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My Library Account

My Library Account provides a dashboard for easy interaction between you and the library without the need for staff assistance. You can use My Lists to create groups of desirable materials, place a hold (or freeze it!); change contact info; sign-up for alerts of preferred searches, and much more.

How to:

    Create an Account or Log into Your Account

  1. Click on My Library
  2. Click on My Library Account
  3. Enter your last name, then your first name with no punctuation
  4. Enter you College ID, or S#, and click Submit

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    Searching

    Type the keyword you want to find. For example:

    • design
    • bleachers grisham
    Search Tips
    Wildcards Words may be right-hand truncated using an asterisk ('*') in place of other characters. The '*' wildcard may also be embedded in a search string. You may use '?' to replace a single character anywhere within a word.
    Examples : environment* polic*, wom?n
    Boolean Operators Use "and" or "or" to specify multiple words in any field, any order. Use "and not" to exclude words.
    Example : stocks and bonds
    Example : (alaska or canada) and (adventure and not vacation)
    Field limits A field limit causes the system to search only the specified field for the specified word(s).
    Grouping Keyword search results are usually grouped by relevance to bring the most likely titles to the top of the list. Each group represents a similar level of relevance and results are sorted within the group by date or title. To get an ungrouped result set, use boolean operators to form a complex query.

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    Advanced Keyword Search Tips

    Multiple Words

    When searching multiple words the system will automatically supply the Boolean "and" operator between each word; multiple words entered for the search will all occur somewhere in the retrieved records though not necessarily in the order entered. Both examples on the right will retrieve the same results.

    Examples

    Using multiple words:
    university science department
    university and science and department

    Phrase Searches

    Search for complete phrases by enclosing them in quotation marks. Words enclosed in double quotes will appear together in all results exactly as typed.

    Examples

    A phrase Search:
    "university science department"

    Wildcards

    *   Matches any number of non-space characters, starting at the specified position in the word. For example, "comput*" will match all words that begin with "comput" (e.g., "computer", "computation", etc.).
    The '*' wildcard may also be embedded in a search string.

    ?   You may use a question mark ('?') to replace a single character anywhere within a word.

    Examples

    * Wildcard:
    environment* polic*
    comp*

    ? Wildcard:
    wom?n

    Boolean Operators

    Use AND or OR to specify multiple words in any field, any order. Use AND NOT to exclude words. Select the operator you wish to use from the selection list on the Advanced Search form.

    Examples

    Using Boolean operators:
    stocks and bonds
    stocks or bonds
    stocks and not bonds

    Field Limits

    Field limits may be specified by selecting a field limit from the selection list. These limits appear before the word or phrase to be searched. A field limit causes the system to search only the specified field for the specified word(s).

    Field Limits and their meanings:

    • Author: Search only author fields
    • Title: Search only title fields
    • Subject: Search only subject fields
    • Note: Search only note fields
    • Subject: Search only subject fields

    Grouping

    Keyword search results are usually grouped by relevance to bring the most likely titles to the top of the list. Each group represents a similar level of relevance and results are sorted within the group by date or title. To get an ungrouped result set, use boolean operators to form a complex query.

    Most relevant Most relevant titles 

    Highly relevant Highly relevant titles 

    Very relevant Very relevant titles 

    Relevant Relevant titles 

    Other relevant Other relevant titles 

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    Saving your searches

    If you have a favorite author or subject for which you often search when using the catalog, you can save the search with the click of a button. This will prevent you from having to key in the search each time and let you place reserves on new materials quicker.

    How to:

    1. Log in to your My Library Account.
    2. Click on the "New Search" button.
    3. Search for your favorite author, subject, title, etc. or create an advanced keyword search including limits to material type, language, publication year, etc..
    4. When your results are displayed, click the button marked "Save as preferred search".
    5. The next time that you log in to your My Library Account, you can click the "Preferred Searches" button to see a list of your saved searches.
    6. Click on the search link associated with any of the preferred search terms in the list to quickly execute your search.
    7. You can be alerted of new materials added to the library collection which match your searches. Just check the "Mark for Email" box and be sure that your patron record information includes your current email address.

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    Renewing Library Materials

    Currently enrolled students, and registered faculty, staff, and community patrons may renew their own materials online. All material may be renewed except for materials with reserves and materials on which you owe fines.

    How to:

    1. Log in to your My Library Account.
    2. If not the default view click the "Items currently checked out" link to view the materials you have checked out.
    3. Select the materials you want to renew by checking the boxes in the RENEW column and then click the Renew Selected button. If you want to renew everything, click the Renew ALL button.
    4. If you cannot renew items, a message will appear on the screen. If you are successful, a new due date will appear in the "STATUS" column. Always check the STATUS column for information on the success or failure of your renewal.

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    Placing Items on Hold

    You may have items, that are available, held for you for pickup at the library. Items are held for not more than 10 days.

    How to:

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    1. Log into your My Library Account
    2. Click on Search Catalog
    3. Search for the title you want
    4. Select the title
    5. Click Request at the top of the page, then click Submit

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    Keeping Your Borrowing History

    With Reading History enabled, you can retain a record of the items you have borrowed from the library.

    How to:

    1. Log into your My Library Account
    2. Click on My Reading History
    3. Click on Opt In

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    Changing Screen Resolution

    If the catalog display is too large, or too small, for you, follow these steps to change the screen resolution.

    How to:

    1. Right click on the desktop, and then left click on Properties from the menu that appears.
    2. Click on the settings tab at the top right of the box.
    3. Screen Resolution: This slide bar is what you use to change the resolution. Simply slide the bar along to the resolution of your choice and then click the Apply button.
    4. After clicking Apply your screen will resize to the new resolution and you will be presented with a confirm dialogue box, if you are happy with the way your screen looks then simply click Yes, if you would like to try a different resolution click No.
    5. When you have finished simply close the Display properties box.

    EBSCOhost Folders

    During Summer 2011, Ebsco made changes to their system which affected The Folders feature. You may still save articles to a folder, however, the folder will automatically be emptied when you end your session. In order to retain articles in a folder for future reference, you must create a "My EBSCOhost" account. To do that,

    1. Connect to the EBSCOhost database of your choice.
    2. Click on the Sign In link from the toolbar to log in, create a new account.

    If you previously had a personal folder/My EBSCOhost account, and are now not able to access it, do the following:

    1. Connect to the EBSCOhost database of your choice.
    2. Click on the Sign In link in the toolbar.
    3. Click on the Forgot your username and password? link.
    4. Enter your First name, Last name, and the email address you used to create the account.
    5. Click on the Continue button.

    Your access information will be sent to your email address.

    If this doesn't work, send an email to support@ebsco.com with the following information:

    1. Your name.
    2. Your institution, i.e. Cuyahoga Community College.
    3. The user ID and email address you entered when you created your account.

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