neibors

NEIBORS stands for the North Eastern Iowa Bridge to Online Resource Sharing. Beginning in July 2007, NEIBORS is a collaborative project among 94 libraries in the Northeastern part of Iowa that provide downloadable audio books to library users. With the new service, you will be able to download audio books directly to your computer and from there, play them directly, transfer them to a compatible mp3 player, or burn them to CDs.

What do you need to use NEIBORS?
There are a few things you will need to use the NEIBORS audio books. To
begin, you will need a Windows PC[1] to which you can download files[2]. Next, you will need your library card number which can be found on the front of your library card. If you do not have a library card, you can get one by coming to the library (if you are 12 years old or younger you must have a parent come with you to sign the application). If you just want to listen to the audiobook through your computer, you can get started after this step. However, if you would like to listen to the audio books away from your computer, you will need to be able to burn CDs (with blank CDs, a CD Writing drive, and CD Writing Software) or have a compatible mp3 player[3] (a compatibility list is available through the “Supported Portable Audio Devices” link on the front page of the NEIBORS webpage).

How do you get started?
The NEIBORS website itself contains tutorials on how to get started. The link on the left hand side of the page, "Quick Start Guide" will get you up and running as fast as possible. However, you may want to take some time and watch the tutorial shows by clicking on the "Guided Tour" image in the same set of links to the left. These tutorials will provide much more depth to what you can do with NEIBORS.

How do I sign in?
To download audio books from NEIBORS, you have to log in with your library card number (located on the front of your library card on the upper right corner of the white label). Remember, you can easily get a library card at the library if you don’t have one now. To sign in, click on the words "Sign in" on the NEIBORS website's menu. On the next page, you will need to choose Independence from a list of participating libraries in the H-O drop-down list. You will now need to enter your bar code information in the form P####. You will now be able to use the NEIBORS services.

Where do I get more help?
If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact the library by phone (334-2470), by email (indylib@indytel.com), or in person.

[1] Apple computers are incompatible with the NEIBORS service as Microsoft digital rights management is not supported by Apple

[2] Due to the licensing involved, the service cannot currently be used with the library’s computers.

[3] Like Apple computers, iPods are incompatible with the NEIBORS service due digital rights problems.