Catalog Help

Yes! You can change your username at any time under My Settings. The new username still must be unique. Changing it will not affect your account and you do not need to notify staff. Any reviews or lists you have created will display the new username automatically.

1. Open the top-right Log In / My HCPLC menu and click either the gear symbol or My Settings.
2. Log in to your account (if you are not logged in already).
3. Click Username on the left side of the page under Account Information.
4. Type in a new username.
5. Click the Save Changes button.

1. Open the top-right Log In / My HCPLC menu.
2. Click Checked Out to see items currently checked out to you.
3. Log in to your account (if you are not logged in already).

1. Open the top-right Log In / My HCPLC menu.
2. Click On Hold to see items currently requested.
3. Log in to your account (if you are not logged in already).

HCPLC Connect calls this feature Borrowing History (the Classic Catalog calls it Reading History).

To enable your borrowing history:

1. Open the top-right Log In / My HCPLC menu and click either the gear symbol or My Settings.
2. Log in to your account (if you are not logged in already).
3. Click Borrowing History on the left side of the page under Account Information.
4. Click the Off button. It will change to green and say On.
5. Click the Save Changes button.

This will also import the Reading History from the Classic Catalog if it was previously enabled. The My Settings area is only where you enable your Borrowing History, not where you view it. Once you enable it a new My HCPLC menu option called Borrowing History will be available.

Your list items are still available and you can import them into the catalog using your For Later Shelf.

To import your lists:

1. Log in and then click your username at the top right of the screen.
2. From there, click For Later Shelf under My Collections.
3. Click the Import List Items button in the light blue box in the middle of the screen where it says “You can now migrate the items from your previous catalog’s lists to your shelf.”
4. Once the import is complete, you will see your items appear on your For Later Shelf. If you have a large number of items, it may take a little time for HCPLC Connect to update the shelf.

A Personal tag is private to you and is for organizing the items on your shelves. Once you add a Personal tag, you can click directly it to only see those items on your shelf. For instance, you can tag books for a specific child by creating a personal tag like “for sam”. If an item on your shelves would work for more than one child, you could add multiple tags like “for sam” and “for sally”.

To add a Personal tag to an item:

1. Go to your For Later Shelf.
2. Click Tags at the bottom of the item’s information on your shelf.
3. In the pop-up window, scroll to the bottom where it says Personal Tags.
4. Type in your personal tag (a word or a phrase) and hit Enter on your keyboard.
5. Click Done. It may take around 15 minutes for HCPLC Connect to update as you tag other items on your shelf.
6. When you tag multiple items with the same personal tag, you can click directly on the tag to narrow down your items to only ones with that tag.

The filters on the left side of your shelves allow you to narrow down your items by format, topic, genre, and more.

To apply a filter:

1. Go to your For Later Shelf.
2. In the left sidebar (under “Filter your results by...”), click the arrow next to a category to view the available options.
3. Click the checkbox or heading you want to use as a filter. (If the heading has more than 10 items, click the Show more link to see more items in a popup window.)
4. You can filter the titles further by selecting additional options. For instance, if you had three lists in the previous catalog which were “Books I want to read”, “Movies to watch”, and “Cookbooks”:
   • Use the Books filter under Format to only see books on the shelf.
   • Use the Movies & TV filter to only see DVDs.
   • Click Cookbooks under the Form/Genre filter to see your saved cookbooks.

You can add a private note to any title on your shelves to help you keep track of your items. Private notes are not visible to other library members or staff.

To add a Private Note to an item:

1. Go to a shelf that has the item.
2. Below the item, click More, and then click Private note.
3. In the Add private note popup, type your note in the text box.
4. When you are finished, click Save to save your note.
5. Click the pencil icon to edit it or the trash can icon to delete it.

If you are viewing a long list of search results, you can filter the view to help you find items by format. For example, you may want to see only DVDs, or only large print books.

To apply a search filter by format:

1. In the left sidebar under Format, click the checkbox you want to use as a filter.
2. You can filter the titles further by selecting additional headings.

You can lock your filters so that the next search you do uses all the filters you applied the first time.

To lock your filters:

1. Do a search.
2. Apply the filters you want to use.
3. In the Active Filters box above your search results, click the pin icon. The pin will moves right and the text will change from OFF to ON. You’ll also see another pin icon in the search box to remind you the filters are on.
4. Do another search.

Per the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, children under 13 are not allowed to enter free-text on websites without parental approval.

This approval is completely optional. Children under 13 can use the catalog to check their account, request items, or find items without it. You only need to give permission if you want the child to be able do things like add reviews. Once they turn 13, their account will automatically gain full functionality.

1. Open the top-right Log In / My HCPLC menu and click either the gear symbol or My Settings.
2. Log in to your account (if you are not logged in already).
3. Click Child Account Permissions on the left side of the page under Profile.
4. Click Grant Permission.
5. Enter your child's username or library card number and month and year of birth.
6. Click the privacy policy checkbox and Grant Permission.

