Catalog Help

If you cannot find what you are looking for or need help for any reason, please ask a librarian at the Reference Desk.

How-To Videos

How to Use the Catalog Instructional Video

Como Usar el Catalogo de Libros

Parte 1
Parte 2

Homepage

You can find navigation links in the upper-right corner of the header. Click one of these links at any time to log in, go to the My Account page, or go to the My Lists page. You can also click the Home icon (on the left, next to the “Everything” dropdown menu) to go to the library catalog Homepage.

Log In

Select “Log In” from the top right menu. This will generate a modal that asks for your Library Barcode and PIN. Your Library Barcode is the 14 digit number located on the back of your library card. Your PIN was assigned to you when you signed up for a library card. If you need help finding out your PIN number to log into your account, please note that it is the last four digits of the telephone number you provided as your home phone. If that is not working, please contact us through the General and Technical Support form.

Select a Language

You can select the interface display language from the Language drop-down. (English and Spanish are available.) Once you log in, the language you select as your default language in the My Account preferences will become the interface display language automatically (see Preferences).

Book Lists

Our catalog displays themed lists of titles that you may find interesting to browse. To view them, select a list from the drop-down, and the titles in the list will slowly cycle in the display like a slideshow. To pause the slideshow, click the Pause button. Click on any title in the list to bring it up in the display. Use the navigation arrows to move through the list.

Any title you select will display information, like author, publication date, ISBN, etc. You can also click the Find in My Library button to search for the title in your library.

Searching for item

Searching with limits

Use the Limits drop-down to limit your search to a specific item type (e.g., DVDs or Books On CD) or database (e.g., Library Search or Digital Catalog), or search “Everything” (the default setting).

Searching by field

Select a field from the Fields drop-down (2) to search within a specific field (for example, Title, Author, or Subject), or search from “All Fields” (the default setting).

Search Results

Sorting

After you have received the results of a search, you can sort them by publication date (ascending or descending), title, or author. The most relevant results are then sorted by that option.

Paging

Click the Previous and Next icons to move forward and backward through pages of search results.

Placing a hold

Items in your search results that are holdable at your library will have a Place Hold button that you can click to put the item on hold. (For more information, see Placing holds.)

Note: You can also place a hold on an item by using the Select An Action menu (see Using the Select an Action via drop-down menu).

Selecting an action

From the Select An Action drop-down menu, you can place holds on items, add items to your My Lists, and email or print item information. Select the items you want from your search results page by selecting the item check box(es), or use the Select All check box to select all items on the page. Then select the action you want to take from the Select An Action menu. (For details, see Using the Select an Action drop-down menu.)

Previewing an ebook or audiobook

Some ebooks and audiobooks include a short sample of the book that you can read or listen to before you check the item out. To open a sample, click the Preview button and follow the directions.

Limits

Limits are organized by fields (like Author, Format, Language, Subject, etc.). You can use limits in one of the following ways:

  • Click on a limit. By clicking a single limit, you will narrow your search results to meet that limit. For example, if you click on “Books,” your search results will only include items that are books.
  • Select a limit or multiple limits to include in or exclude from your search results. You can select one or multiple limits within a single field by clicking the check box next to the limit(s).

If you want to include limits in your search results, click the Include button. For example, if you select to include Books and DVDs, your search results will only include books or DVDs.

If you want to exclude limits from your search results, click the Exclude button. For example, if you select to exclude Books and DVDs, your search results will include everything but books and DVDs.

Use the More and Fewer options to expose or hide limits within a field incrementally. You can also use the Expand All or Collapse All options to either show all limits in a field, or go back to only showing the first five.

Using the Show Only Available option

Click the Show Only Available button to limit your search results to only items that are available for checkout.

Removing limits

Any limits you have applied will appear in the “Narrowed by” section. Limits you have included in search results will have a plus (+) sign; limits you have excluded will have a minus (–) sign.

Click the Delete button to remove an individual limit, or remove all limits by clicking the Clear all button.

Viewing Item Details

When you click on a search result title or image, a new window displays details for that item.

In the catalog data, you might see links (an author’s name, for example) that you can click to begin a new search for that link’s content.

The different sections contain information about item availability, item summaries, reviews, excerpts, etc. Click on the section you want to open and scroll down to view its content. In the catalog data, use the sort icon to sort items. Click once to sort ascending. Click again to sort descending.

To close the item detail view, click the Close button, or click anywhere outside the detail display window.

Paging

Click the Previous and Next buttons to view the detail page of the next or previous item. The order of the items is the same as it is on the search results page.

