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Sora Updates You May Have Missed - October 2022

Posted by Tim Leister

Mon, Oct 17, 2022

Sora OverDrive Reading app

Sora has seen quite a few changes over the past few months and with all the emails that land in your inbox, it can be easy to miss an announcement or two. To help you get caught up on all things Sora, below is a list of seven new features and tools you may have missed. Check them out below:

  • Google Classroom Add-On –  The new Sora Add-On allows you to browse your school’s catalog and attach specific titles to posts within Google Classroom.
    • Only available for schools using Google Workspace for Education Plus or the Teaching and Learning Upgrade.
    • See here for details.
  • On-Demand Class Sets – Feedback from schools helped us develop a more flexible curriculum-centered lending model option.
  • Content Bundles – Reserve titles and offer exclusive access to select users. Great for curriculum titles, classroom libraries, professional development for staff and more.
  • Sora Extras – Add learning resources like DOGO News and Method Learning to Sora.
  • Comics & Magazines – All access comics and magazines packages are now available for Sora! Contact your Account Manager for pricing.
  • Sora Showcase – Give your digital collection a physical presence with our free interactive discovery kiosk software! Contact Zach Delin at OverDrive to get started.
  • Student Dashboard – Admins can now see more detailed individual and aggregated reading data to help make data-driven decisions about literacy and reading initiatives.

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Topics: OverDrive, SORA

Back-to-School with Sora

Posted by IU13 IMS

Fri, Aug 5, 2022

 

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Topics: OverDrive, SORA

OverDrive IP Changes

Posted by IU13 IMS

Tue, May 17, 2022

 

OverDriveEducation

 

Announcement: OverDrive will be updating their network configuration on October 10, 2022.

 

Action required by School Districts


School Districts may currently be allowing 207.54.136.106, 207.54.137.114, and 207.54.137.115 through their firewall for OverDrive to connect with their ILS/LMS to authenticate users during the sign in process. If so, districts need to update their firewall before October 10, 2022, to allow the following subnet: 134.195.60.0/24. This will ensure there is no disruption for users. For now, please continue to allow 207.54.136.106, 207.54.137.114, and 207.54.137.115 through your district's firewall. If your authentication service is hosted offsite by your ILS/LMS vendor, we recommend contacting them to confirm the updated IP addresses.

Additionally, in rare circumstances, some institutions filter outbound network access to specific IP addresses. If your institution does this, you will need to add 134.195.60.0/24 to your allow list to ensure your users can still access OverDrive from within your network after this change.

OverDrive will send a follow up message in October confirming that this migration is complete and it is safe to remove the legacy 207.54.136.0/23 IP addresses from your firewall. If you have any additional questions, please reach out to our team via the Authentication Support button under the Support tab in OverDrive Marketplace.

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Topics: OverDrive, SORA

OverDrive and Sora - May Updates and Announcements

Posted by IU13 IMS

Mon, May 2, 2022

 

Sora OverDrive Reading app

 

Notice of upcoming OverDrive server maintenance

 

Between May 3 and July 28, 2022, OverDrive will perform server upgrades to enhance the performance and security of their systems. Upgrades will occur between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesdays and Thursdays and could impact service only once for approximately 60 minutes or less. Impacts to your users should be minimal.

Additional details:

  • Users will still be able to sign in to your digital collection and browse or read titles, but may encounter errors when attempting to borrow, place a hold, or return titles during your maintenance period.
  • Please contact your Account Manager with questions.

 

Update regarding OverDrive video

 

Last year, OverDrive acquired Kanopy, a leading streaming video service. While Kanopy is currently for public libraries, colleges, and universities, we are exploring opportunities for K-12 partners in the future. In the meantime, OverDrive is preparing to wind down the OverDrive video format. All OverDrive video titles will be removed from your collection on September 1, 2022.


Additional details:

  • Once OverDrive video titles are removed from your collection, any users with active checkouts on OverDrive video titles will be able to enjoy the title through the end of the lending period.
  • All videos uploaded as Local Content through OverDrive will also be removed from your collection on September 1.
  • We recommend removing any MARC records for OverDrive video from your library's catalog. If you receive MARC express records, we can create delete records upon request.

 

Upcoming Webinars

 

Summer and winter breaks are almost upon us and there’s no better time to revisit Sora and explore ways to keep students reading even when school’s not in session. Bookmark their Upcoming Webinars page now to stay up to date with our current offerings and learn about what’s coming next, such as Sora Essentials on May 10th at 3 pm EST, World Literary Tour: Spotlight on OverDrive's Spanish-Language Catalog on May 11th at 11 am EST, and Sora Connections: Making the Most of Your School Breaks on May 26th at 3 pm EST. 

 

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Topics: OverDrive, SORA

Retirement of the Legacy OverDrive app

Posted by IU13 IMS

Wed, Dec 1, 2021

OverDriveEducation

With most student checkouts already happening in Sora, OverDrive will soon start the process of retiring the legacy OverDrive app and encouraging all students to use Sora as the primary app to enjoy your digital collection.

The first step will be to remove the OverDrive app from the Apple App Store, Google Play, and Microsoft Store starting February 23, 2022. At the same time, the download links for the legacy OverDrive desktop app for Windows and Mac will be removed from overdrive.com/apps.

 

How this initial change will impact users

  • Current OverDrive app users (mobile and desktop) can continue to use the app.
  • New users looking for the OverDrive app will be directed to Sora.
  • All users can continue to use, borrow, and open titles from your school’s .lib.overdrive.com OverDrive website via a browser until we begin further migration to Sora.


What happens next
Your school should actively promote Sora and remove references to the OverDrive app from school websites and promotional materials. In future phases, we will encourage OverDrive app users to switch to Sora, with a goal of moving most over by the end of 2022. We are committed to supporting a smooth transition for you and your students and will send you updates on the plans and timing for the eventual retirement of the OverDrive app.

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Topics: OverDrive, SORA