1. Log in to your account and complete a search.
2. If you like, narrow your results by applying filters.
3. Click the Save Search link above the search results.
4. Give the search a name that will allow you to easily identify it and click Save it.

A link to your Saved Searches is under the search box on every page and in your account settings. If you use a feed reader like Blogtrottr you can get the results delivered as an update by clicking the orange RSS symbol on a search results page. Note: saved searches won’t transfer from the old catalog, but you can recreate them in the new one.

You may search the catalog without creating an account. However, you’ll need to create an account in order to request library materials, view your account and see what items you have checked out.

Borrowing, checkouts, holds, account information (name, address, email, phone), and library card and pin are always private accordance with the Library's policy.

By default, the catalog is a sharing environment where others can see lists you create, reviews you write, and so on.

The catalog has some great social features for people who want to connect with other readers. If you like to share, then you don’t need to do anything – though you can change your mind at any time. If you want to keep your activities private:

1. Log in to your account, open the top-right menu, and click either the gear symbol or My Settings.
2. In the Privacy section you may choose to make your entire activity feed private or limit viewing of one or more of your shelves. In both cases, make your selection then click the Save Changes button.

When your shelves are set to private, any ratings or comments you add to titles afterwards will also be private.

1. Go to the shelf that has the item.
2. Click on Manage Items.
3. Click the box Keep this item private.

When an item is changed to private, any ratings or comments you created or previously added will also be private.

1. Go to the shelf that has the item.
2. Click on Manage Items.
3. Click Remove from Shelves.

When you remove an item from your shelf, it will also delete any content you’ve added to the catalog (like a rating, tag, comment, or similar title).

It provides a timeline of your activity within HCPLC Connect. Specifically, it displays:

• The items you add to your shelves
• Lists you create.
• Comments and ratings that you add to specific titles.
• Lists or comments by others that you like.

Your activity feed appears as part of your Profile page and is also displayed on your My Activity page.

1. Open the top-right Log In / My HCPLC menu and click My Profile.
2. Log in to your account (if you are not logged in already).

Next to each item in your activity feed is a menu. When you remove an item from your feed, it's no longer visible to you or to others if your activity feed is public.

• Click the arrow to open the menu, and then click Remove From Feed to delete the item from your feed.
• Removing the item from the feed doesn't affect the action that made it appear in the feed. For example, if you remove an item you rated from your feed, that doesn't remove the rating.

If your activity feed is public, you can make individual items private. Private items are visible to you when you're logged in, but not visible to other users who look at your activity feed.

1. Click the arrow to open the menu, and then click Make Private to hide the item from your feed.
2. Setting the item to private will also make the item on your shelf and any community content you add private.

A shelf allows you to keep track of items that you’ve borrowed or plan to borrow in the future. You can put as many items as you wish on one of your three shelves:

• Completed is where you can store everything you’ve read, watched or listened to.
• In Progress is the place for what you are reading, watching or listening to right now.
• For Later is like a wish list to keep track of the books, movies and music you’d like to borrow in the future.

The new list feature is a collection of titles related to a specific topic or idea of your choosing. For example: Knitting Books for Beginners or The 10 Best Movies about Baseball would be suitable subjects for lists. Lists are limited to 100 items. If you have more than 100 items, you'll have to create another list.

Everyone - The list will be visible to everyone using the catalog.

People in a Specific Location - The list is limited to a specific location. There are four options:

• Country (says USA)
• State (says FL)
• County (says Hillsborough)
• HCPLC (says in my library)

Anyone with the Link - You can send the URL of the list to another person like a family member or friend. However, the list is not searchable, does not appear on the item record of titles included on the list, nor is it visible when someone is viewing your profile or activity feed.

Only Me - The list will never appear to anyone else, no matter what. When you're viewing the list, you'll notice there is no Share link, as there is with other types of lists.

Since HCPLC covers the entire county, the County and In my library options are equivalent.

Once you have found it in the catalog, click the green Place a Hold button located near the item details. If you are not already logged in to your account, you will be prompted to do so. Then click the Confirm Hold button.

If you always pick up holds at the same location, you can simplify future requests by clicking the Enable Single Click Holds button. Once this is enabled you will not be prompted to confirm each request.

1. Open the top-right Log In / My HCPLC menu.
2. Click Checked Out to see items currently checked out to you.
3. Log in to your account (if you are not logged in already).
4. Find the title you want to renew.
5. Click the Renew button below the item.

A popup message will let you know if your renewal was successful.

1. Open the top-right Log In / My HCPLC menu.
2. Click Checked Out to see items currently checked out to you.
3. Log in to your account (if you are not logged in already).
4. If desired, filter your checkouts by clicking Overdue, Next Due or Due Later under the My Borrowing menu.