WCPL Offering Online Magazine Subscription Service
By Amanda McFarland, Adult Programming Administrator
WARSAW — Though magazines are a popular source of information, accessibility is not always easy. Subscriptions can be costly and print copies can be inconvenient to store or carry around.
With convenience in mind, Warsaw Community Public Library now offers Zinio for Libraries, a free, digital magazine service that patrons can access using their WCPL library card’s barcode number.
Zinio for Libraries is accessible to WCPL patrons through the library’s website. Once on the home page, the user will scroll down and click on the large “Z” icon to access the Zinio home page.
First-time users will need to create an account before they can begin accessing magazines. A link in the upper right-hand corner of the Zinio home page allows patrons to do this easily.
Once a user has created an account, he or she has access to a small, but growing, number of magazine titles, all with no due dates, no limits and no holds. Examples of titles include Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, HGTV, American Girl, Cosmopolitan, Country Living, Highlights, National Geographic and Handyman, among many others.
Also available are special-edition “bookzines” by Southern Living, Cooking Light and People magazines. Full-color online editions look just like each magazine’s print version.
Navigating the Zinio home page is simple. Each magazine appears as a full-color image of the current issue’s front page. Users can click on the image they want or click the “check out now” icon beneath it. Subscribers then have the option to begin reading right away or to continue browsing for more magazines.
To read a chosen magazine, patrons can use the “browse” arrows to flip through the pages or they can access a grid along the left-hand side of the screen to skip to a certain page.
Once a magazine issue has been downloaded, it will always be available to the patron. Old issues can also be deleted at the user’s discretion, when he or she is finished reading them.
Zinio is available for Mac, PC and mobile devices. Zinio magazines can be read offline via iPad, Android, iPhone and Kindle Fire/HD/HDX.
Patrons looking for a specific magazine or article can use the “search” tool. They can also search by genre. Several titles also have a limited number of back issues available for checkout.
A detailed how-to for Zinio for Libraries is available at www.rbdigital.com/help/zinio-faq.