Library Catalog Search Made Easier
As a child, I visited the Chicago Public Library every week, checking out the maximum number of books I was allowed at a time. I’d hunt down any book I hadn’t yet read and browsed the shelves for well over an hour. It wasn’t uncommon to see me tugging my little wagon home, piled high with books.
Nowadays, I don’t visit the CPL as often as I used to. (I still have that old, old library card though!) But thanks to modern technology, when I do need to borrow a book, I don’t have to search high and low among the aisles for an extensive period of time. In fact, I can search the library without ever leaving home.
The Library has released a new and improved catalog search bookmarklet that is fully integrated its online catalog. (A bookmarklet is a small computer application that can be stored among your “Bookmarks” or “Favorites” in your web browser.) If you’re interested in a book that is mentioned anywhere online, just highlight the title, author, or ISBN with your mouse and click on the bookmarklet (saved as “CPL Catalog Look-Up”). In just seconds, you can find out if your local library has a copy of that book.
Best of all, it’s free. In these economically-troublesome times, that’s music to our ears. Download the bookmarklet here.
Photo credit: (c/o SXC) sanja gjenero
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