Welcome to the Help page for the new East Brunswick Public Library Catalog.

Use the Catalog to:

• Find books, movies, music and more...
• See where items are located on the shelves and whether they are available.
• Find out when items are due back if they are checked out.
• Request an item that is checked out.
• Check your account to see what items you have checked out.
• Renew items that you have checked out.
• Suspend requests for items while you are on vacation.
• Check your personal account information.

Features of our new Catalog include:

• Contains book covers, tables of contents, books reviews, summaries and more... for selected titles just like the online bookstores.
• Simpler interface. Easier to use.
• Fewer connection problems via The Library's Web site, http://www.ebpl.org.
• More compatible with Web browsers.
  

Problems Connecting?

Which browsers work best with the new Library Catalog?

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 or later
• Netscape Navigator 6.1 or later
• Netscape Communicator 4.7 or later
• AOL browser works if TopSpeed accelerator is disabled
• Earthlink browser works if the accelerator is disabled
• Walmart browser does not work
• Safari works on a Mac if caching is disabled (or you can use IE or Netscape on Mac OS X)
• Opera works with specific settings
• Mozilla works with specific cache setting
• Firefox works with specific cache setting
• Galeon for Linux generally works but there may be some problems
• WebTV works with the basic Library Catalog features but not all features are available
• Third party web accelerators such as Topspeed or Propel cause problems with the Library Catalog.

I have an AOL or other Dial-up Internet and I can't place more than one request.

Some AOL users cannot place more than one hold in the Library Catalog without logging out and logging back into the Library Catalog.

• One possible solution to this problem is to use Internet Explorer (IE) or Netscape while you are using the Library Catalog. If you prefer, you can change back to your AOL browser when you are not using the Library Catalog.
• Check on the Start menu on your computer under Programs for Internet Explorer or check your desktop for an IE icon. (If you are using AOL dialup, after you start up your connection with AOL, minimize the AOL browser and open IE.)
• If you can't find IE, try the following:
  • Click on the Start menu.
  • Click on the Run command.
  • Enter iexplore.exe in the text box and click OK.
• Another possible solution is to turn off your Web Accelerator.

AOL 9.0 and the Topspeed Web Accelerator:

AOL 9.0 has a feature called TopSpeed, which uses web page caching to speed up Web surfing. (This means that the AOL browser stores a copy of web pages on your local PC and uses those pages instead of going back over the Internet to get a new page display. This speeds up or accelerates your Internet connection because it reduces traffic.) We believe it is TopSpeed that is causing the problem with placing holds.

• If you don't want to use Internet Explorer, we recommend that you turn off TopSpeed and clear the AOL browser cache.

The following instructions are from the AOL help screens on TopSpeed.
To turn off TopSpeed:

• Click Settings on the AOL Toolbar.
• Click Internet (Web) Options on the Essentials tab.
• Then clear the TopSpeed check box.
• To clear the AOL browser cache:
  • Click on either the AOL icon or the Dialer icon on the right of the system tray.
  • Click System Information.
  • Click the Utilities tab.
  • Click Clear Browser Cache.

This procedure clears both the TopSpeed cache and the Internet Explorer cache. However, clearing the Internet Explorer cache using the normal Internet Explorer method will not clear the TopSpeed cache.

If you can't find IE or Netscape on your computer, you can download them for no cost at

• http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1e
  1550cb-5e5d-48f5-b02b-20b602228de6&displaylang=en or
• http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp

I don't have AOL but I can't place more than one hold.

If you are using the Safari browser on an iMac, Earthlink, Walmart and other dialup Internet Connections you may have problems similar to the above AOL problem. These browsers have "accelerators" similar to AOL's which store (or cache) web pages on your local PC to speed up the connection. (Please read about AOL above, especially AOL 9.0 and TopSpeed.)

Mozilla/Firefox has the same problem with certain cache settings.

The accelerator or cache setting is most likely preventing your browser from getting a current display of the Library Catalog "place hold" screen so you cannot place more than one hold unless you logout and log back in to the Library Catalog.

• Possible solutions to this problem are to turn off/disable the web accelerator or web cache or
• to use Internet Explorer (IE) or Netscape while you are using the Library Catalog.