Placing a hold

Items that can be checked out will have a Place Hold button that you can click to put the item on hold. (For more information, see Placing holds, below)

Note: You can also place a hold on an item by using the Select An Action menu (see next section, Selecting an action).

Selecting an action

From the Select An Action drop-down menu, you can place a hold on the item, add the item to My Lists, and email or print item information. (For more information, see Using the Select an Action drop-down menu)

Downloading ebooks or audiobooks

If the item is an Overdrive ebook or audiobook, you can download it by clicking the Download button, which would be listed with the other buttons. A window will appear and ask you to select an ebook (or audiobook) format. Select the format you want, and the item will begin to download. (If the item is not available, a Hold button will appear instead.)

My Account

My Account lets you view your checkouts, holds, and any fines you may have. You can also view your personal information and set up your preferences.

Go to My Account page by clicking My Account from the upper-right corner of the header. If you are not already logged in, the system will prompt you to log in before you can access the My Account page.

Navigating

There are four My Account tabs: Personal Information, Checkouts, Holds, and Fines. Click on a tab to open it up.

Summary Box

The summary box (on the right in the image above) gives you a quick view of the number of items you have currently checked out, the number of items you have on hold, and the amount of fines you owe. You can click a heading (for example, “Checkouts”) to open the corresponding tab.

The summary box also shows your user status. Some statuses prevent you from performing certain actions (for example, if you have excess unpaid fines, you may have a status that prevents you from renewing items you have checked out). If you have questions about your status, talk to the staff at your branch.

Alert icons (!)

Alert icons will appear in My Account when a new action is available to you. For example, if you have a hold that has arrived and is ready for you to pick up, you will see an alert icon on your Holds tab and in your summary box next to the Holds heading. Alert icons will appear when:

  • You have overdue checkouts
  • You have holds that are ready for you to pick up
  • You have any new or unpaid fines

These topics below will explain more about each tab in My Account:

Personal Information Preferences

Set up your personal preferences in the Preferences section. You may have these options:

  • Default Language lets you select which language, English or Spanish, you want the system to use when you log in.
  • Default My Account Tab lets you select which tab (Personal Information, Checkouts, Holds, or Fines) opens when you access the My Account page.
  • Default Checkouts View lets you specify whether the Checkouts tab displays your digital checkouts or library checkouts when you first open the tab.
  • Default Holds View lets you specify whether the Holds tab displays your digital holds or library holds when you first open the tab.
  • Preferred List lets you select a default My List. When you add a title to your lists, the program adds it to the default list. If you select “no default list”, the program prompts you to select a list. You can create a list to use as your preferred list in the My Lists page (see Adding/Deleting lists).
  • Preferred Pickup Library lets you select which branch you want to use as your pickup branch, or the branch where you go to pickup holds.
  • Show my checkout history lets you specify if you want the system to display your checkout history in the Checkouts tab.

Checkouts

The My Current Checkouts section displays the items that you have currently checked out. If you have any items that are overdue, they will appear at the top of the list with the alert icon.

You can click on the title or image of any item to view its detail page.

If you want to renew items, select the items you want to renew (or select them all by using the Select All check box) and then click the Renew button. Use the sort icon to sort items. Click once to sort ascending. Click again to sort descending.

Note: If an item you wish to renew has holds on it, you will not be able to renew it. Similarly, if you have already renewed an item two times, you will not be able to renew it.

Note: Checkout history is unavailable for New Jersey libraries due to New Jersery library privacy laws.

Holds

If you have any holds that are available for pickup, an alert icon will appear in this tab. You can view all your holds in the Holds section. Any holds that have arrived and are now available for you to pick up will appear at the top of the list with the alert icon.

You can click on the title or image of any item to view its detail page.

From this section, you can also cancel a hold, edit a hold’s pickup location (branch), or suspend a hold. To perform one of these actions, select the items you want (or select them all by using the Select All check box) and then click one of these buttons:

  • Cancel Hold(s). After you click this button, a window will open to confirm the cancellation. Click Yes to cancel the hold or No to go back.
  • Edit Pickup Location(s). After you click this button, a window will open where you can select the new pickup location. Click Change to change the location or Cancel to go back.
  • Suspend Hold(s). When you click this button, a window will open with a calendar you can use to select the start date of the suspension and the end date of the suspension. Click Suspend to suspend the hold or Cancel to go back.
  • Cancel Hold Suspension. When you click this button, a window will open to confirm the cancellation. Click Yes to cancel the hold suspension or No to go back.

