TechBits

Password Protect a Spreadsheet

Have you ever had a spreadsheet where you wanted to share the information but you didn’t want anyone else to modify its contents?  Password protection might just be the way to go.  And, it’s simple!

To password protect a spreadsheet, all you have to do is:

1. Select Save as from the Excel Office Ribbon
2. Click the Tools button below the left-hand pane
3. Select General Options
4. Type in a password in the Password to Modify field
5. Type in same password as a confirmation.
6. Save the file.

The next time anyone launches the spreadsheet, they’ll be greeted with the following screen.

If you created the spreadsheet and want to modify it, type in the password.  Everyone else will have “Read” access and won't be able to modify it.

The Best Project Managment tool...ever?

Here in our office we have a lot of technical projects.  It's very difficult to document multiple projects and even harder to share that info with team members.  Like many organizations we've struggled with this for a long time.  In the past we tried tools like shared drives, blogs, wikis, and email to document and share info about projects.  To be honest, nothing really worked well at all.

Then one day I came into work and Greg said one word: Asana.  Asana is unbelievable.  It is a web based project management tool that allows you to collaborate with team members in real time and GSD.  (Get Stuff Done)

 

I could talk about how we use it, how it is saving me so much time, and how recording information in one common accessible place is half the battle...but I won't.  Please just watch the video and give it a try!

Sum it up with a shortcut

Another handy Excel shortcut...  Alt =

To sum a column of numbers, select the cell at the bottom of the column. Type Alt = to insert the sum function.

Training opportunities during OverDrive Training Month

Get ready to polish your OverDrive skills and learn about new developments for 2012 -- September is OverDrive Training Month for library staff.

Learning the basics: Pre-recorded webinars provide the basic training, and you can work through them at your own pace. Recommended: Just the Basics, Going Mobile, Patron Assistance, Kindle Demo, and Real-Time Reports. (Also check out the new pdf tip sheet explaining some mysteries of the search engine.)

If you have questions: OverDrive will have staff available for live-chat to answer your training questions.

New developments: To find out about the changes coming to OverDrive service, register for one of the live "Next Generation Digital Library" webinars. "Browser-based eReading" is on the list of topics, so you will not want to miss this. (And, like last year, acing a short quiz after the webinar will get you entered in a prize drawing.)

Behind the rings

This past week has been a busy week on the technology front. The successful landing of the Mars rover Opportunity and the subsequent full color images it has already sent back have been all over the news. The other major news has, of course, been the Olympics.

So what does the Olympics have to do with technology? Lots! From the touchpads for the swimmers to the systems that feed data to the commentators to the security system there was a lot of technology infrastructure in place for the London games. According to one article, the main network center will hold 180 techs at a time around the clock and upwards of 5,000 tech staff, mostly spread across the 94 venues.

But what about the spectators? How were the Olympics going to handle the large number of visitors posting to Facebook, uploading pictures, checking results and Tweeting from their personal devices? Prior to the games, 30 masts and one of the world's best wi-fi networks were added on the Olympic Park. Vodafone said its network saw data usage from the stadium equivalent to the sending of 400,000 smartphone pictures.

There were some rough spots though. During the cycling road race onlookers were asked to stop using Twitter and texting because the GPS electronics on the athletes' bikes were using the same mobile network. The volume of traffic on the network was so heavy it was keeping the organizers from receiving the timings for the race.

Bit of trivia: This was the first year the Olympic pentathlon used laser pistols.

OverDrive help videos

You may have already seen this in Online Update while you were reading about Lodi's gnome shenanigans, but it's worth mentioning again: OverDrive recently released a new series of self-help videos for accessing the online resources of Wisconsin’s Digital Library, made available by the Wisconsin Public Library Consortium (WPLC).

Get started quickly with digital books and more using these short, step-by-step videos. Each series is designed to help you browse, check out, and download from an OverDrive-powered site, and have you enjoying your favorite titles in no time!

Filter it

I've spent a fair amount of time recently looking at database statistics and spreadsheets. I had a great question yesterday that had me filtering these spreadsheets to help make the data a little easier to read.

The question was, "Is there an easy way for me to see subscribing libraries' use of Morningstar and ValueLine?"

The answer is "Yes!"  We offer the database stats in spreadsheet format. You can filter any spreadsheet to show only certain data.

Here's how you would tackle this particular example in Excel 2007:

• Take your spreadsheet (I'll use the 2011 Remote Database Use spreadsheet in my example)
• Ctrl-A to select all of the data on a sheet
• Click on the Sort&Filter button
• Choose Filter
• In the spreadsheet, click on the drop-down arrow for the "Database" column
• Uncheck the "Select All" box
• Check the boxes for the databases whose stats you'd like to view (Morningstar and ValueLine for this example)
• Ta-da! Remote Use data only for Morningstar and ValueLine!

(Click on the pictures to see them full-size)