Last revised: June, 2011
My Account in the Catalog
Scope: This web page explains how to use the my account feature of the University of Maryland Libraries' Catalog. If you have questions regarding the content of this page, please contact User Education Services at libues[at]umd.edu.
Table of Contents
What is 'my account'?
My account is a service available to current University System of Maryland and Affiliated Institutions (USMAI) registered users, including students, faculty, staff, alumni, Friends of the Libraries, and Special Borrowers.
My account provides access to your personal library account, where you can:
- See which items you have checked out and when they are due.
- Renew books online and view your list of requests from other USMAI libraries.
- Save or e-mail search results from the Libraries' Catalog.
Sign in to 'my account'
- First, go to the Libraries' home page.
- Beneath the word, 'FIND,' click on Renew / check due dates in my account. Alternatively, whenever you are in the library catalog you will see the link for 'my account' in the top right corner.
- Select University of Maryland, College Park as your campus affiliation.
- Select your group, either Students, Faculty and Staff or All Others.
- Enter your UM directory ID and password. Click Log in.
- Important: Verify your contact information. To update, call Circulation at (301) 405-9046.
Check due dates and renew books online
- After logging in to my account, under the heading Activities, click on Items borrowed / renewals.
- The books that you have borrowed are sorted by due date.
- To renew a book, click in the checkbox to the left of the title, then click “renew selected.”
- To renew multiple items, click on the yellow buttons “renew all” or click the boxes to the left of the desired items and then click “renew selected.”
- Review your list of borrowed items to verify the new due dates.
Monitor status of requested items
- After logging in to my account, under the heading Activities, click on Requests.
- Your material is ready to be picked up if it says “on hold until: (date)” in the status field. (Note: you will also have received an email giving you that information).
- You may cancel a request if an item is still “in process.” Click on the number beside the title and delete.
Save recent search information
- Log in to my account before you begin to search the Catalog.
- Conduct your search. For future reference, click recent searches at the top of the page on the yellow toolbar.
- Select the search(es) you want to save. Click add to saved searches.
- To retrieve saved searches, log in to my account and click saved searches at the top right of the screen.
- Select a search strategy and click view to see the results.
Save catalog records
- Log in to my account before you begin to search the Catalog.
- Conduct your search. On the results screen, click on the underlined title for the full view of the Catalog record.
- On the Full View of Record screen, click on add to my saved items.
- To retrieve saved Catalog records, log in to my account and click saved items at the top right of the screen. At the next screen you can download/e-mail or delete items.
Important!
- The items placed under saved searches and saved items remain in my account from session to session. You decide which items to save, delete or e-mail.
- If you don't log in, items saved under recent searches and saved items are temporary.
Save/e-mail Catalog records in my account
- Sign in to my account before you begin to search.
- Conduct your search.
- On the results screen, click on the underlined title of the item in order to view the Full View of Record.
- On the Full View of Record screen, click on save/e-mail.
To e-mail a record:
- Enter your e-mail address.
- Choose your preferred format: citation, full view, brief view, etc.
- Click send.
To save to disk using Internet Explorer:
- Leave the e-mail address blank.
- Choose your preferred format: citation, full view, brief view, etc. Click send.
- Click confirm to save the file to a PC, a disk, flash drive, etc.
- In the Internet Explorer File Download window, select save.
- Choose where you'd like to save the file AND change the file extension from .sav to .doc or .txt.
- Click save.
To save to disk using Mozilla Firefox:
- Leave the e-mail address blank.
- Choose your preferred format: citation, full view, brief view, etc. Click send.
- Click confirm to save the file to a PC, a disk, a flash drive, etc.
- Save to Disk should be preselected. Click OK.
- A download box will appear. Click on open next to your record. Typically, it will be first on the list.
- Select the program from a list, if it is not already preselected. Click OK.
- Choose Microsoft Office Word and click OK.
- Your record will appear as a Word document. Save your file as appropriate. Click on File > Save As … > Save in… > My Computer > Flash Drive (E:).
Note: One peculiarity of this browser is that you will need to save your record as an MS Word document before you can save it to your PC, disk, flash drive, etc.
End your my account session!
- Remember to click on end session (upper right) before walking away from a public computer.
- A warning message will appear: Ending the session will empty the basket and erase recent searches. Click okay.
Have questions?
- Ask library staff for help.
- Even when closed, librarians can answer your questions through the 24/7 Ask Us Now! service.
