FAQs on new library

There is no change to the way you log into the library.  

At the MyVA login screen, enter your registered email address or Vision Australia library ID (VAID) and your password.  

If you have forgotten your email address or password, you can reset them online from the Forgot password or Email? link or phone Vision Australia on 1300 877 466 for help.

If you try to log in but you are not registered with the library service, a message will tell you how to get assistance. 

You do not need to update your username or password as they have been carried over to the new system.

If you have forgotten your email address or password, you can reset them online from the Forgot password or Email? link or phone Vision Australia on 1300 877 466 for help. 

We have brought the history of your loans of books, music and braille items into the new system. Unfortunately, we could not transfer the loan history of periodical issues. 

All content that is being read live rather than from a download will re-set when we transfer from one system to another. The new system will not have any record of what page you had reached in the book you were reading, so unfortunately it will re-set to the start of the book. 

Yes, your reading preferences have been transferred into the new system.  

We have increased the number of categories available for you to include or exclude, so that you will get a better match with your reading preferences. There are now 16 categories and 232 sub-categories to choose from.  

We have matched the former categories to the new ones as closely as possible, but you may find that you are receiving some items that aren’t the right match for you.

If you want to get a better match for your reading needs, you can update your preferences yourself by choosing from the new categories and sub-categories. If you need help to do this, you can call us on 1300 877 466. 

There are two ways that you can use the reading categories to select library items that match your reading preferences: through doing an advanced search, and through setting up your preferences to automatically allocate library items to you.

You can select categories as part of an advanced search. First select a category from the drop-down categories list. Next, choose the sub-categories you prefer from the drop-down sub-categories list. There is no limit to the number of sub-categories you can choose for your advanced search. Once you’ve completed all the relevant search fields, hit the search button to retrieve library items in your chosen category.

If you want to set up categories for resources to be automatically allocated to you, you can under My Preferences.  

Go to the auto-allocation settings and then choose the Manage Profile allocation settings. Turn Profile Allocation on, using the Manage Profile allocation settings link.

Once this is done, return to Profile Allocation and you will be able to select your preferred categories and to set the number of titles to be automatically sent, and sex, language and violence options for your automatically allocated items. 

If you want to get a better match for your reading needs, you can update your preferences by choosing from the new categories and sub-categories, or call us on 1300 877 466 for help to do this.

The new system includes 16 categories and 232 sub-categories, and there are no limits on the number of categories you can choose. See the FAQ on “How do I set my reading categories” on how to set your categories as reading preferences.

Another way to improve your reading preferences is by including or excluding author preferences. You can choose to include or exclude up to 50 authors. To add, remove or change your author preferences, you need to call Vision Australia on 1300 877 466. 

There is no limit on the number of categories you can choose to include or exclude from your preferences. 

You can choose to include up to 50 authors and exclude up to 50 authors in your preferences.  

Yes, you can still have library books automatically chosen for you.  

If you already have automatic selection set up under My Preferences, you will be set up for auto-allocation in the new system.

If you haven’t used this option before and want to start, you need to set this up in the i-Access Library under My Preferences.

Select auto-allocation settings, and then set both profile allocation and request allocation to on. You must then choose the number of titles you want to receive (from one to 20) and save your choices.

The profile allocation section is broken up into three sections:

• Categories: where you can include or exclude to receive books from, based on your interests.
• Explicit content: where you can select to exclude sexual and violent content, and content with coarse language.
• Narrator and reading level: where you can change your reading level and set the narrator gender you wish to listen to, if required.

Once your auto-allocation preferences have been set, the online catalogue will find content that suits your preferences and automatically push this content to your Bookshelf and device if in use until the maximum limit of 20 books is reached.

If you need help setting up an auto-allocation, you can call us on 1300 877 466 for assistance. 

This may happen accidentally if you browse the catalogue and select your own books. If you are browsing for books to read and select something you’ve read before, there is no alert to tell you this.

We hope this will be a future enhancement to the library system. 

We have increased the number of categories and sub-categories available for you to select for your reading preferences.

If you already had preferences for auto-allocation set up, we have done our best to match those categories to the expanded list. Despite that, you may find that you are receiving some items that aren’t the right match for you.

If you want to get a better match for your reading needs, you can update your preferences by choosing from the expanded categories and sub-categories, or call us on 1300 877 466 for help to do this. 

We have moved your list of included and excluded authors to the new library system.

If you are not receiving books from the authors you selected, this may be because you have read all the books from an author that the library currently holds.

The problem may also be caused because of the way that authors’ names have been matched between the previous library system and the new one.  

In the new system, you can include up to 50 authors and exclude up to 50.

If you need to adjust your list of included and excluded authors, call us on 1300 877 466.  

Yes, your Bookshelf has moved across to the new system.  

We have transferred your Bookshelf into the new system except for items supplied by Bookshare rather than by the Vision Australia Library.

Our contract with Bookshare has now ceased so any Bookshare items that were on your Bookshelf will have disappeared.  

You cannot currently see physical embossed copies of braille titles on your Bookshelf, but we hope to make these available in the future. 

When you search for an item in the catalogue, each record in your search results will have an option to Add to Bookshelf, Add Request or Subscribe, depending on its format or type.

Find the search result with the format you prefer such as DAISY audio (human) or eBraille (downloadable).  

Use the Add to Bookshelf option located at the bottom of each search result. This will add the item to your Bookshelf.   

Yes, your Request List has been moved over to the new system. 

The Request List page shows the items you've saved to read later.

When you search for an item in the online catalogue, each record in your search results will have an option to Add to Bookshelf, Add Request or Subscribe, depending on its format or type.

Find the search result with the format you prefer such as DAISY audio (human) or eBraille (downloadable).  

