How To Access and Use AK Library Digital: Austria’s Largest eLibrary – Part 1

In a new how-to series, we want to focus this time on e-libraries and introduce in detail the possibilities available, what the current offerings look like, how you can access them, and which devices they are generally designed for. Until now, you could already view the list of available e-libraries on our homepage and use a general article on the topic of eBook lending. At this point, we also want to refer again to our offerings of free eBooks and generally to our help section.

As the first part of the series, we would like to introduce you to the online lending service of the Chamber of Labour Library, which, according to their own statements, has the most extensive eBook collection in Austria (about 8,000 works).

Registration

You can directly access the book offerings at http://ak.ciando.com/index.cfm. Registration occurs when borrowing the first book. The service is available to all persons registered in Austria. For this, you need to provide your name, place of residence, as well as social security number and date of birth during registration. If you have a library card from a Chamber of Labour library, you will immediately be registered for a full account. Users who do not have such a card are initially given a 14-day trial period but must present a registration certificate and photo ID at the Chamber of Labour for permanent activation. If you’re from Vienna or Vorarlberg, you need to visit the respective local Chamber of Labour library to present these; in other federal states, sending them is sufficient.

Borrowing Mode

Once activated, you can borrow up to 5 books for a period of 14 days with your user account and password. It is not possible to extend or reserve individual titles. The books do not need to be returned like in a conventional library; they are automatically deactivated after the loan period.

For this reason, it is necessary to have an Adobe account and download Adobe Digital Editions. First, follow this link to download the program (Windows, Mac OS), then register here for an account (if not already done).

Once the above steps have been completed, you are ready to borrow books from the Chamber of Labour library. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

• Select an available book at http://ak.ciando.com/index.cfm and “Select eBook” (displayed if the book is currently available)
• Log in with your username and password and download the file
• Open the file (Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) will open automatically)
• If not previously done, log in with your Adobe username and password – the book will now download and appear in the ADE library
• If an Adobe DRM-compatible device is now connected to the computer, ADE will ask if this device should be authorized. Once confirmed, the eBook reader will appear in the left sidebar and the book can be simply “dragged” onto the device

This is how the downloaded books are displayed in ADE. Highlighted: the duration until the expiry of the lending period as well as the connected eBook Reader in the left column that can be easily loaded via drag-and-drop.

Availability

In our test, almost all the works on the first 10 pages (sorted by novelty) in the fiction section were borrowed. There seems to be high demand here, but the books in other categories are significantly more available. With hundreds of pages in the fiction section alone, every reader will quickly find something, and you can also browse in further subcategories like drama, science fiction, or humor. Overall, the available offering is really very good, with many current and past bestsellers available, as well as more specialized topics like specific non-fiction or textbooks. The layout appears a bit old-fashioned (according to the operator’s information, it will be renewed in the coming weeks!) but it does serve its purpose. A kind of showcase with current recommendations or newly arrived works, like some local libraries offer, would be a nice extra touch.

Conclusion and Key Data

For anyone residing in Austria, it’s a great free service with a truly impressive and, above all, extensive range. Only the visual presentation gets slightly negative marks, but the operators plan to improve this in the coming weeks. Also, the help section could be more prominently linked (found at the bottom as FAQs).

File format: ePub with Adobe DRM

Loan period: 14 days (no extension)

Possibility of reserving eBooks: no

Cost: free

Usage restriction: Austrian residence required

Language of the eBooks: predominantly German

Examples of compatible eBook readers: Kobo Touch, Sony PRS 650, Sony PRS T1, iRiver Story HD

Available eBook categories:

• Ancient studies
• Fiction
• Biography
• Computer
• History
• Society
• Health
• Hobby
• Cultural studies
• Mathematics
• Medicine
• Natural sciences
• Education
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• Guidebooks
• Law
• Travel
• Religion
• Technology
• Economy

In our next how-to on e-libraries, we take a closer look at the Onleihe.