Watertown Regional Library

System Tips for the Library Catalog

TO LOGON TO THE CATALOG, enter the barcode from your library card and your password. Your password is your last name. TO LOGOFF FROM THE CATALOG, click End Session on the top tab, then the End button on lower left.
TO RENEW ITEMS at an online computer, logon to the catalog, click My Library Card at the top of the page, click on Loans, then click on the item to be renewed. If there is a link on the page which opens that says Renew, then the item may be renewed by clicking on the link. If there is no link that says Renew, the item may not be renewed. (There could be holds or the item has already been renewed the maximum number of times.)
NEW ITEMS ON ORDER will appear in the online catalog as Requested in the status/due date column on the availability page. To be on the hold list for an ordered item, ask staff to place a hold on the item for you. The system does not allow holds for items in this status to be done by the public.
TO PLACE HOLDS ON ITEMS from any online computer, logon to the Watertown Regional Library catalog and do a search. When the results list is displayed, click on View beside the item you are interested in, to display the Full View of Record page. On that page, click the Location link to display the Holdings page. If the item is checked out, the due date will display; at the bottom left there will be a link called Request. If you click on that link another page comes up; click on the Submit button and a request (hold) will be placed on the item for you.
TO PLACE AN INTERLIBRARY LOAN REQUEST for materials not owned by Watertown, from any online computer logon to the catalog and set the Change Library field to All SDLN Libraries, do a search and display the item you want to request. When you have the item displayed on your computer screen, click the Interlibrary Loan Request link at the upper right of the screen.
TO SAVE LISTS OF BOOKS by using the My List function, logon to the catalog, do a search and display the item you want to add to the list. When you have the item displayed on your computer screen, click the Add to My List link at the top of the screen. On the screen that comes up, enter a name for the folder that you want to put the item into and click the Submit button. Use your imagination to determine what types of lists to keep. You could keep a list of books that you want to read in the future, a list of what you have read, or books for a project. To view items on your list click on the My List link at the top of the screen. Saved to My List, an item may be displayed on any online computer once you logon to the catalog.
TO BRING UP A LIST of the first one thousand items in a collection such as the books on tape or the one week fiction, use the Command Search tab. Under that tab, in the search box on the page, type a command in the following format: wlc=[shelf list code]. For example to get all the one week books that are fiction but not mysteries, westerns or science fiction you would type wlc=zwab2. For books on tape, use wlc=zwa21. To see a complete list of the collection codes click here.
FOR BOOK INFORMATION, click on the picture of the book cover (not available for every item) and you may find reviews of the book, a summary, the table of contents or information about the author, including other titles by that author.
TO LIST JUST THE NEW DVDs, select the Advanced Search tab at the top of the screen. Change the top search box to format and type in vm. Then at the bottom of the screen use the drop down menu to select New DVD and click the search button.
TO LIST SOUND RECORDINGS (e.g. Books on CD, Books on Tape, music CDs, etc.), select the Advanced Search tab at the top of the screen. Change the top search box to format and type in mu. At the bottom of the screen, use the drop down menu to select the collection that you want a list of and click the search button. Note that due to limitations in the software, only the first 1,000 items in any collection of more than 1,000 items will display. Use the option to limit by year to narrow your search to less than 1,000 items.
TO LIST JUST THE NEW BOOKS IN ONE OF THE NEW BOOK COLLECTIONS, select the Advanced Search tab at the top of the screen. Change the top search box to format and type in bk. At the bottom of the screen, use the drop down menu to select the New collection that you want and click the search button.