Beyond the Spectrum

Library

BTS Library Catalog in LibraryThing

~ Training For Staff ~

What is LibraryThing?

LibraryThing is an online tool that catalogs book collections. BTS has an account. Anyone can go to the BTS Catalog page and see the books we own with descriptions and where they are located in the Library. An account is not needed to just look at the books. Just go to http://librarything.com/catalog/bts_library

Instructions for BTS Staff

Authorized staff can log in to the BTS Account (get the ID and password from the Librarian.)

Please remember that if you are logged in to the BTS_Library account, your editing affects the whole school Library collection. Be careful!

The Dashboard

1. Checking books in and out

Search for books by topic, author, title, or tags…

For ex: History

From a list of books, clicking on the Pencil

icon…

… takes you to the book’s editing page:

Scroll down to the “Private

Comments” field…

And type in “Checked out to [Patron’s ID] – Due

[date]”

… and then click SAVE.

When the book is returned…

… delete the “Checked Out to – Due –” message from Private Comments and then SAVE.

2. Managing your collections

These are the existing collections:

Creating your own collection:

You can create a new collection in EDIT COLLECTIONS.

Then you can go to a book’s EDIT page (pencil icon) and add the book to that collection.

Note that the collection “Your Library” is the whole Library’s collection. Do not remove books from this collection.

3. Tag... You’re It!

Tags allow you to describe the content of the book.

Books already include tags assigned by the Librarian.

Double click on the TAGS box to add your own tags.

Remember that tags are searchable.

IMPORTANT: The first tag is always a number. DO NOT delete this number as it’s an inventory control for the Library. Your tags will be added at the end.

Summary Clicking on the Pencil icon of a book allows you to edit it.

After any change, click the Save button.

Add notes in the Private Comments to check in and out books.

Place specific books in special Collections when you need it.

Tag books with descriptive words that will help your students find them by searching with that term.

Make sure not to change any other information entered by the Librarian. Adding or withdrawing books will be done by the Librarian. You can type a note in the Private Comments if you need to make an observation, such as “Lost” or “Damaged.”

Let the reading begin!

Tutorial created by A/K/L (BTS Librarian.)Updated August 2013.

Screen captures from LibraryThing.com