Use the sort icon to sort items. Click once to sort ascending. Click again to sort descending.

Fines

The Fines tab tells you how much money you owe. Fines must be paid in person at any library branch.

Payment History

You can view a history of any payments you have made to fines in the Payment History section. This section will display the dates you made payments and the amount that was paid.

My Lists

When you find items in Searching that you want to keep and organize, you can save them in your My Lists. You can create and customize your lists, and you can print or email your lists. From My Lists, you can also place holds on items.

Adding Items

You can add items to your My Lists by using the “Select An Action” drop-down from either a search results page or an item’s detail display.

If you are logged in to the system, you will be prompted to select which of your lists you want to save items to.

If you are not already logged in to the system, any items you add to My Lists will be sent to a “Temporary List.” To access your custom lists, you will need to first log in.

Temporary List

If you are logged in to the system, you can move items into other lists, or you can save the entire list. In essence, you will be creating a new list out of the items in your Temporary List.

To save your Temporary List, select Save Temporary List from the Select An Action menu. A window will open and ask you to name the new list. Enter the name and click Save to save the list or Cancel to go back. If you log out without saving the list, the Temporary List will be cleared.

If you are not logged in, the list of titles will be cleared after your session has expired (three minutes with no activity in the browser). You can log in after you have placed items in your Temporary List to move them to one of your saved lists.

Viewing and Arranging Lists

Your Temporary List and your saved lists are listed in the left-side window under the “Lists” heading.

To view a list, click on it. It will open in the main window.

To arrange your saved lists, do one of the following:

  • Use the (Order icon) icon to drag and drop your lists in the order you want them to appear.
  • Use the Arrange By drop down to arrange your lists alphabetically (ascending or descending), or by the time they were created (most recent first or oldest first).

Adding/Deleting Lists

To create a new list, click the Add List button. A window will open and prompt you to name your new list. Enter the name and click Create to create the new list or Cancel to go back.

To delete lists, select the lists you want to remove and then click the Delete Lists button.

Viewing and Arranging Items in a List

You can click on the title or image of any item to view its detail page.

To arrange items in a list, do one of the following:

  • Use the icon to drag and drop your lists in the order you want them to appear.
  • Use the Arrange By drop down to arrange the items in your list alphabetically (ascending or descending), or by the time they were added to the list (most recent first or oldest first).

Selecting an Action

First, select the items you want to do an action on, or use the Select All check box to select all items on the page. Then choose the action you want to take from the Select An Action menu. (For details, see Using the Select an Action drop-down menu.)

Placing Holds

Many items in the Mercer County Library are available for holds.

If you are not already logged in when you try to place a hold, the system will prompt you to log in.

A window will appear for you to specify the branch where you want to pick up the item when it arrives. Once you have selected the pickup library, click Place Hold. The system will tell you if the hold was successfully placed or not.

Once you have placed a hold on an item, you will be able to see it in My Account under the Holds tab.

Using the Select an Action drop-down menu

The “Select an Action” menu is found on the search results page, on an item’s detail display, and in My Lists. Depending on your library’s configuration, you will see these options in the “Select an Action” menu:

  • Place Hold: This option lets you place a hold on selected items (see Placing holds).
  • Add to My Lists: This option lets you save selected items to a list. If you are not already logged in, items will automatically be sent to a temporary list (for details, see Using My Lists). You can see this temporary list by going to the My Lists page.

If you are logged in, a window will appear and ask you to specify which of your saved lists you want to add the item(s) to. Select the list you want and click Add.

The system will tell you when items were added successfully, and then you can see them when you go to the My Lists page.

Note: The “Add to My Lists” option will not appear when you are on the My Lists page.

  • Email: This option lets you email item information. A window will appear where you can enter the email address where the item(s) information will be sent. If you want to send the email in plain text format instead of HTML, select the option. Click Send Email when you have finished.
  • Print: This option lets you print item information. The item(s) information will display on a new page in print format. Use your browser’s print option to send the information to a printer.

The following options will also appear in the “Select an Action” menu on the My Lists page:

  • Delete Selected: This option lets you remove items from a list. A window will appear to confirm that you want to remove the item(s) from your list. Click Delete to remove the item(s) or Cancel to go back.
  • Move: This option lets you move items from one list to another. A window will appear for you to select which list you want to move the item(s) to. Click Move to move the item(s) or Cancel to go back.
  • Copy: This option lets you copy items from one list to another. A window will appear for you to select which list you want to copy the item(s) to. Click Copy to move the item(s) or Cancel to go back.