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HOWARD COUNTY LIBRARY INTRODUCES NEW CATALOG

To continue providing its unparalleled level of customer service, Howard County Library will launch a new catalog system on June 30, 2010. The new system, Polaris, will assist customers in managing account information and exploring the Library's collection of books, audiobooks, DVDs, CDs, magazines, and E-Resources.

Polaris will provide the following NEW features:

Ability to keep track of items borrowed,

Ability to maintain lists of searches or materials you plan to borrow,
Ability to save searches that generate email alerts when the Library has
purchased an item you would like to borrow,
Ability to retrieve forgotten passwords,
“Did you mean...?” suggestions if words are misspelled,
“Find more like this...” suggestions for works of fiction, non-fiction, and children's materials, and
Ability to search the catalog in Spanish and Korean.

Beginning June 21 through June 29, customers will experience a few changes as the Library migrates to the new catalog. Customers may continue borrowing items between June 25 and 29 with a library card or photo ID; however, no materials may be reserved or renewed during this time. Additionally, during this time, customers will not be able to login to their account. Any materials on hold for customers during the transition will remain so and their queue position will be maintained.

On June 30, the new catalog will be available, and customers will be able to it as usual, finding all of their account information. Customers who have created a user name will need to register in Polaris using their library card bar code number. Library specialists will provide assistance to anyone needing help to access their account.

We greatly appreciate patience during the transition time and look forward to providing a richer and more dynamic user experience to our customers.

For more information about Howard County Library, visit
hclibrary.org.

Tags: County, Howard, Library, Polaris, account, catalog, collection, materials, password