Edith B. Siegrist Vermillion Public Library

How to use the online catalog

The OPAC homepage allows you to search for items in the catalog, log into your Vermillion Public Library account, and view items recently added to our collection.

Clicking the person icon in the top right corner will allow you to sign into your VPL account. 

 

Your username will be the 14 digit number on the back of your library card (don’t enter any spaces or special characters).

 

Your password will be your last name in all lowercase letters. 

After you’ve successfully logged in, it will bring you to your account dashboard. Here, you can view any items you have checked out, items you have on the pickup shelf, and items you currently have on reserve. 

 

It does give you the option to renew items if they are eligible. (Our auto-renew policy will automatically renew items up to 2 times as long as no reserves are placed on them.)

There are several tabs on your dashboard that give you access to various information about your account. 

 

  • FinesThis tab will show any fines or fees associated with your account (remember – we are a fine free library now so any charges on your account are most likely from lost materials!). 
  • My Lists: This tab will show any lists you have created, such as a “To Be Read” list for books you want to read. 
  • WatchingThis tab is where you will keep track of any authors, subjects, or series you would like to watch out for. You have the option to turn on notifications if anything is added to our collection that meets your criteria. 
  • Account: This tab gives you access to all of your account information.
    • Here you can view your contact information (such as email and phone number) as well as your notification preferences for both email and text messages (if you have that enabled).
  • History: This tab shows your checkout history for your account, including titles, authors, and checkout dates. 

 

In the top left corner of the screen, there’s an icon with 3 horizontal bars. Clicking this menu will open up a few other pages. The notable tabs are:

  • Trending: This will open up a page with a list of recently trending items in our collection.
  • Just Added: This page is a more in-depth version of what’s on the home page. It lists and gives a description for all of the new items added to our collection.
  • Lists: In this page, it will show specially curated lists from VPL staff on a variety of different subjects. Make sure to check back to see if any new ones have been added!

The “Advanced Search” feature is now located in the side menu. Click on this tab to open up the advanced search page.

The advanced search feature allows you to search for more specific items in our collection. You can select the material type, age group, physical location in the library, and status (available). 

 

Clicking on the “Keyword” option will open up a menu that allows you to search for items by keyword, title, author, subject, series title, copyright, call number, ISBN, ISSN, or donor. 

 

The plus icon to the right of the search bar allows you to add multiple search terms to your query. 

After you’ve found an item you might want, there is an option to “Reserve” the item. It will pop up with a description of the item and will ask you to click “Reserve” once more to make sure it’s the item you want. 

 

You have the option to “Save For Later” where it will save the item to your account where you can check back on it later and decide if you want it. 

 

The “Notify” option will open up a panel with various tags associated with the item that you can click on so you can be notified of any new items added to our collection that fit the description. 

If you still have questions after looking over these instructions (or you have a question about something we didn’t mention!) – give us a call at 605.677.7060 or stop by the front desk and we’d be happy to help!