Search Catalogs

CW MARS logoBeaman Library is a member of the CW MARS (Central Western Massachusetts Automated Resource Sharing) consortium, giving you access to over nine million items from 183 libraries in Central and Western Massachusetts. You can search the library catalog, request items, renew materials, and more using your library card and pin number.

 

To search for items:

  • Open the Library Catalog.
  • Simply type your search in the bar at the top of the page and hit “Enter” or click “Search” to begin searching the catalog.
  • The catalog can handle common misspellings and typos. For example, “James Pattersson” will automatically return results for James Patterson, and “Berenstein Bears” returns results for Berenstain Bears.
  • It also utilizes search suggestions when typing in the search bar. After entering 4 or more characters, suggestions from the catalog will appear below in a drop down menu. Simply select your desired search term and the catalog will run the search!
  • For more details on how to search the catalog, refer to this Help Page on CW MARS.

Select a Specific Library Catalog

  • The catalog offers tailored experiences for each and every single library. To view your library’s catalog, navigate to Select a Catalog/Select Your Library, and choose your desired option.
  • Your library’s catalog has been specially designed for your library. Its theme is inspired by colors found at the library, and the catalog may offer content not found in the standard CW MARS catalog, such as local events and databases. Explore your library’s catalog to see what’s on offer!
  • Details such as the library’s website, location, hours, and contact information can also be found within your library’s catalog by clicking the hamburger (three line) menu in the top right.
  • You can still search collections across all CW MARS libraries. But, by using your library’s catalog, their items will be given priority in the search results, and you can quickly choose to search the full CW MARS collection or just your library’s from the top of the search results.

Browse Categories

  • Browse categories appear on the homepage of the catalog and offer a way to visually browse items in the library collection. They also allow libraries to highlight things like reading lists, new titles, staff picks, special collections, such as Library of Things, board games, and local history, and much more.
  • In addition to browse categories created by library staff, three personalized browse categories can appear as you use the catalog: Your Saved Searches, Your Lists, and Recommendations for You.
  • ‘Your Saved Searches’ appears once you have saved one or more searches to your account.
  • ‘Your Lists’ appears after creating your first list.
  • ‘Recommendations for You’ appears after you have rated your first title and will populate with content the catalog thinks you may like based on past ratings.

Saved Searches

  • Saved Searches is a tool that can be useful for tracking common searches you may check regularly.
  • For example, you are a big fan of James Patterson and are always looking for his newest book. You can run a search and add any filters you would like. For this example, let’s say you ran an Author search for James Patterson and added filters for “Fiction” and for “Added in the Last: Six Months”.
  • Once the search is set up as needed, click the ‘Search Tools’ button at the top of the search results and click ‘Save Search’.
  • A pop-up box will appear and ask for the name of your saved search. Name your saved search (for this example, we can name it “New James Patterson”) and click ‘Save’.
  • Once your search has been saved, a confirmation will appear.
  • Saved searches will appear in a custom Your Saved Searches browse category when you are logged in to the catalog. In the example above, you can use this browse category to visually browse the newest James Patterson fiction in the collection anytime you log in to the catalog moving forward.
  • Saved searches can be deleted by visiting Your Account > Your Searches and clicking Delete next to the specific saved search.
  • This can be useful for more general searches too, like one for new cookbooks, or one for new movies on blu-ray in particular. If you can create a search for it, you can save it!

