Beat the Heat: Library Magazines at Home with Flipster

Last week we gave an overview of all the eservices the library offers that you can access from home. Everything from magazines to ebooks to music. This week, let's dive into Flipster, the library's magazine service.

Flipster gives instant access to popular magazines. Titles include Entertainment Weekly, Essence, Elle, Sports Illustrated, Money, Health, and dozens of others. 

To use this service, first click here. If you are outside the library, you may need your library card number and PIN. Your library card number is on your card directly under the bar code. Your PIN is your birthday in six numbers (If your birthday is January 15, 2001, your birthday would be 011501, like MMDDYY).

After you have logged in, you should see "Terrebonne Parish Library" in the top right corner. 

Then, you just have to pick a magazine you wish to read! If you see it directly on the first page, simply click on the title. There is also a search box near the top if you know exactly what you want, or categories on the side if you wish to browse.

At the top right, there is an option to sign in to create a folder. By creating an account with Flipster, you have the ability to save preferences, organize your research with folders, share your folders with others, view others' folders, save and retrieve your search history, create email alerts and/or RSS feeds, and gain access to your saved research remotely. 

Please know that if you create an account, the library does not save this information and you may need to contact Flipster for any issues beyond connecting to the service.

Flipster also gives you access to a smartphone app for the service, available on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon. Note that the only difference between viewing magazines on your browser versus the app is the app allows for offline reading. Some users seem to believe the magazine images on the app are not as clear as the browser. After opening a magazine in the browser, there is an option to send the magazine to the app. 

And that's it! Do you use Flipster? How do you like it? What's your favorite magazine?