About Systems |  Remote access to online databases | MeLCat | Tutor Me!
After Hours Answers |  Library Catalog |  Advanced Library Catalog Features
Overdue/Hold Notification Methods |  Phone and Online Renewals | Free Internet access from home
 

About Systems

The systems department manages the computers, library catalog, local area network, Internet connection, Metro Net accounts, other online services and the web-site for the library.  Some special services of the department include management of Metro Net Internet accounts, e-mail programs, online database setup, technical support for MeLCat, the library catalog, remote access to on-line databases, After Hours Answers, Tutor Me! and in-house PCs.
 

Access our Online Databases from your home, office or school!

The BTPL online databases are available if you connect to the Internet at home, the office, school, another library, if are using a Metro Net account, or any other Internet Service provider.  Access to most of the library's online databases is available to residents and people who are employed in Bloomfield Township.  You must have an active library card to access the databases.

Links to the online databases go through the library's "proxy server." A proxy server is a computer program that masks off-site computer connections so that the connecting database services "think" the connection is actually originating from the library.  The library's proxy server doesn't require you to set up anything on your computer.
 

MeLCat

The statewide library borrowing system, InMich, will soon become MeLCat.
MeLCat goes live at noon on Monday Jan. 10, 2005

If you can't find an item in BTPL's catalog, try searching for the item in MeLCat.  If you find the item, you can request the item for delivery within a week. MelCat is a statewide interlibrary loan program comprised of many Michigan libraries.

Tutor Me!

Connect to real tutors online for assistance with math, science, social studies and english homework, for grades 4th through 12th. Click on the Got Homework? icon between 3 p.m. to Midnight, 7 days a week for live homework help.

After Hours Answers

Need reference help after the library is closed? Try our After-Hours Answers service to connect to a live librarian after the library is closed. Librarians will answer your reference questions in an online chat session from your home or office computer.

BTPL's Innopac Millennium Library Catalog

The library's online catalog system, Innopac, utilizes a sophisticated, client-server architecture with a Unix-based server and Java-based thin clients. The Innopac library catalog is searchable with any web browser, from Windows, Unix, Linux or Mac OS systems, to search the catalog over the Internet from home or the office.

Some user-friendly features of Innopac include:

• An easy-to-use public catalog. Besides easy-to-understand-and-use search functions, Innopac's public catalog lets you find authors through automatic reverse name look-up; ignore "a," "an" or "the" in titles; use a synonym table to catch common misspellings; and use a browse list instead of responding with "no hits found."
• Library-friendly language
• A link to Britannica Online, to look up definitions and terms while searching the library catalog
• Detailed magazine issue information
• Access to our online subscription databases from your home Internet service (i.e. AOL, Earthlink, etc.)
• Records and links to our netLibrary e-book collection

New library catalog features coming soon:

• A keyword searchable community information system
• Meeting Room management
   

Tips for Library Catalog Advanced Features

Library Catalog Tips:  Save your favorite searches
This feature allows you to permanently save your search for all items by, for example, director, author, subject or material type.  Here's how:

• Sign on at "View Your Record" at www.btpl.org.
• Click on "Search Catalog."
• Enter your favorite search (such as author "Osborne, Mary," call number "DVD" or subject "love stories").
• Press "submit."
• Limit your search to AV, Youth, Adult or E-book collection, if desired.
• On the results screen click on "Save Search."
• Click the "Patron Record" button to see a new "Preferred Searches" button where your favorite searches are saved.
• Be sure to "LOG OUT" when you're finished, so others cannot get into your record.

Would you like the library to notify you when we order new books or videos that might interest you?
Wouldn't it be convenient to be able to place holds on titles right after they are ordered? (Except rentals and feature videos and DVDs, of course) Would you like to get a personalized list of new orders to look over, every month? Try our new E-mail Alerts!

Library Catalog Tips:  Save your favorite searchesPlace holds quickly
To place holds on several items quickly and easily:

• Sign on to your record at "View Your Record" at www.btpl.org.
• Click on "Search Catalog."
• As you find the items you want to hold, click on "Place Hold" as usual. You'll find that you don't have to enter your name and bar code every time!
• Be sure to "LOG OUT" when you are finished placing holds, so others cannot get into your record.
   

Overdue/Hold Notification Methods

Telephone Notification
The library offers three methods of notifying borrowers of overdue items and holds that are ready to be picked up.  By e-mail, telephone and print notification.  If you don't have an e-mail address, we'll call you at your home number so that you'll be able to pick up your holds the day after they arrive.  For more details, visit the Telephone Notification page.

Phone and Online Renewals

Interactive Touch Tone Phone Renewals and Account Information
Try our phone renewal system!  Just as you can renew prescriptions by calling the pharmacy, you can now call the library to renew your books 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.  The system will also give you a list of current holds, fines and the items you have checked out. A computerized voice will tell you the specific titles and due dates of your checkouts. To renew items, have your library card and books ready, and call 593-4919 to try it out.  Enter your library card and book barcodes through the touch tone keypad on your phone. The system will renew the books interactively and tell you the new due dates, or it will indicate that the book cannot be renewed because of a hold. Call 593-4919 and give it a try!

On-line Renewals 24/7
Online renewals are fast and easy, and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week over the Internet through the library catalog.

To renew items, click on the "View Your Record" button on the left side the page. Enter your name and the barcode from your library card.  Click on "items currently checked out", then check the items you want to renew.  Last, click on the "renew selected items" button. Eligible items will be renewed immediately, and the new due date will appear on the screen.  The catalog will give you a message about items that are not eligible for renewal.

Free Internet Access from Home

Did you know that the library extends its Internet access to your home or local office?  Not only does the library have many computers with Internet access at the library, it also has a dial-up modem pool so BTPL patrons can connect to the Internet from their homes and offices for free, using the library's free Metro Net Internet Service. To apply for an account, go to the Account Information page for details, policies and a printable application. Applications are also available at the Adult Services and Circulation desks at the library.