TechBits

Don't forget how to Logon to Windows

It's easy to forget about logging on to Windows! 

Here's a quick how to video:

http://youtu.be/xgnf5wADEEI

 

 

Spring Cleaning For Your SCLS Email Accounts

Have you ever looked at your library's email address listing on the SCLS Email Address Directory webpage, to make sure it is up-to-date?  If not, then take a quick look and see what needs to be changed.  This is important as other SCLS libraries may be trying to contact one of your fellow employees that left the library months ago.

If you have a staff person in need of a change:

1. Did the person recently start at the library and need an email account?  If so, then please fill out the New E-mail Account Request online form.


2. Did the person transfer to another SCLS library?  If so, then please fill out the Request an E-mail Name, Title or Library Change online form.  This will move their listing from your library to their new library.


3. Did the person leave SCLS all together?  If so, then please fill out the E-mail Account Deletion online form.  Please note that this will NOT delete the email on the PC.  For that you will need to call me at the Help Desk.

Freezing panes in Excel

I made peace with a monster spreadsheet recently with this tip to freeze the header row and column at the same time to keep them both visible while scrolling.

Place the cursor in a cell below and to the right of the row and column you want to freeze, then select View > Freeze Panes > Freeze Panes.

The header row and column stay frozen on screen alongside those far out cells after scrolling.

Thanks to Kerri for teaching me this tip just when I needed it!

Q & A about communications

I saw this request in one of the Library Visit reports:  "We would like to see a Communications tab or icon that links to everything - blogs, wikis, etc."

We have this!

On the main http://www.scls.info webpage, up near the top, there is a link to "Blogs, Wikis & More".

 

What will you find there? A list of links and descriptions for SCLS blogs and wikis, as well as links to Continuing Education recordings, the SCLS and LINKcat Facebook accounts, photo albums, and more!

Reference Questions?

Guest post by Jean Anderson

Many of you just finished working on your Annual report - and enjoyed it, I’m sure! One of the questions on the report deals with reference questions. How do you track this number in your library?

When I worked at the Sun Prairie Public Library, we used the survey method. Once a year, we’d track all questions asked at all the desks in the library. Then, we multiplied that number by 52 to get an estimate of the number of questions asked in a year. For more information on collecting reference statistics, check out the Reference section of the SCLS website.

I recently read an article in Computers in Libraries (December 2011 issue) called “I’ve seen the future, and it’s surprisingly cheap!” by Veronica Reynolds. In it she talks about using Google Forms to track reference questions. We’ve covered Google Forms for creating surveys in past TechBits posts:

TechBits: Thanks for taking the survey (2/2010)
TechBits: Happy Birthday TechBits (2/2010)
Wicked Cool: Creating web forms (9/2008)

Reynolds’ idea of creating a survey to track reference questions is genius - and she’s not the only one doing it. Another article in the October 2011 issue of Computers in Libraries covers the same topic in more depth and in an academic library.

The form Reynolds created is brief and takes only a few moments to answer all the questions. In addition to tracking the types of questions asked, Reynolds includes a field for additional information. This field can be used to track trends, what types of questions are being asked, what school projects are the students asking for, and more. The form can be customized to fit any library’s needs as shown in these articles by both academic and public librarians.

It’s easy to embed the form into your staff blog (if you have one) or keep the form open in a separate tab during the day. I can see using this for your reference statistics in two ways. First, staff can use it intensely during your survey week to get a weekly number and then multiply that number by 52 for your annual number of questions - no more paper forms and hash marks! Second, this is an easy way for library staff to know what’s being asked and share that information with their colleagues, provided staff has access to the spreadsheet created by the form.

I see this use of Google Forms being a great time-saver for libraries. It will take some time to create the form and tweak it so you’re getting the results you want. The time saved in the long run - no more paper forms to create, no hash marks to make, no transferring the paper forms into a spreadsheet - is worth the time spent in setting it up. Keep track of your reference transactions and see what’s being asked in your library with Google Forms - a simple and free tool.

Log off?…Lock Desktop?…Reboot PCs?

I hope all of you were able to read Jon Mark’s blog posting from February 15, 2012 entitled “Help SCLS with software updates by keeping your PCs on all the time” where he talked about new procedures with your PCs to help us give you updates faster.  In his blog he referenced our new page entitled “SCLS Network PCs - On, Off, or Locked?” where we talk about best practices for your PCs.  I have received numerous questions about some items and wanted to clarify what we mean and exactly how to do it.

