Next time you go to search our library collections you may notice things look a bit different.  Yesterday, we launched a New Library Catalog search system that will hopefully make searching much easier and expose new materials you may have missed before. 

New Features Include:

• One Search Box and Better Search Ranking: Like Google, just type what you want and go!  You don't need to think about whether you want to search for a title, author or subject any more.  If you ever searched for one-word titles like "Twilight" in our old catalog, you may remember how far down you had to scroll to find the actual book by Stephenie Meyer.  Now, it should be right near the top. 
   
• Easy Limits to Narrow Your Search: Like Amazon, our new catalog has quick limiters down the left hand side of the search results screen so you can filter your search by language, library location, format (books, dvds, ebooks, etc...), and more.  All without ever going to another page!
   
• Reviews and Recommendations: We've had lots of requests for this.  You can now add your own reviews of items from our collection in the "Community Reviews" section and rate items with 1-5 stars.  Look under the "You Might Also Like" section for author and title recommendations, series information, and hundreds more reviews from GoodReads.com (just a click away).
   
• Articles Search: Until now, you've never been able to search for articles at the same time you search for books - you had to go to our Databases page and first choose a resource.  You can now toggle between "Catalog" and "Articles" search results at the top of the screen in our new catalog.  The system only requires you to login when you try to view the full text of an article. 
  An important point to be aware of : because of our merger with San Jose State University, both SJSU and SJPL articles can be searched in our new catalog.  You can't search both at the same time, so look for the "View: University Library | Public Library" settings right beneath the logo and make sure it is set to search the set of articles you can access.  As before, only SJSU students and faculty have home access to the full text of articles in the University collection; otherwise, visit King Library in person to see University articles. 
   
• Digital Images Search: Did you know the library has been scanning images from our historical collections and putting them online at http://digitalcollections.sjlibrary.org?  Well, now you can search these images in our new catalog without going to a seperate web site.  Just look at the top of the screen and select "Digital Collections", right between "Catalog" and "Articles".

Not ready to make the switch?  Don't worry, our previous library catalog is still available as the "Classic Catalog" - look for the link at the bottom of the screen in the new system.  "My Account" is also unchanged and can be accessed from either version of the catalog - just first select the "Login" link in the new catalog and enter your library card and PIN number.

Give the new system a try and please let us know what you think!

Tina Fey’s Bossypants is awarded Audiobook of the Year 2012, by the Audio Publishers Association. For all of the 2012 winners and finalists listed in various categories, pleas visit the Audies Competition; the titles are grouped in more than two dozen categories including works of fiction, nonfiction, and children’s. Provided with the list are book reviews to read, as well as segments of the audios to listen.

Allan Wolf’s The Watch that Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic won the award for Distinguished Achievement in Production. “This production tells the story of the passengers on the TITANIC through interlinked poems from multiple perspectives. Five narrators help listeners keep the large cast straight as they create appropriate and distinct voices for each character.” You may listen to an excerpt of this audiobook at the Audies Competition site. Currently in our neighborhood, there is a copy only at Santa Clara County Library though.

For downloadable audiobooks at SJPL, visit Overdrive; and use library card and PIN to download. Below are a couple high-interest titles:

Bossypants

I, Claudius  

The Barefoot Executive

In general, for ebooks and audiobooks, visit the library’s download page; for books or recorded books, see our catalog. For example, here are, besides download, two different formats of Tina Fey’s:

Bossypants (Print)

Bossypants (Book CD)

Happy reading and listening!

Have you ever seen an interesting book or video in our catalog that you want to follow up on later, but don't want to (or can't) request at that particular moment? What did you do? Try to remember it? Write it down on paper? Email yourself a link?

You've now got an easier option! We've just introduced a new feature in the Library Catalog called "My Lists". With My Lists you can permanently save lists of library items that get stored in "My Account". You can make lists reflect whatever you want. They could be on a topic like "dogs" or "travel", a "wish list" of books you want to read or request, or a bibliography for a school assignment - it's up to you!

While you're searching our catalog, look for a button next to each title like the one on the right that says "Add to My Lists". You'll then be asked to login to your account and can add the title to an existing list or create a new list. Go to "My Account" to view the lists you've built. You can make a hold request directly from My Lists for any requestable title (remember some materials, like entertainment DVDs and music CDs cannot be requested).

If you want to learn more, Frequently Asked Questions for My Lists are available to review.

Also, you don't need to use "My Lists" to build lists of books you've already read or checked out. Remember, we have a "My Reading History" feature that will automatically do that for you. Just turn it on and everything you check out from that point on will be saved in a convenient list.

Try it out and then leave a comment to let us know what you think!

We’ve just launched a new feature in the library catalog – RSS feeds for "My Account" activity.  Subscribe to the feed with an RSS feed reader and keep up to date with your library account without having to go to our website and login. Not familiar with RSS feeds? - Watch a quick video that explains them.

To get the address for the feed: Login to your account and click on the little RSS icon by "Account Activity".

The feed will generate alert messages for the following activity:

• Requested library item(s) are ready for pickup
• Link+ item(s) are ready for pickup
• Item(s) are due soon 
• Item(s) are due today
• Item(s) are overdue
• New fine(s) or fee(s)

For privacy, the feed just mentions this generic activity; it doesn’t say specifically which titles are due, on the hold shelf, etc.  You can click on one of the messages and then login to your account to see the exact details.  A date appears at the beginning of each message so you can tell which activity is current. Enjoy!