Getting Started with ClassWeb Plus
Contents

Introduction
ClassWeb Plus is an integrated cataloging tool that assists with the assignment of Library of Congress classification numbers for bibliographic content. ClassWeb Plus is accessed over the Internet using a standard Web browser and is kept up-to-date with the latest LC classification and authority data.  In addition to extensive cross referencing thoughout the system, there are links to external library OPACs.  You can configure your ClassWeb Plus account to select from a list of pre-defined OPACs as well as set up a custom link to an OPAC that is not already in the list.

Help
Most pages in ClassWeb Plus have a help link or button that will take you to the on-line documentation for that area of the system. In addition, most links and buttons in ClassWeb Plus have a short help message that pops up when you hold your mouse over the link or button.

Navigation
All ClassWeb Plus pages have a banner at the top with common navigation links. In the help system, it looks like this:

Navigation menu
Click on this icon to see a dropdown menu of general site navigation options.

Page title
When you click on a page title, you will be taken one level up in the help system.

Logging In
There are three ways of logging into ClassWeb Plus:

Manual Login
Most of the ClassWeb Plus menus are configured for manual login. If you send a request to the server and you are not already logged in, you will be prompted for a "Login name" and "Password".

Each account may have up to three passwords: a regular password which has administrative privileges (the ability to update your account settings and create local notes), an editor's password (with the ability to edit local notes but not account settings) and a read-only password (which provides read-only access to your account). A new account only has an administrative password. You can add the other two passwords on the account settings page, under the Login tab. Because each of the three passwords has to be different, the password you use during login determines whether you have administrative, editing or read-only permissions.

By selecting the Save your user name on this computer check-box, the system will save your login name on your computer using a web browser cookie. This option will cause the login name field to be filled in whenever you log in.

The only way to change the regular (administrative) password is through the login screen. If you check the Change password box when you log in, you will be prompted to change your regular (administrative) password.

If your institution has a fixed set of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, you can configure your account so that any computer within that range of IP addresses can be logged in automatically for read-only access. For instututions that do not have fixed IP addresses or do not want to allow automatic login for all computers within those IP addresses, you can still enable automatic read-only login on a computer-by-computer basis. See the next two sections for auto-login options.

Auto Login by IP Address
Auto login by IP Address can only be configured for computers that use one or more static (non-changing) IP addresses (for example, a campus that has been assigned a block of IP addresses for its computers). You configure this feature in your account settings (additional documentation).

Once your account is properly configured, use one of the Auto Login menus to access ClassWeb Plus. Your computer will be automatically logged in to your account with read-only access privileges (the same as if you had manually logged in with the read-only password). Users that log in automatically cannot update account preferences or edit local notes. Even if you configure your account to allow auto login, you can still use the regular Manual Login menus to login with a password in order to have administrative privileges.

Auto Login by Registered Computers
In addition to automatic login by IP address, you can configure your account so that individual computers can be registered to automatically login for read-only access. This is useful for institutions that don't have static IP addresses and for situations where computers are being used outside of your usual network (i.e. off site).

This procedure has the benefit that individual computers (once configured) can use the Auto Login menus to log into your account as a read-only user without having to be at a particular IP address. In addition, once a computer is registered, no login credentials are needed to use ClassWeb Plus.

First, you must enable this feature for your account (if you haven't already) using the Settings link found on the drop-down menu at the top-left corner of every page. From the Settings Menu click on Account Settings and select the Login tab and then select the option that reads: Enable automatic login by registered computers. If the box was already checked, leave the page without saving any changes. If the box was not checked, check it and save your changes with the Save button in the upper-right corner of the settings page. In checking the box and saving your preferences, a unique registration number will be assigned to your account that will be used to auto-login registered computers.

Next, for each computer you want to register, use that computer to manually log into ClassWeb Plus with any working password (administrative, editor or read-only). Use any of the Manual Login menus and when you are asked to log in, make sure you have checked the box Register this computer for auto-login prior to clicking on Sign in. This will store your account's unique registration number as a permanent cookie on that computer and will allow that computer to login automatically via the Auto Login Menu. Once you have completed this initial registration step, log out. From this point forward, users of that computer should access the Auto Login Menu to get a read-only session. If they need editor or administrative access, they should use the Manual Login menus.

You can disable this feature on an individual computer via a manual login in which the Unregister this computer for auto-login checkbox is checked. To disable this feature for your entire account, go to your account settings page and on the Login tab uncheck the Enable automatic login by registered computers box and click Save in the upper-right corner. The next time you enable this feature, a new registration number will be created to identify your account and all previously registered computers will need to be re-registered via manual login to receive the new registration number.

Logging Out
It is always a good idea to log out of ClassWeb Plus when you are finished for both security reasons and to release your session for someone else at your institution. All sessions automatically time-out (expire) after one hour of inactivity, effectively logging you out. For solo-user accounts that have a monthly time limitation, you are not penalized if you forget to log out -- the length of your session is based on the last request you submit.

Although you might have more than one ClassWeb Plus window open on your computer, once you have logged out from any of them, you will be logged out of the server -- you don't have to log out of each window.  Also note that closing a window does not log you out of the server. Neither does exiting your browser or turning off your computer. If you return to ClassWeb Plus within an hour, you will still be logged in unless you clicked on the Sign out link.

Click on the the nagivation menu button on any screen and the last item in the list will always be Sign out.i Here is an example of the navigation menu in the classification browser:

Account Settings
To modify your account settings, click on the Settings link on the Navigation Menu at the top-left corner of every page. For example:

From the Settings Menu click on Account Settings. These settings affect everyone who logs in to your account. Some of these options (like the number of records to return on the search screens) can be overridden but the values on your preferences screen is the starting or default value for that option. For more information, please visit the Account Settings help page.

Pass-through Options
Many of the options that you select on a given ClassWeb Plus page (like the number of records to return at a time and which classification subsets you are using) are passed from screen to screen as you navigate through the system. To reset these values to the defaults for your account, return to any menu and proceed from there. Note that this will only affect the current window or browser tab and that any additional windows or tabs that you have open will continue to use their existing settings.

Bookmarks
Because of the way ClassWeb Plus passes information between your web browser and the server, you can bookmark most of the web pages returned to you in order to return to that exact location in the future. ClassWeb Plus also includes a bookmark making tool to assist you in making bookmarks for starting the LC Classification browse or search screens in different configurations. This is accessed through the Bookmarks link in the LC Classification section of the the main menu.

Web Browser Requirements
ClassWeb Plus supports recent versions of most major web browsers except Microsoft Internet Explorer (MSIE). MSIE is not being actively improved by Microsft and it cannot run the newer web technologies that ClassWeb Plus relies on to improve your end-user experience. Microsoft has replaced MSIE with their Edge browser which is installed as part of Windows 10. This browser does work with ClassWeb Plus.

The following web browsers have been successfully tested with ClassWeb Plus: Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey.

Important: JavaScript, cookies and style sheet support are all required to use this site. Please make sure these features are enabled in your web browser.

Cookies
ClassWeb Plus uses web browser cookies to identify you after you have logged in and to keep track of certain preferences. These cookies are stored on your computer. You are free to remove these cookies if you are not logged into ClassWeb Plus but it is very important that nothing interferes with these cookies during an active session.

Unicode
ClassWeb Plus supports the full range of characters available in the Unicode display. While vernacular language data will be added to areas of the classification database over time, any records that include diacritics will display in a more visually pleasing manner when using Unicode.

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