Hoopla

Hi everyone,

As Laurie mentioned in today's meeting, we have a new online media service available called Hoopla. It will be launched to the public next week. Below are some e-mails that Marianne Lorio sent out about it.

Thanks,
John

We are getting ready to launch a new digital media service for the public. It is called hoopla and will include streaming and downloadable movies, TV shows, audiobooks and music. Before you get too excited about the video I should let you know that it includes mainly older, non-blockbuster movies and nonfiction TV shows. The studios are still hesitant to work with public libraries so this is an experiment to see if this model will work for studios and libraries alike. Whether eventually we will be allowed to provide access to the more popular titles remains to be seen. The music studios, however, are very excited about the new model and all the major studios except for Sony are providing full catalogs. This means you can get current Billboard hits to checkout. Checkout periods for video is 72 hours, music is 7 days and audiobooks is 21 days. After that time period the customer will no longer have access to the title and any download will be “returned”.

We will start by offering customers 4 check outs, regardless of format, per a month. To understand why we are offering so few check outs, you have to know a bit about the hoopla model. Hoopla charges the library per check out. Prices range from $0.99 to $2.99 per title. We have set money aside for hoopla for the rest of the fiscal year and don’t want to go through all the hoopla deposit early on. Hopefully once we have been doing this for a few months we will get a better feel for the usage and be able to adjust the number of check outs accordingly.

We are planning to do a “soft” launch of hoopla next week. This means that we will put it on the website for customers to use, but won’t advertise it. Beginning of January we will start promoting the service among our customers. This week I would like you to explore hoopla and try using one of your check outs. The hoopla website is www.hoopladigital.com. You will need your library card to sign up and get started. While it would be nice for you to plunge straight into hoopla as the library customers will do, there is a hoopla webpage on the Staff Training Portal. The direct URL to the website is https://sites.google.com/site/hplstafftraining/learningresources/libraryfunctions/hoopla.  There are basic instructions, videos and FAQs. The webpage, especially the FAQs, are a work in progress so please be patient with us as we finish.

 If you check out a hoopla title during this week, before we provide access to customers, that check out counts against your four check outs for the month of December. You can use all your check outs at once or spread them out. Unlike phone minutes there is no roll over for hoopla check outs. If you don’t use your four check outs in December you still have only 4 check outs in January. The charges I mentioned in my previous e-mail are for the library. Customers will not be charged for this service. Lastly, once your check out period is over you automatically have no more access to the titles. In essence the title is returned so the customer does not have to worry about fines, etc. There is an option to return hoopla titles early. Doing so does not allow you to check out additional titles. The only reason, at least as far as I can tell, to return a title early is to free up space on your device. Please let me know what other questions you have and keep an eye on the FAQs on the hoopla training webpage.

How do I return a hoopla title?

After your check out period ends you will no longer be able to access your hoopla title. In essence the title is automatically returned so you don’t have to worry about late fees. You can return an item early. Depending on the device you are using somewhere on the title screen you will see the word Return. All you have to do is click on it. Keep in mind that returning an item early will not allow you to check out more titles. It does, however, delete the item from your device and free up memory.

I found the TV show I want to check out. Why is there no Borrow button?

This happens when the TV show is a series. Each episode of the series is one check out. In order for hoopla to know which episode you want, scroll down until you see the list of episodes. When you select the title you are interested in, the screen will show you the information on that specific episode and the Borrow button will appear. If you decide not to check out the episode just click the Back button. 

I was listening to a hoopla audiobook on my Apple device. Now I can’t get the audiobook to play again.

There is a known issue with the playback of audiobooks with Apple apps. If after you start listening to a hoopla audiobook you then close the app to play iTunes music or use another app, the audiobook will not start playing again. Midwest, the vendor for hoopla, is working on the issue. (We may not offer audiobooks at first if the issue is not resolved.)

There is a work around for this. If your device uses the latest version of IOS you can completely close the app. You do this by pressing the Home button twice. You will see the images of all open apps, including those working in the background. Use your finger to drag the image up until it goes off the screen and the app is completely closed. If you use an older version of IOS you will have to totally power off your device. Once you reopen the app you will be able to play your audiobook again.

Are the audiobooks in hoopla the same as the audiobooks in OverDrive?

There is some overlap between titles offered by the two services. However, both OverDrive and hoopla offer exclusive content.

How many devices can I download a hoopla title on?

You can only download the title onto two devices. When you try downloading the title to the third device you will get an error message. You can, however, stream the title on multiple devices. The location you last stopped at and your bookmarks will automatically sync between devices if you are connected to Wi-Fi.

Why do I get the error message that I can play a title on only one device at a time?

Sometimes if you are watching or listening to a title on one device and then immediately switch to another device, hoopla still thinks the title is playing on the first device. You can either give hoopla sometime to register that the title is no longer playing on the first device or you can take the following steps. If the first device you are using is an Apple product and uses the latest version of IOS you can completely close the app. You do this by pressing the Home button twice. You will see the images of all open apps, including those working in the background. Use your finger to drag the image up until it goes off the screen and the app is completely closed. If you use an older version of IOS you will have to totally power off your device. If you are using a computer totally log out of hoopla and log in again. Once hoopla realizes the title is no longer playing on your first device you should be able to play it on another.