If you prefer, you can change back to your or other browser when you are not using the Library Catalog.

For Earthlink:

We have found that if you turn off the Accelerator on the Earthlink browser, the requests problem is solved. Or, after you start up your connection with Earthlink, minimize the Earthlink browser and look for Internet Explorer on your computer.

For Walmart:

It appears that the accelerator is built into the Walmart browser and can't be turned off. After you start up your connection with Walmart, minimize the Walmart browser and look for Internet Explorer on your computer.

For Safari on a Mac:

You can permanently disable the cache in Safari by doing the following:

• Go to Go/Applications on the Mac OS X toolbar.
• From within the Applications window, double click on the Utilities icon.
• Double click on the Terminal icon to open a Terminal window.
• At the prompt type: rm -r ~/Library/caches/safari/
• Then type: touch ~/Library/caches/safari
• This creates an empty file where Safari expects its cache to be and prevents it from caching any pages. We also have reports that Internet Explorer and Netscape work with the Library Catalog on a Mac.

For Mozilla:

You need to change the cache setting in Mozilla by doing following:

• Go to Edit/Preferences on the Mozilla toolbar.
• Click on Advanced, then Cache.
• Change the setting to "Compare the page every time"

For Firefox:

You need to change the cache settings in Firefox by doing the following:

• In the Location bar type: about:config
• Press Enter. Firefox will display a list of configuration settings.
• In the Filter box, type: cache
• You will see the configuration settings relating to the browser cache.
• Double-click on Browser.cache.doc_check_frequency
• Change the setting from 3 to 1.
• Click OK.

I have the Opera browser. Can I use the Library Catalog?

There are problems with some versions of Opera, e.g., you cannot login to the Library Catalog. Using the 7.51 version of Opera make the following change:

• Go to the Tools/Preferences menu,
• Click on Network and Identification,
• Then select "Identify as Mozilla 3.0", "Identify as Mozilla 4.78", or "Identify as Mozilla 5.0".

For Propel (a third party Internet accelerator):

Propel is a third party accelerator that speeds up your Internet connection. You can turn off Propel when you search the Library Catalog and turn it back on for other web sites.

Using Propel Accelerator - Disable/Enable Propel Accelerator (from the Propel web site)

 

When Propel Accelerator is enabled, this menu item will appear as Disable Propel Accelerator. When disabled, the menu item will appear as Enable Propel Accelerator. By default, Propel Accelerator is enabled, meaning that your Internet experience is accelerated. When you choose the Disable option, the Propel Acceleration Service will be bypassed and you will access the Internet at regular speed.

Note: Even if Propel Accelerator is disabled, the Propel Accelerator menu is still active. You can check performance or change settings in Options...

To completely inactivate Propel Accelerator:

• Choose Stop Propel Accelerator from the Windows Start menu:
• Programs -> {Propel Accelerator program group} -> Stop Propel Accelerator.

Other Dialup Internet connections - It is likely that these procedures will apply to other dialup Internet service providers that use web page caching/storage to speed up connections.

Why do I have a blank screen when I click on the link for the Library Catalog?

If you get a blank screen when you click on the link for the Library Catalog, it may be that you do not have JavaScript enabled on your browser. Use one of the following links to help you enable JavaScript.

Configuring Macs to run JavaScript:

http://www.info.apple.com/support/support_help.html#java

Internet Explorer and Netscape:

http://www.cs.biu.ac.il/home/computing/faq/browser_advanced.html

I have WebTV and the new Library Catalog is not working.

The new Library Catalog does not work well with WebTV because it requires a browser using JavaScript. The WebTV browser does not fully support JavaScript.

Not all of the characters in a title/author... are displaying in on my screen. They display as either an empty box or as another strange character.

The new Library Catalog is able to contain and display characters/diacritics for entries that contain non-Roman language characters. If you see an empty box or other character on the screen this usually means that you do not have the necessary fonts installed on your machine to view that character correctly. Try installing Arial Unicode MS font available from Microsoft. For more information about displaying non-Roman characters check Description of the Arial Unicode MS font in Word 2002 available on the Microsoft Web site.

Need additional help?

Please contact the Library Information Services Department at 732 -390-6767 for assistance.

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