OverDrive launches new website

A new OverDrive site is coming to you on November 9^th.  The site has a cleaner look with less clutter.  You can visit our current site for a preview.

 

What will you see:

·         The site promises to be faster and easier to navigate.

·         You will be able to sign in with either a library card and PIN, an overdrive account, or a facebook account. Because we have an Advantage Collection (where we purchase material exclusively for our users), you will not need to choose the library after the first time you sign in.  Using cookies on your computer or device, OverDrive will remember which library you are using.

 

 

·         Browse collection based on subject terms.

·         When logged in, you can see what titles you currently have in your loans (borrowed), on hold, etc., in the banner on top of the book cover.

 

 

·         The book icon at the top of the page is a shortcut taking you right to your loan page.

 

·         Auto complete is enabled in the quick search, offering suggested titles, authors, etc, that begin with your first letters/words typed.

 

·         You can now choose a lending limit from a "Borrow" drop-down menu on the item.

 

 

·         A "recommend to read" list will appear after you place a hold, displaying titles similar to the one on which a hold was placed.

 

 As always, if you have any questions about this service, you can ask for assistance by sending an email to overdrive@valleylibrary.ca

Charlotte Janes,

Systems and Collections Access Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Library Catalogue

We’ve done it again!  In April of 2014 we were able to bring some added features to our catalogue, this time it is all new. 

This new catalogue provides:

·         A more “Google or Amazon like” searching with more relevant results

·         It is responsive, changing the format of the page according to the device you are using to access it, for example, smart phones and tablets

·         Lists of new titles are easily accessible – these lists change almost daily as new material is added  

·        After you do your search you can narrow it by format, genre, fiction or non-fiction, language, year of publication, time period, place and more

·         See the reviews, summaries and excerpts on books where available

·        Add comments on titles for others to see

·        Create your own lists – your favorites, what you’ve read, what you’d like to read

·       Save your searches for future reference (In your account go to Your Saved Searches to see all of the searches since you logged in for the current session. You may choose any of the searches to save.  These will be there the next time you login.  So, if you are looking for non-fiction books on knitting or fiction sound recordings by a specific author, save your searches and check to see if there is anything new added since you last searched.)

·        Suspend holds so that they won’t arrive at the library while you are on vacation. This feature keeps your spot in the list (you cannot suspend or cancel holds that are already in the library for you to pickup)

·         Put your list of holds in order by title, suspension dates, your positions in the queue

·         Put your loans in order by title, due date and renewals remaining

·            'Cite this' feature for help with bibliographies

We work in a consortium with seven other regional public library systems.  This catalogue is used by all of these libraries, with each having a look unique to that region.  Your comments and feedback to staff or by using our CONTACT US form are very important in future developments of this service.  We hope you enjoy this new catalogue.

Charlotte Janes, Systems and Collection Access Coordinator

Placing holds using our online catalogue

Maybe you are a new computer user, or perhaps you have never placed your own holds using our on-line catalogue. These basic instructions will help you. Our new catalogue is very user friendly and fun to use. To begin go to our website www.valleylibrary.ca. Remember to make sure you are using an updated browser. Find our more HERE.

Once there, find the empty search box in the upper right hand side. Using your mouse, click on the Catalogue button to highlight it so that you will only be searching our catalogue. Now type a topic in the search box and click on Search.  I have chosen the topic gardening for this exercise. 

Next you will get your search results. For this subject there are 871 titles. You will notice on the right side of this page a box with related topic searches that will be like a shortcut to the information you are looking for.  Or you can have fun scrolling down and through the results to see what we have available. I have chosen flower gardening in the shortcut list.

Now the search has been narrowed to flower gardening and this next page will show you only those results.  Enjoy scrolling through these results. If you see a title that you would like more information on, just click on the blue title. This will take you to a page on this specific title with more information including a look inside. If this isn’t a book you wish to read, click on the Go Back arrow in the burgundy line near the top of this page. 

Keep scrolling through the results until you find an item you would like to borrow. When you do, click on Place Hold.

 On the next screen you will need to enter your Annapolis Valley Regional Library Card number and your PIN number. If you don’t know your PIN please call our office at 902-665-2995 for help. Then you will be asked for a pickup location from the drop down menu. Click on the branch you would like this item sent to for you to pick up. No matter where you are in the Valley, we can send the item to your local branch. Now click on Place Hold. Congratulations! You did it.

Repeat this process for each item that you would like to borrow. A word of wisdom though, this can be addictive and you may find all of your holds arriving at the same time.  Look for another blog at a later date on managing your holds and your account. Make sure that you log out of your account once you have finished placing holds. Simply click on the words Log Out in the upper right hand corner of the screen that will appear to confirm your last placed hold.

Now wasn’t that easy? The item you have placed a hold on will be sent to the branch you chose when it becomes available. Sometimes there is a list of other people waiting for the same book and so you will also need to wait your turn. But at least your name is now on that list.

Welcome to the world of browsing our online catalogue! Look for our new online catalogue within the next few months. The look will be different however; the procedure will be the same.

Submitted by Wendy Kearnes, Outreach Services Manager

New Website For AVRL, new browser for you?

You may be aware that the Annapolis Valley Regional Library launched a newly designed website a couple of months ago.  The change was necessary to better serve patrons who would like to access the site using phones or other mobile devices.  In moving in this direction, we were unable to develop a site that would work on all of the older versions of browsers.  When the site went live, we were all excited to get some real feedback from our users.   Unfortunately we quickly realized that many of our users are still using some of these older browsers.   

 
Anyone still using Windows XP as an operating system and is also using Internet Explorer will get a page that looks like the picture below when they visit www.valleylibrary.ca

Not at all like the version we wanted everyone to see, which is like the image above.

The best solution is to upgrade to a more current browser.  XP is officially out of support and is no longer being updated automatically by Microsoft which means Internet Explorer 8 is the last version that will work on XP.  The good news is there are alternatives to Internet Explorer that are faster, less vulnerable and give you the ability to add functionality.  Our favorites are Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox.

 Google Chrome came out in 2008 and has become the most popular browser worldwide. Chrome is fast, updates automatically and has a store filled with addons that can add functionality like adblocking or a Facebook addon that lets you keep up with friends’ activity even when you aren’t on Facebook.  Chrome is also one of the most secure browsers, blocking known malware and phishing sites automatically. 

 Mozilla Firefox is an open source offshoot of Netscape Navigator and has been one of the most popular browsers for many years. Firefox is quick and has a familiar interface. It was one of the first browsers to embrace addons and has a library of thousands to choose from.

There are countless reasons to upgrade your old browser and start using something new and up-to-date. Trust us when we say that your experience on the Web will be infinitely better if you choose to do this.

Whatever you’re doing on the Web—reading email, shopping, banking, or anything else—a new browser will allow your experience to be safer, faster, and much more beautiful.