Privacy Settings in OPL’s New Catalog

The Oakland Public Library's new catalog has several ways to share with your community online. However, what you share is up to you. 

Always Private 

• Your Borrowing information (Checked Out, On Hold, and Fees) is always private.  
• Your Account information (name, address, email, phone) is always private. 
• Your library card number and password/PIN are always private. 
• Your Private Notes and Personal Tags for any title will always be private. 

Private, But You Can Make Them Public 

These items are private by default, but you have the option to make them public. 

• My Shelves/My Collections – Completed, In Progress, For Later 
• Activity Feed 
• Lists -- when publishing a list, you can choose to share the list or keep it visible only to you. 

Always Public 

On catalog records (identified by username only): 

• Comments 
• Quotes 
• Similar Titles 
• Notices 
• Age Suitability 
• Summaries 
• Notices 
• Videos 

If you don’t want your username to show up anywhere, don't add any of these things to a catalog record.  

Changing Your Privacy Settings 

My Account 

In the Log In/My OPL box, select My Settings. 

Under Privacy, follow the links for My Shelves and My Feeds and choose your settings. 

Lists 

If you are making a list, you can make the list private or public. When you are finished editing a list, choose "Only me" or "Everyone" from the "Who can see your list?" menu. 

You can also make individual items private. Go to your Completed Shelf (or any other shelf, wherever the item is) and select Add Details to the right of the item to be edited. In the dropdown list of options, check "Keep this item private". 

In the Catalog 

If you keep your shelves private, you can make individual titles visible when you rate or comment on them.