Read a Magazine on a Desktop/Laptop

Our starting point is the Vancouver Island Regional Library home page virl.bc.ca. You will need to be connected to the internet and know your email address and passwords for your Zinio accounts to follow these instructions.

Finding the VIRL Zinio collection

The magazines you can download freely through Zinio with your VIRL card are called the VIRL Zinio Magazine Collection and can be found at www.rbdigital.com/vancouverislandbc/zinio. You can also get there from anywhere on our VIRL website by clicking on a Zinio button or by following these steps:

1. Move your mouse over the Using the Library in the blue header bar. In the menu that appears, go all the way to the right under eLibrary and click on Apps and Mobility. (You can also click this link Apps and Mobility to open a new tab/window and go directly to the page now.)

   

2. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen where you will find a section called Zinio. Click where it says Click here on how to sign up for Zinio and you will get to the VIRL Zinio Magazine Collection.

   

Adding VIRL magazines to your reading list

The VIRL Zinio Magazine Collection page should look something like this:

Starting from this page is very important. If you try to start at the Zinio website, the website is unaware you're a VIRL member and will try to sell you magazines that you can download for free through the library.

It's a good idea to bookmark this page in your browser so it is easy for you to find again.

1. From the VIRL Zinio Magazine Collection you can search for a magazine you'd like to download using the Title Search bar.

   

   You can also find a type of magazine by clicking the All Genres dropdown list.

   

2. When you find a magazine you'd like to read, click on Checkout Now below its cover image.

   

3. A small box will appear. Enter the Email and Password you previously set up for your VIRL Zinio account and click the blue Log In button.

   

   If you haven't set up an account you can go to our VIRL Zinio Accounts guide for instructions.
4. A box should appear saying Success!

   

   Now you have a couple of choices. You can:
   • Keep Browsing and add more magazines to your reading list, or
   • Start Reading your magazine now skip to step 7
5. If you choose to keep browsing you can continue to search or browse for more magazines as you wish. You have now been logged in, so the next time you click Checkout Now it won't ask for your email address.

   

   Instead you jump straight to the Success! box.

   

6. When you are logged in on the VIRL Zinio Magazine Collection page you can always go to your Reading List by clicking Go to My Checked-out Magazines (this takes you a login page as if you'd clicked Start Reading earlier).

   

7. You will be asked to sign in to Zinio. Fill in the form with the Email address and Password you set up for this account earlier and then click the blue button that says Continue or Sign In.

   If you haven't set up an account yet, you can go to our VIRL Zinio Accounts guide for instructions.

8. You should now be looking at your Reading List of magazines you've downloaded through VIRL and Zinio. If you don't see your reading list, click Your Library at the top of the screen. That should either get you to the right screen or possibly prompt you to re-login and get to the correct screen.

   

Reading VIRL Zinio Magazines

Once you have a magazine on your reading list you can read it on your laptop/desktop computer simply by clicking on the cover image and it will open in a new browser window.

If you want to read a magazine from your reading list on a tablet or other mobile device, make sure you have installed the Zinio app (you can get some help with our Set Up a Tablet/Phone for Zinio guide) and then try our Read a Magazine on a Tablet/Phone guide.

Questions? Run into an issue we didn't cover? Contact us at fakeemail@virl.bc.ca or let us know by Facebook or Twitter.