for the Ebsco eBooks.  So, I quickly created an account and indicated to the Firefox browser to remember my account and password since I created a throwaway Adobe ID account (to finally access my eBook!).  Once I successfully created my Adobe ID and entered the credentials I could open the Bluefire library and open my eBook.

Review of Bluefire and Ebsco eBooks

I am a little disappointed about how many hoops you must go through to access Ebsco eBooks for offline use on a tablet, but also understand that it is probably necessary to have the trio of software/ accounts (Ebscohost account, Bluefire App, and Adobe ID) to make it all work and satisfy publishers and everyone.  My concern is that undergraduate students will not take full advantage of these resources and this level of access because of all of the accounts you must generate and all the time it takes to get a book on your device.

The other concern is that while the Bluefire App has some ability to take notes, the features are pretty crude and clumsy.  I was not able to cut and paste from the eBook (which would make citing a bit more inconvenient) and experienced quite a few problems when trying to turn pages or zoom-in on photos.  Sometimes I wanted to go forward and ended up turning pages backwards.  If I happened to place an errand finger on the screen- the page would often get bigger and screw-up the orientation, which I had trouble getting back to normal (not as clean and smooth as a Kindle App).

The eBook check-out process, minus the creation of accounts, is pretty good and I plan on exploring the catalog of eBooks and using it again.  I think the features of the Bluefire App can only get better and perhaps most students already have an Adobe ID (I did too, but don't use it enough to remember the password) making this a "win" for academic libraries and those libraries getting their feet wet with eBooks.  While the access and process might not be as slick as other programs, it is nice that we can finally say "Yes, we have eBooks for your tablet" to students and community library patrons.  What we will probably end up producing is a how to video for students, which will demonstrate the process for Andoid and iPad owners of how to use the eBook collection from Ebsco (because they won't take the time to read an article such as this one).

*Information contained within these pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Schreiner University.

Apple iTouch Battery Woes and iOS 4



iTouch is a great smartphone without the phone bill.


Like many other iTouch owners, after updating my iTouch to iOS 4 my battery goes from full charge to 20% in less than an hour of use (browsing the web, using the device with the screen on, etc.).  It used to stay charged for hours, even during heavy use.  I used to watch full length feature films on it and have plenty of power for the rest of the day. Nowadays, I browse the web for a half hour and get warnings that my battery is low.

The iOS 4 update also affected iPhones.  Apple has fixed the battery problem for the iPhone owners since however with subsequent iOS updates.  Meanwhile, the unlucky iTouch owners are left to running our devices in spurts broken up with trips to the charger.

If you go to the Apple help and iTouch web pages they illustrate all kinds of ways that you can maximize your iTouch battery life.  You can employ these techniques to the point that your iTouch no longer serves any purpose at all.

Apple's Maximize Your iTouch's Battery Life Tips 

1. The first suggestion Apple gives us is to turn off the device itself.  No, I lied.  The first piece of advice they give us is to, "update the device to the latest software", which is frankly why the iTouch owners are having issues in the first place.
2. Use iPod Regularly.  Yep, but that's tough to do these days unless you are near a generator or a wall socket.
3. Hold and Pause.  Turn it off when it is not in use (can't argue with that, though it is mostly off now anyway).
4. Under "Optimize", Apple tells us that, "Wi-Fi consumes power even if you are not using its features to connect to a network. You can turn it off to save power." The list goes on and on.

So, apparently Apple fixes the iPhone and decides to let the iTouch folks deal with a busted OS, and ultimately a broken device.  It kind of feels like Apple doesn't want to fix the iTouch.  I mean it is basically an iPhone without the phone part (no, an iPhone without the contract and monthly bill).  Some of us can use the iTouch as a phone with applications like Skype, but you can run Skype on an iPhone as well.  Would Apple sabotage the iTouch so everyone is forced to migrate to the iPhone or an iPad?

I like my iTouch very much.  Despite the battery issues it has been a solid device.  I just bought the MLB At Bat 11 app for it recently and it is amazing to see live MLB games on my iTouch (great quality too).  I am usually always in a wi-fi enabled environment so I don't need the iPhone.  For the in between times I have an Android HTC Aria work phone, which is ok but not as easy to use as the iTouch.

I am thinking of buying the iPad2 because I think I am getting carpal tunnel from the small screen, but I feel as though I am being pushed to do it by Apple and I don't like to be told what to do by consumer electronics companies.  It has been almost two years since I bought the 3rd gen iTouch. I believe 2 years to be the average lifespan of any Apple product before it self destructs or fails to be relevent anymore.  The thing is, this iTouch works just as well as the day I bought it and has the same functionality of the new Apple products (sans the rapid power loss). 

Maybe the outcry from iTouch users cannot be heard by Apple, or they are just choosing to ignore it. They are on to bigger and better things and slyly telling us lowly iTouch users to hurry up and buy their new shiny devices.  I am not sure I want to buy into this Apple type of situation again though. This is my 3rd iPod and in the past I have only upgraded due to monumental changes in the device (video, wi-fi, etc.). 

*Information contained within these pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of Schreiner University.