Placing or Managing Holds on Physical Content

  • To request an item in Aspen, select ‘Place Hold’ on the right-hand side of the search results next to the desired format. Books will appear first, followed by other formats in alphabetical order. If placing a hold here, Aspen will choose the best record in the catalog based on availability and the number of copies on record.
  • If you are already signed in to your account, a pop-up will appear asking to confirm details such as pickup location, which volume is being requested if applicable, and contact information. If available, your email and default phone number will populate automatically. After reviewing the information and updating if necessary, click ‘Submit Hold Request’.
  • If you would like to receive a text notification when your hold is ready, you will need to check the box for “Yes, by text message”, and add your mobile carrier and mobile number to the appropriate fields.
  • If successful, a hold will be placed. If you are opted in to notifications, you will be notified when the item is available for pickup.
  • If you are not signed in when selecting ‘Place Hold’, the catalog will ask you to log in first, and then you can follow the process from above in order to place the hold.
  • If a hold fails, an error message will appear. If you are unsure why the hold failed, you may contact your library. Remember, holds can fail because of $10 or more in fines to an account, lost items, or because the library does not allow holds to be placed on that item, among other reasons.

When the item arrives at your chosen pick up location, you will be notified by email or phone. You will have 7 business days to pick up your item. If an item you have requested is no longer needed, please let us know.

Placing or Managing Holds on Digital Content

  • The catalog has integration with OverDrive/Libby so that when you select ‘Check Out’ or ‘Place Hold’ on content from these platforms, the actions occur almost immediately (if you are logged in). Checked out materials are available for viewing within pop-up readers in the catalog, or through OverDrive/Libby.
  • If placing a hold on eContent for the first time, a pop-up will appear and ask for an email address to send a notification when the hold is available. If you select the check box for ‘Remember these settings’, you will no longer see this pop-up when placing a hold.
  • If the hold is successful, a confirmation message will appear.
  • If you are logged in to your account and place a hold or check out a title successfully, a confirmation message will appear.
  • Once available, you can access your content either through the catalog in Your Account, in the Libby app, or at libbyapp.com.

For help accessing Libby, check out the CW MARS FAQ or reach out to your local library.

Canceling Holds

  • Go to Your Account > Titles on Hold.
  • You can cancel holds for physical materials as well as digital content on OverDrive/Libby. You must be logged in to the catalog to do this.
  • You can either use the cancel button on the right to cancel a specific hold, or use the ‘Cancel Selected’ or ‘Cancel All’ boxes in addition to selecting titles via the checkboxes to the left of the cover images.
  • Once you’ve click one of the Cancel buttons, a pop-up box will appear asking you to confirm. Click ‘Confirm Cancel Hold’.
  • After the hold has been cancelled, a success message will appear.

Suspending or Activating Holds

  • Go to Your Account > Titles on Hold.
  • You must be logged in to the catalog to do this.
  • Suspending Holds
    • You can either use the ‘Suspend Hold’ button on the right to suspend a specific hold, or use the ‘Suspend Selected’ or ‘Suspend All’ boxes in addition to selecting titles via the checkboxes to the left of the cover images.
    • Once you’ve clicked one of the suspend buttons, a pop-up box will appear. Within the pop-up, you may optionally choose a date for the hold to auotmatically activate. If a date is not entered, you can manually activate the hold when you are ready for it.
    • To finish suspending your hold, select ‘Suspend Hold’.
    • Once the hold has been suspended, a success message will appear.
  • Activating Holds
    • Scroll down to your Pending Holds. You can either use the ‘Activate Hold’ button on the right to activate a specific hold, or use the ‘Activate Selected’ or ‘Activate All’ boxes in addition to selecting titles via the checkboxes to the left of the cover images.
    • Once you’ve clicked one of the activate buttons, a pop-up box will appear while the system updates your hold.
    • Once the hold has been activated, a success message will appear.

Managing Your Account

You can log in to your online account to see what you have checked out, renew items online, view, cancel, or modify your holds, update your user name, password or email address, pay fines and more. The Your Online Account page will explain how to manage your account from home.

Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

Most of the items you would like to borrow will be available through the CW MARS system. If you are unable to locate an item in the catalog, we are happy to search for the item outside of the region. Please refer to the Interlibrary Loans page for more information.

E-Books & E-Audiobooks?

Libby CircleLearn all about downloading free eBooks or eAudiobooks to your digital device here.