Staff PCs should be logged off of Windows at night (Video)
When you see your desktop with all of your shortcuts that means that you are logged on to Windows.  In order to log off of Windows at night you will need to do the following steps:

1. Close all open applications
2. Press the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys (NOTE: All three keys must be pressed together.)
3. A window will open that has six buttons on it 
4. Click the Log Off… button
5. You will then see a window that says: “Are you sure you want to logoff?”
6. Click the Log Off button
7. Your PC will then begin the log off process
8. When it is done you will see a window that says: “Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to begin”
9. You are now logged off of Windows

In the morning, when you want to log onto Windows, you will need to do the following steps:

1. Press the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys (NOTE: All three keys must be pressed together.)
2. A window will open whose header says “Log On to Windows” 
3. Your User name should already be filled in
4. The cursor should be in the Password field
5. Enter your Windows password
6. Click the OK button
7. Your PC will then begin the log on process
8. Once you see your desktop you are now logged on to Windows

Please note that LINK patron PCs can NOT be logged off of Windows as they are set up to auto log in.  It is okay to leave LINK patron PCs logged on to Windows.

Don't "lock the desktop” AT NIGHT
Locking your desktop, sometimes called locking your workstation or locking your computer, prevents anyone from using your PC but your programs will remain running for quick access when you return to your computer.  If you have a staff PC that is in an area where there are patrons nearby it might be a good idea to do this to prevent tampering if you need to walk away from the PC.  To lock the desktop here are the steps:

1. Press the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys (NOTE: All three keys must be pressed together.)
2. A window will open that has six buttons on it 
3. Click the Lock Computer button
4. You will then see a window that says: “This computer is in use and has been locked.”
5. Your PC is now locked

When you return to your PC and want to unlock it use the following steps:

1. Press the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys (NOTE: All three keys must be pressed together.)
2. A window will open whose header says “Unlock Computer” 
3. Your User name should already be filled in
4. The cursor should be in the Password field
5. Enter your Windows password
6. Click the OK button
7. You will then be at your desktop in the state it was when you locked it

Staff PCs should be rebooted weekly to help prevent issues (Video)
Since you will be leaving all LINK staff PCs on all the time now it helps the PC if you reboot it once a week.  Here are the steps to do this:

1. Close all open applications
2. Press the Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys (NOTE: All three keys must be pressed together.)
3. A window will open that has six buttons on it 
4. Click the Shut Down… button
5. You will then see a window that says: “What do you want the computer to do?”
6. If the rectangular box says Restart then click the OK button
7. If you don’t see Restart then click in the rectangular box 
8. You then see a list of options
9. Choose Restart
10. Click the OK button
11. Your PC will then begin the restart process
12. When it is done you will see a window that says: “Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to begin”

If you have questions or concerns about anything in this post please feel free to call the Tech Help Desk at 242-4710.

Notice Printing and Firefox Profiles

I'm sure you all saw the January 31st News item on the ILS Support Home Page about libraries printing their own notices beginning on Monday, February 27th, 2012.  You may have also read Joanna's LINK 2.0 Koha Blog posting about this same topic and read that she had created instructions that outlined how to print your own notices.  In those instructions in step 7b under section 2 says: "Call the Tech Help Desk at 608-242-4710 if you'd like help setting up another profile."  I'd like to use this blog post to explain to you what this really entails and suggest a different solution.

Background for our use of Firefox profiles
When Koha became our ILS we needed an easy way for all of you to print receipts and spine labels.  So the ILS and Tech staff came up with the use of Firefox profiles to make these printing tasks much easier for you.  In order to make this work you first all needed to use the same spine label printer and the same few receipt printers.  Then we developed and installed the Firefox profiles and after that you no longer had to choose where you wanted a receipt printed or a where you wanted a spine label printed.  Firefox just knew and printed it.  This saves you precious seconds and allows you to work more efficiently.  But again this only works because you all are using the same few printers.

