eMagazines - Borrow or buy?

Borrow or buy?

Subscription models for emagazines range from the confusing to the simply outrageous which double up the price from the print subscription. Some magazines offer the digital version of their product free when the print version is purchased, others offer stand alone apps with a wide variety of models in between. Some subscriptions open in apps, some in web browsers. A search for emagazines reveals a wealth of sites offering to publish your work as a magazine but also points to agencies for online subscriptions which are often subscription options for print versions of magazines.

When our local library recently supplied access to more than 360 magazines through Zinio I was keen to explore this new option. Could this supply the ideal option? The sign up process requires both a library card and a Zinio account. Zinio provides a generic guide to guide users through this process.

Advantages

Free access to hundreds of magazines - read those not usually available in your local store.

Limitations

Current version of magazines only available - no back copies
Saving articles limited to screenshots
Favourite magazines may not be available

These alternative instructions may help Sunshine Coast library users

1. Click on the Zinio link
2. Choose Create Account
3. Enter your library card number and validate.
Now you will need to set up a free Zinio account by entering your email address and a password.
Follow the link in the welcome email you receive. You are now ready to start browsing. Choose a magazine and a new tab in the browser will open which will contain your reading list.

You can return to the other tab to add more magazines.
a. Start reading in the browser by clicking on the magazine – it will open inside your browser
And/Or
b. Install the Zinio app on your phone or tablet and login with your Zinio account details to read the magazines on your portable device.

ALWAYS browse and select magazines through your browser – Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Firefox etc. not through an app on your phone or tablet.
On subsequent visits to the emagazines just enter your email address and the Zinio password you chose – no need to put in your library card number again.

Purchaser beware!

One of my favourite magazines, Delicious, is not available through the library collection so I looked to purchase it online.

I had downloaded the free app with the option of subscribing from within the app when I decided to check out the option for subscribing from Zinio. Results - In app purchase $24.99 for 6 months, Zinio purchase $19.99 for 6 month - buyer beware!

What options do you find most useful for reading your favourite magazines? Check out your local libray to see if they have an online collection of emagazines for you to browse and borrow.

Technology for Travel

Let's go travelling

There is a wonderful collection of tools for the traveller available online. Here are some of the multipurpose and specialist sites for planning and organising your travel. Find out how to make your own free travel guide to access offline throughout your trip. Learn about apps for a wide range of mobile devices designed to enhance your travel and for managing your data and photos while travelling. View a range of methods for preserving the memories upon your return home.
This presentation was prepared for a Friends of Noosa Library event held on 17th April in the Noosa branch of the Sunshine Coast Libraries.

Tech for travel from Carmel Galvin

More sites are being added daily Follow Travel apps and tips to keep up to date with the latest offerings.

Related posts: Making Readlists Use a Readlist to compile all those pages you want to take with you.

Making your own travel guide using WikiVoyage

Which of your favourite travel tools have I omitted?

Easy video downloads for presentations

Tube downloader with Dropbox

The inclusion of a short video clip in any presentation can lighten the mood, bring emphasis to or illustrate a point and certainly provides for variety from the presenter's voice. When using video in presentations it is important to remember to seek the owner's permission to  use it and to include any copyright information attached to the video. Here's the simplest method I have found for ssaving and using short video clips.

A range of apps can perform this function on a mobile device but this is a simple method that uses Tube downloader and Dropbox to get the video from the web to your presentation in a few easy steps.

The app is available for iPhones, iPads and Androids. It downloads video from a wide range of sites including YouTube, Vimeo, and Flixxy. If you can play a video in a web browser, this app will enable you to download it. There is both a free and paid version.


1.Open the browser window of the Tube downloader app and paste the URL of the video
2. Select play and then choose download from the pop-up menu. If this is not enabled, select save to cache.
3. When video  is finished locate it in either the Files or Cache menu depending on your  previous choice..
4. Choose Open in Dropbox, this will save the file to your folder of choice.
5. From presentation interface choose Insert Video from file, get it from your Dropbox, adjust size and you're done. Easy!

Remember to delete the video from your Dropbox once inserted into your presentation.