Managing your account online:

• Click on "account login"
• The user name is your library card #. The password was set up when you received your card.  If you have forgotten the password, call the library to have it reset. 
  On the next screen:
• Click on "patron menu"
• Click on "my account," then "circulation status"
  You'll see what you have checked out and the items you have on reserve.  You can renew items from this screen (if the item is on reserve for another patron or you have exceeded two renewals, the computer will not allow you to renew it.)

To place a reserve on an item:
Locate the item you would like using the searching tips below.  Click on the title to bring up the full item record.

• Click on "reserve title" (this is a button on the gray bar over the item information -- towards the top of the screen)
• On the next screen, click "submit"
• You will not see the reserve on your account right away -- it is sent to a review file to be processed by the library staff.
• We'll call you when the book is available.

Popup blockers need to be set to accept popups from this site. This can be done using the "tools" > "internet settings" on your browser's toolbar.

Card Catalog Search Strategies:

Keyword : This is the broadest of the search methods.
the keyword search searches all indexes (Title, Author, Subject, Notes) to locate materials.  You can search using one or more keywords.

• Click on the Keyword Search tab
• Enter your keyword(s) in the Search For text box.
• Click the search button.

Browse: When using this search, the system reads the word(s) in your search term as a string of characters (rather than separate words), reading each character from left to right to position you in the database closest to what you typed.  For example, if you entered the search term "cats" the computer uses the letter "C" as the starting point in the database, then it uses the letter "A" to find the first term using the "CA," etc.  When the search is completed, the system will display an alphabetical browse list on index terms, beginning with the term that most closely matches your search term.

• Click on the "Browse" tab
• Enter your search term.  You can use one or more words.
• Choose the heading you wish to search from the in menu.
• Click the search button.

Advanced Search : This is the most powerful search function, but it does require planning in advance.  To obtain the best results, the Boolean operators in your search query must be organized in the proper sequence : Or - And - Not.  For example, if you want to find all the materials written by Ray Bradbury about Mars of Martians, other than "The Martian Chronicles," you would organize your search query as <Title> Mars or Martian -AND- <Author> Ray Bradbury -NOT- <Title" Chronicles.

• Click the Advanced Search" tab
• Enter the first term of your search query
• Enter the term in the 1st Search For text box
• Click the And, Or or Not button to set the logical function between the 1st and 2nd search boxes.
• Choose the heading you wish to search from the 1st in menu.
• Enter the second and third terms of your search query using the same procedure as the first.
• Click the search button.

The manner in which your search results are displayed depends on the type of search performed.
Results are displayed in the following formats:

• Term list - Displayed as the result of a Browse.
• Cross Reference List - Displayed as the result of clicking on a Cross Reference link from a term list.
• Title List - Displayed as the result of a Keyword Search or Advanced Search where multiple records are retrieved.  Also by selecting certain links on term lists.
• Full record display - Displayed as the result of a Keyword Search or Advance Search where only one record is retrieved.

Entering search terms in Keyword Search and Advance Search: You can use single- or multiple-word search terms.  You may also use the wildcard characters "?" and "*" and/or the Boolean operators "And" "Or" and "Not" to broaden or narrow your search.
To use a multiple word search, enter two or more words in the Search For text box.  The system searches for records that contain all the words.  Multiple words may be entered in any order.  "And" is automatically assumed between all words in a search term.  For example, the search term stephen king will return the same results as king, stephen.
Remember, this is not the case in the browse function.

Related terms:
This should make searching easier when you are not sure specifically what you are looking for.  If you are looking for a book on dog breeds, but don't know what type of search or search terms to use, you can type "dogs" into the all headings box of the Keyword Search.  The search results display will contain everything that has the word "dogs" in it -- including hundreds of items that will be of no interest to you.  On the left side of the screen, there is a list of Related Terms.  You can look at this list and click on any term to narrow your results.  In this case,  you would click on "Dog Breeds".  Your results will then only contain items about dog breeds.