My Account: Here's Your Scoreboard for AE Services

This month we are going to take a look at your "My Account" page here at AE. Everyone is entitled to one. Access comes by signing up for any level of membership, including free, and then logging in. If you are not a member, just click here to sign up for a free membership (or click the "Become a member" link at the top of the page).

Your My Account page is not so much a service as it is a control panel and scoreboard for the AE services you use. Now, we know many readers aren't taking advantage of these services. However, they are mainly free, or come along with other services to which you may already subscribe. You might as well use them, because they can help collectors and booksellers alike find material and save money. They can also save you an enormous amount of time. So, go ahead.

Once you log in, click the "My Account" link at the top right of the page. You will reach a page with neatly arranged boxes of columns and rows with information about your account. If you have just signed up, the columns will be filled with zeroes, but after you have begun using the services, the boxes will look more like the one displayed on this page.

Starting from the top of the left column, the first box is:

My Account Status - This box simply tells you about your account. For more details, and to change data about your account, just click on "My Account Status."

AE Services - This tells you the number of listings you have in various paid subscriber services (assuming you are a paid subscriber). Web Catalogues is a service for tracking a collection online. AE Footnotes is a service which allows you to create an online file of listings from the AE Database and attach it to an online "for sale" or bibliographic listing as a Footnote. Books for Sale shows the number of listings booksellers who participate in AE's Books for Sale program have posted at the moment.

Records Tracking - This service allows you to bookmark any books you find listed in searches on this site, whether at auction, in Books for Sale, or in the AE Database. Auctions and Books for Sale searches are accessible by free members, while the AED requires a subscription. Let's say you find a book with which you are unfamiliar and want to remember it for future reference. The results page for all searches contains a "track record" link at the top of the page. Just select the books you want to remember, click "track records," and the record is saved. Then go to your My Account page later on to retrieve the record. This is much better than writing the title down on a slip of paper, which you will never be able to find when you need it.

Along with retaining a record of the book, Records Tracking will let you know if a copy comes up at auction or in Books for Sale listings. If matches are showing, click "view now" to see them.

Title Matches (MatchMaker) - This box (and Keyword Matches) show matches received from MatchMaker. MatchMaker goes out and searches various sites for newly listed books everyday. Free members will receive listings of new matches at over 150 auction houses around the world as well as AE's Books for Sale. Subscribers at the Octavo or Folio level will also receive matches from various outside sites, such as AbeBooks and eBay. All you need to do is click "Add Title" to enter a title you want to find (or go to the MatchMaker page through the top toolbar link). Enter your title and/or author, and check for matches tomorrow.

Keyword Matches - This is the second part of MatchMaker. Here, instead of entering titles or authors you seek, you can enter topics or other terms of interest. This box will show how many matches you have in total, and how many new ones.

You can read more about MatchMaker by clicking here.

Auction Searches - This tells you how many auctions, and how many lots are being accessed right now when you conduct a search of upcoming auctions.

So, go ahead and sign up for a free (or premium) membership and try some of these out. Click here.