Use the Add Request option located at the bottom of each search result. This will add the item to your Request List.  

If you have auto-allocation set up, items automatically move from your Request List to your Bookshelf when space becomes available. 

We have transferred your Request List into the new system, except for items supplied by Bookshare rather than by the Vision Australia Library.

Our contract with Bookshare has now ceased so any Bookshare items that were on your Request List will have disappeared.  

There is no change to the way you subscribe to a newspaper, magazine or podcast.

When you search for one of these items in the online catalogue, there will be a Subscribe option located at the bottom of the search result. This will add a subscription to the item to your library account.  

If you had periodical issues listed in your Bookshelf, unfortunately we have not been able to transfer these to your Bookshelf in the new system.  

Once the new system is live, the latest issue of any periodical you subscribe to will be sent to your Bookshelf.  

We were not able to bring all older issues of periodicals across to your new Bookshelf.

• For DAISY text periodicals, only the latest issue from July 1, 2024, will appear on your Bookshelf.
• For audio periodicals, only the latest issue from August 8, 2024, will appear on your Bookshelf.

If you had earlier issues on your Bookshelf, you would need to search for these and add them again.  

We can no longer offer Bookshare membership through the Vision Australia Library, as our contract with Bookshare has ceased.  

Any Bookshare items that you had on loan, on your Bookshelf or on your Request List will have disappeared.

If you want to continue to get access to Bookshare content, you will need to sign up for an individual Bookshare membership. You can do this by heading to the Bookshare website and following the steps below:

1. See if you qualify for Bookshare  
2. Select your subscription type (US $79.99 per annum for people living in Australia, correct as of July 1, 2024)  
3. Submit proof of your qualifying condition  
4. Complete your membership and pay.   

Search is available from the starting page each time you visit the i-Access Library, accessible through the MyVA portal.

You can search the library catalogue by entering the words you want to search for into the keyword search box and pressing the Enter key or activating the search button. 

You can also select the type of item you are searching for, such as Book.  

You can also select the format you would like to receive books in, such as all formats, braille or DAISY audio (human). By selecting the format here, you no longer have to select your preferred format in the search results.

If you cannot find what you are searching for in the catalogue, first check that you have spelled it correctly. Then try broadening your search by typing only one or two keywords that you know are in the title. If your title still cannot be found, it is possible that the title is not in our library collection. You can send an email to the library at [email protected] to recommend it for purchase.

If your search produces too many results and you want to narrow it down, try using advanced search. This is available as a link above the search button. 

You can browse for some types of library resources but not all.

Browsing without a keyword for books and either all formats or DAISY audio format will not work, because of the number of possible search results.  

You can browse without entering a keyword for all other type and format combinations. 

For more complex searches you can use the advanced search option. This will display additional search options and allow you to restrict your search to keywords, title, name (author or narrator), type, format or language.

You can also select a category you are interested in. Once you select a category, the relevant sub-categories will be displayed. All sub-categories are unticked by default, you need to tick the ones you are interested in. 

Formats available to choose from are all formats, braille, eBraille, DAISY full text (audio), DAISY audio (human) or DAISY audio (synthetic). Choose the options you want and select the Search option at the bottom right-hand corner of this screen.  

In both the search and advanced search pages, there is a format option with a drop-down list of available formats. Select the one you want from the list or choose all formats.  

You no longer have to select your preferred format in the search results. 

In both the search and advanced search pages, there is a type option with a drop-down list of available types. Select the one you want from the list or choose all types. 

In both search and advanced search, the name option will search across both authors and narrators. 

You can use the general search option for periodicals.

On the search page, use the type drop-down menu to select the type of periodical you want: magazine, newspaper or podcast.  

Use the format drop-down to select a specific format, if wanted. Click on the search button to start your search.  

Use the advanced search option to find titles in a language other than English (LOTE). There are 21 languages to choose from.  

To find titles in a particular language, click on the advanced search link.  

Enter your search terms and use the language drop-down list to limit the search to the language you want. You can then select the search button.  

Use the language drop-down list to choose the language you want and then click on the search button at the bottom of this screen. The results returned will be in the chosen language. These can then be added to your Bookshelf or Request List.  

Another way to find books in a language other than English is to use the advanced search categories. Select LOTE as the category and your preferred language as the sub-category. You can then browse through the library materials held in that language. 

All Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) titles are now searchable in advanced search. They are listed as categories that can be included or excluded when setting up your reading preferences.  

Choose the advanced search option, then select either the CBM or SDA category to see a list of the sub-categories. Tick the selected category and choose the format DAISY audio (human) to browse it. 

Bookshare titles are no longer available through Vision Australia Library. If you want to continue to access Bookshare titles, you will need to sign up for an individual Bookshare membership. You can do this by heading to the Bookshare website and following the steps below:

1. See if you qualify for Bookshare  
2. Select your Subscription type (US $79.99 per annum for people living in Australia, correct as of July 1, 2024)  
3. Submit proof of your qualifying condition  
4. Complete your membership and pay.   

When you conduct a search in the catalogue, the results will display with up to 10 records per screen. You can change this to 20 results per page using the results per page option in the top right corner of the results display.

The search results will display the title and author, along with a brief description of the item, which can be expanded to full view through a read more link.

Each individual search result will show the format (e.g. braille) in the bottom left corner. You no longer have to filter your search results by format.

It will also display buttons for you to Add to Bookshelf, Add Request or Subscribe, depending on what format is being displayed.

To see the full catalogue record of an item, click on the title. This takes you to an item details page. This gives additional information about the item such as publisher, publication date, language, content warnings, reading level and categories. From the item details screen, you can choose return to the previous page to go back to your search results screen. 

No changes have been made to the VA Connect app for library resources. All operations are still the same.