Notice printing and Firefox profiles
Profiles work well when there are a limited number of printers involved, but when you try to do the same with a multitude of different printers it becomes a lot more difficult and time-consuming.  Not all libraries have the same laser or ink jet printers, so essentially we would have to design a different Firefox profile for each library for each printer that they want to print notices on.  Woe to the library whose notice printer breaks down because now you can't print notices.  Not good!  So the best solution, albeit a manual one, is to turn off and on the headers and footers each time you print notices.  The online instructions for printing notices has already been updated to reflect this change.

To assist you in this manual process of turning off and on the headers and footers each time, please take a look at the pictures below.

After turning off the headers and footers it will look like this:

After turning the headers and footers back on it will look like this:


I hope I have explained this step of the notice printing so that you have a good understanding of it.  Happy notice printing!

Love those screenshots

I just learned how to take a screenshot on an iPod touch the other day (I know, I know--- better late than never, right?) On the off-chance that there are others like me out there who didn't have this handy information, here's the "411" on how to take screenshots from some common devices.

How to Grab Screenshots on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Simultaneously hold down the Home and Sleep/Wake buttons, then release them together. You'll find the resulting image in the Photos app --in the Camera Roll album on iPhone and in Saved Photos on iPad and iPod touch.

Take a Screenshot on your Android Device
Press the back button and press the center home button. The captured image will be saved in your gallery.

How to Take a Screenshot From Your Nook Color
Press the Vol- (Volume Down) button for a very short time, while also holding the Nook (Home) button. The screenshots will be available under the Gallery.

How to Take a Screenshot on Your PC
To make a copy of the active window, press ALT+PRINT SCREEN.
To copy the entire screen as it appears on your monitor, press PRINT SCREEN.
Then paste the screenshot into your preferred program that handles images (MS Paint, Word, etc).

Have other screenshot tips? Leave them in the comments!

A collection of Kindle links

I don't actually *have* a Kindle....but I do run across lots of Kindle-related resources.

Here are a few I thought might be of interest:

• Code4lib: So you want to start a Kindle lending program
• FreewareGenius: The Big List of Free Kindle Tools
• Tame The Web: Hack a Kindle* - all about reading PDFs on the Kindle.
  (Thanks to Trish for this suggestion!)
• David Smith: InstaPaper on the Kindle - use InstaPaper to deliver web articles to your Kindle.
• TechStudy.Net: Top Amazon Kindle tips and tricks
• David Smith: Kindle Reading Lights - review of some Kindle light options for reading the Kindle 4 in low-light conditions.

How are you using your Kindle? What are your favorite Kindle tips, resources, or features?

Day 9 - Searching

As we learned in Day 5, our OverDrive collection now includes 13,959 titles! That’s a lot of titles to browse through. How can you find the one, two or 169 (the number of titles on my To Be Read list) titles that you really want? Let’s find out, shall we?

My first stop is LINKcat. Did you know that you can search for the word “downloadable” in the title search? That search will bring back 10,436 titles including both audio and ebooks. That’s still a lot of titles so how can we narrow that down? Try adding the title or author you’re looking for. For example, searching for “downloadable McCall Smith” in the Library Catalog search brings back nine items - all of which are part of the OverDrive collection. Much better! Click on the title for the full record, then look for Online Resources and the link to access the title in OverDrive.

Here’s a tip for you if you’re in need of something to read right now. From OverDrive's Digital Download Center, to see which of the New eBook Additions are available click on View All, then check the box for Only Show Titles with Copies Available and hit submit. This takes your results list from 200 down to 44. This tip works with all of the highlighted collections on the front page.

Need even more options? OverDrive has an Advanced Search feature. There are three fields on this page that I think are extremely useful. First is format. For example, if you’re only interested in Kindle books or MP3 titles, use the drop down menu to make your selection. Second is Date added to site. Use the drop down menu here to choose from titles added within the last 7 days to the last 365 days. Last, but not least, is the checkbox to Only Show Titles with Copies Available. You can add an author, title, subject or other information to further refine your search.

My best advice, though, is to take advantage of the Wish List feature in My Account. As you’re browsing or searching through the OverDrive collection, add titles to your wish list as you come across them. As far as I know, there isn’t a limit to the number of titles you can have in your list or the length of time they can stay there. You can place items on hold or check them out from your Wish List and titles can be removed anytime.

Do you have a favorite way to find titles in OverDrive? I’d love to hear about them so please share in the comments!
----------
Guest post by Jean Anderson.