You may have received an e-mail over the weekend about preparing for the E-Reader Summit & Technology Conference. Here is part of the e-mail you received:

Before Arrival

You will receive your E-reader bundle on the day of the event, but your library will need to have several accounts set up before you will be able to use your e-readers that day, download e-books, access OverDrive and use your gift cards.

Before you arrive, please do the following for your library location:

1. Set up an Adobe Digital Editions account

2. Set up accounts at the following websites based on the e-readers in your selected bundle. These accounts can be associated with a limited number of devices.

iPad: iTunes account setup

Nook: Barnes & Noble account setup

Sony Reader: Reader Store account

Kindle: Amazon account setup

Kobo/Libre: Borders account setup (link corrected)

Each one of these accounts has a purpose for your device.

Adobe Digital Editions is used to download DRM encrypted e-books from digital libraries or certain bookstores. Basically this means that a publisher or library will put a lock on an e-book, and Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) will check your user account and make sure that the owner of the account and device are authentic. ADE is mandatory if your library plans on using OverDrive Digital Library e-books. Fortunately, an ADE account is free, and you can register one account to six computers and six devices.

iTunes, Barnes & Noble, Sony Reader Store, Amazon and Borders stores are tied to the devices listed next to them. Many devices (the iPad, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo and Libre) can read books from most other stores. The Kindle is a notable exception. If any of these devices will be in your bundle, please create an account. You will need it to order e-books for the device.

Gift Cards are included with the E-Reader Summit & Technology Showcase bundles, with each gift card appropriate for at least one reader in the bundles. In order to use a gift card to buy e-books from e-bookstores, your library will need to set up an account with that e-bookstore. Once the account is set up, you can download books from the e-bookstore and load them onto compatible devices.

Compatibility with other E-Bookstores is where things get slightly confusing. It is possible to order books from several stores for certain devices, but each device and each store have different policies. Some stores have different DRM locks from others. Please review the chart below to check the compatibility of your devices with other stores.

For a good example, this article sums up some of the difficulties of e-readers and e-bookstores.

If a device can access a bookstore but requires an app or Adobe Digital Editions, it is noted below.

And finally, some companies such as Barnes & Noble, own additional e-book stores outside of the normal storefront. For example, B&N owns Fictionwise and eReader. Please check your devices to see which additional stores they can use.