Administration End

• library decides how long and how many items can be checked out by the patron
• you can create channels for the patrons on the opening page (i.e. Al’s top 5 books, Jessie’s 20 favorite books)
• access to a message center to send patrons ideas about books and send messages to a twitter account (administration can send only, patron can only receive)
• patrons can add books the library does not own to a “Wish List”. The list  goes directly to admin (collection development) so they have an idea/suggestion of what types of books people are interested in reading in the collection

Library User

• as of now only 5 devices can be linked to your 3M Cloud library (iPad, iPhone, Computer, Nook or Android device)
• patrons can rate (up to 5 stars) how they liked the book
• Reading History (see what books you “the patron” have checked out)
• Wish List (add books to a wish list so the collection development dept. can see what the public wants)

3M’s Cloud Library is an early version of a service that plans to go head to head with OverDrive with public libraries as their primary–though not sole–customers.

Patrons can go to the could site, search, download and read.
They can sideload to Nooks and Sony Readers and download directly to cloud connected devices such as iPads and smart phones.

Consortia can share purchases, and there is no limit to the number of sharing libraries.
However–at present–all of the cooperating libraries have to share a single ILS.
In time, this restriction will be relaxed or eliminated, but it facilitates their initial release and maintenance of the software.

MARC records are provided free with the purchase of a new title and are delivered within 48 hours.  However, they come from 3M, not from OCLC and may not have an OCLC number.  Other fields may also differ from those in an OCLC MARC record.

Ebooks for Kindles and Kindle Apps are not yet available, but 3M is trying hard to make this available for Kindle owners.

3M uses Adobe Content Server to control loan periods and the number of copies a patron may have at one time.  However, they serve as a middleman between the patron and Adobe, so patrons do not have to create an Adobe ID nor install Adobe Digital Editions.  The patron reads the book from within the 3M Cloud App or program.  The patron is limited to having one borrowed item on five devices simultaneously.  Patrons have individual “profiles” in the 3M Cloud Library, so multiple patrons can share a single PC.

The first time a patron uses the 3M Cloud Library from a specific device, he or she has to identify their local library and log in with their library card and–if their library requires it–their PIN.  However, the App or program remembers their library and ID and logs them in automatically after that.

Books read on a cloud connected device are automatically synced to the cloud, so you can stop reading “Tears of the Sun” on page 50 on your iPhone and resume it on that page later on your laptop.  Books that are sideloaded to a “traditional” Nook or Sony Reader could not sync up this way, because their only web connection is with their sponsoring vendor.

In many ways the 3M Cloud Library is similar to the OverDrive service, but there are some interesting differences.
The patron interface to the 3M Cloud Library is–currently–more robust than OverDrive’s.  Searching is more powerful and categories behave more like subject headings in a hard copy library.

Libraries can choose to let their patrons search beyond the collection that has been purchased so far and see the entire catalog of 100,000 titles.  The patron cannot get those titles directly, but “wishing on a title” creates a suggestion for purchase that staff can see.

The patron’s My Books area stores a record of all of the books they have borrowed.  At present, this is mandatory.  The ability to opt in or opt out may come later.  In theory, nobody can see this list except the patron.

The Cloud Library’s Message Center allows library staff to put out messages to all patrons who have the App.  At present this is one way to communicate; patrons cannot answer within the App.

Titles purchased from 3M are not “owned” in the way a hard copy book is.  They are essentially available through a perpetual lease.  3M will help libraries who start with them, buy titles, and then if they decide to leave find a new home for their purchased titles.  The publisher of each purchased title would have to OK that, just as they had to when OverDrive’s customer, the state of Kansas, switched to 3M.

Doug expects 3M to focus their efforts for a while on creating a first rate environment for their initial set of libraries.  Once the early adopter issues have been resolved and the platform is stable, 3M will work on the issues that will let them expand their customer base.  Enabling multiple libraries in a consortium who do not share the same ILS buy cooperatively, for example.

3M also offers in-library kiosks that enable patrons to browse the cloud and discover books.  They can check titles out at the kiosk, but not read them there.  They would have to read them later on a personally owned device.  3M also sells e-ink e-readers that patrons can borrow.  These are reading devices only–no games or MP3 player.  They are designed for easy loading and unloading of books, so that a patron can borrow an e-reader and easily add several books to it.  List price is $150 per e-reader.  Discounts are available to early adopters.

Overall the 3M Library Cloud is an attractive alternative to OverDrive.  It has some strengths OverDrive lacks, and is more patron friendly.  On the down side, Kindle owners cannot (yet) use it, and libraries who do not share an ILS cannot (yet) purchase cooperatively and share titles.

–Al Carlson