Next time you go to search our library collections you may notice things look a bit different.  Yesterday, we launched a New Library Catalog search system that will hopefully make searching much easier and expose new materials you may have missed before. 

New Features Include:

• One Search Box and Better Search Ranking: Like Google, just type what you want and go!  You don't need to think about whether you want to search for a title, author or subject any more.  If you ever searched for one-word titles like "Twilight" in our old catalog, you may remember how far down you had to scroll to find the actual book by Stephenie Meyer.  Now, it should be right near the top. 
   
• Easy Limits to Narrow Your Search: Like Amazon, our new catalog has quick limiters down the left hand side of the search results screen so you can filter your search by language, library location, format (books, dvds, ebooks, etc...), and more.  All without ever going to another page!
   
• Reviews and Recommendations: We've had lots of requests for this.  You can now add your own reviews of items from our collection in the "Community Reviews" section and rate items with 1-5 stars.  Look under the "You Might Also Like" section for author and title recommendations, series information, and hundreds more reviews from GoodReads.com (just a click away).
   
• Articles Search: Until now, you've never been able to search for articles at the same time you search for books - you had to go to our Databases page and first choose a resource.  You can now toggle between "Catalog" and "Articles" search results at the top of the screen in our new catalog.  The system only requires you to login when you try to view the full text of an article. 
  An important point to be aware of : because of our merger with San Jose State University, both SJSU and SJPL articles can be searched in our new catalog.  You can't search both at the same time, so look for the "View: University Library | Public Library" settings right beneath the logo and make sure it is set to search the set of articles you can access.  As before, only SJSU students and faculty have home access to the full text of articles in the University collection; otherwise, visit King Library in person to see University articles. 
   
• Digital Images Search: Did you know the library has been scanning images from our historical collections and putting them online at http://digitalcollections.sjlibrary.org?  Well, now you can search these images in our new catalog without going to a seperate web site.  Just look at the top of the screen and select "Digital Collections", right between "Catalog" and "Articles".

Not ready to make the switch?  Don't worry, our previous library catalog is still available as the "Classic Catalog" - look for the link at the bottom of the screen in the new system.  "My Account" is also unchanged and can be accessed from either version of the catalog - just first select the "Login" link in the new catalog and enter your library card and PIN number.

Give the new system a try and please let us know what you think!

Sometimes I find it difficult to find yearly car reviews in Consumer Reports in our Ebsco database.

With this direct link to Consumer Reports it's easy. From the Consumer Reports link, I first click on 2011 and then click on the April issue (Vol. 76 Issue 4 - Apr2011)

After clicking on the April link I see Consumer Reports " Top Picks," "Best and Worst," "Profiles," "Ratings," "Used Cars," "Safety," "Used Car Reliability," and "Reliability" history of new and used cars. Next I click on "PDF Full Text" to see the complete magazine article.

Note: You will first need to enter your library card and password to access Ebsco database.

New York based Actor and old movie afficianado, Steve Hayes, has been hosting a video blog for the past year all about the great old movies you may have never seen. 

His vlog, Tired Old Queen at the Movies, features one great movie a week.  Steve is really knowledgeable about the movie industry and all the Hollywood dish from back in the day and he shares all of it with you in a conversational style.   He's your friend who can tell you just which film to watch when you're in the mood for a film noir or a grand hollywood musical.

Recently, he shared one of Hitchcock's lesser known works, Stage Fright, starring Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman.  Once you hear what Steve has to say about it, you'll be sure to want to come to the Library and pick up a copy from our DVD collection. 

The Library has most of the over 55 movies he has profiled.