CLCD has added many new features over the past year, perhaps the least understood of which are those under the My CLCD tab. Imagine being able to view your last 50 Searches, not having to recreate Advanced Searches again and again, and saving titles to a themed list or lists. My CLCD lets users do that-and more! These are exciting features!

Under the My CLCD tab are Reading Lists, Saved Searches and Search History, are all clearly unique to an individual user. To access these features, each user must have his or her own custom space within CLCD, available only through logging in.

Any user coming to the database without having to login, i.e. through a public library, school, or university account, conveniently lands right on the CLCD search screen when they click the link to CLCD-but how do they access MY CLCD since they haven’t actually logged in to the database?

Easily, I’m happy to say! Those entering CLCD through a library database link see this screen:

All that’s needed is to create a personal account is a click on the orange My CLCD Account Login button on the upper right and create a personal My CLCD Account.

After clicking on My CLCD Account Login, a user sees the Existing User Login screen, displaying a Request Access orange button and some text outlining What is My CLCD? and a starred note for students.

It’s definitely worth reading the fine print here, as it states, “Upon Graduation from a subscribing institution you will have access to CLCD for a period of one year! We recommend you use your personal email account to take full advantage of this feature.”

All you students reading this remember that!

The Request Access button takes you to a screen asking for your First and Last Name, title (teacher, student, parent, etc.), Email, and Password. All starred items must be completed. Click the orange Save button, and that’s it! A confirming email will be sent and My CLCD will be accessible.

The two to three minutes spent to Request Access is definitely time well spent; for henceforth, that person using CLCD compliments of their school, library, or university can now click on that upper right orange My CLCD Account Login, sign in, and use the MY CLCD features.

• Search History allows the user to view their last 50 searches, re-execute a search, and view the filters and/or qualifiers used in a particular search.
  Knowing those details of the search can help in building a revised or updated Advanced Search.
• Saved Searches allows the user to save a search for an unlimited time, so you do not have to “recreate the wheel” again and again. Just check the box and click the orange SAVE button.
• My Reading List allows the creation and saving of multiple book lists, for use with students, faculty, parents, or children. Titles can be added to or removed from these lists and the lists may be downloaded, emailed, or printed.

Whether you access CLCD by logging in or through a library or school, My CLCD is of great value to you-be you a university professor, a college student, a middle school science teacher, an youth services librarian, a reading coach, a Special Needs Resource Person, and on and on. The ability to re-do a search recently done, save searches, and create and modify reading lists allows true differentiation for students, patrons, and class assignments. What a great tool!