Encore @your Library

Meet the new Library catalogue!

Visit search.tbpl.ca to begin, or start at our home page and navigate from there. Instead of the old look – and let’s be frank, it was a bit dated! – we now have have a simple search page that looks a lot more like the searches you’re used to doing online. Other features of the main page include Login to access your Library card, my Cart to start building a list of Library materials, and a quick link to see what has been newly added to the Library’s collections. To Login to your Library card from Encore, just enter your barcode and PIN as you do in the classic catalogue. All the same functions are available: check your holds and due dates, review your Reading List, update your Preferred Searches, and more. For more details about navigating your Library account through Encore, speak with Library staff at any branch or visit tbpl.ca/encore for further instructions.

The classic catalogue defaults to searching for items by Title, which meant that typing in J K Rowling would result in a list of books about the Harry Potter author instead of books by her. The new catalogue will still start with those books about Rowling, but then continue to list all the books she has written and books about her writing. This is because Encore, by default, searches all terms as keywords: it looks for Rowling in every possible field, including author, title, and subject.  You can also search for authors without having to remember the ‘last name followed by first’ rule or worrying about capitalizations. Just enter J k rOWlinG in any way you wish!

After clicking the little arrow or pressing Enter to start your search, you’ll visit our new Results page. Again, it looks very different without the electric blue highlights and old icon buttons! Encore lowers the difficulty level of navigating search results with a handy column running down the left side of your results listing all the available filters. Labeled “Refine By,” this column lets you select check boxes to limit your results with one click. Start with Availability and click In Library to see only those materials that are currently on the shelf. Want to see books by Rowling, but not any about her? The next category asks Found In and lets you choose between the title, author, or subject field. Next filter down is Format. Looking for audiobooks? DVDs? Or simply the print books? Again, one click will refresh your results and give you exactly what you want. Other available and easily accessible filters include Location, Language, and Collection. Authors like James Patterson who write for many different audiences can make for a very complicated list of search results. However, if you are at our Brodie Library branch with an eager young fan, you can find the titles available at that location and for that age level in just one click by selecting Brodie children under the Location filter after entering your initial James Patterson search.

Each filter you select with appear at the top of the Refine By column with an X beside it. Want to remove one of your filters? Just click on the X to remove that filter and your search will refresh with the new parameters. Want to return to the complete list of items available at all branches? Click on Clear all to see your original search results.

Other functions may have new names, but work just as they did in the classic catalogue. Click on Request It to place your hold, and the shopping basket under Additional Actions to add to your book cart. You can also email yourself the item’s record directly by clicking on the email icon under Additional Actions.

We hope you enjoy the new features and simpler interface of Encore. For more instruction on using Encore’s different filters and navigating the new catalogue’s searches, visit tbpl.ca/encore or just visit any Library branch for an in-person tutorial.