TechBits

People Counter Kits are available

SCLS has two people counter kits available for any member library to use. These kits can be kept for 14 days are intended for in-library use only.

Kit 1 is a Bi-directional people counter kit – this is an easy to use basic people counter kit that will provide a count of how many people entered and exited your library. Two counters are included with this kit that also contains.

2 Transmitters
2 Receivers with displays
1 Magnet for resetting the counter
1 Instruction guide
Extra Command Strips

Kit 2 is a USB people counter kit – this is a more advanced people counter. Rather than a display to see how many people entered and exited the library it downloads data to a flash drive that connects to a laptop where you can see how many people passed by the counter every hour. This would be beneficial if you are interested in seeing trends as to what day of the week and during what time of the day the library gets the most traffic. This counter doesn’t indicate which direction people traveled so you will have to divide the total by two to get an accurate count. Two counters are included with this kit that also contains.

2 Transmitters
2 Receivers
1 laptop with people counter software and a power cable
1 Magnet for turning on the counter
1 USB cable
1 Instruction guide

 

Libby App Or OverDrive App

I've been on the road recently doing OverDrive training at a couple of libraries (and with my Dad) - thank you for having me out Brodhead and LaValle. One question that came up was about the Libby and OverDrive apps. Do you need both?

The answer? Maybe - as you can see on this screenshot of my iPhone, I have both. And, they're right next to my other two favorite book apps - LibraryThing and Litsy.

For a new user of Wisconsin's Digital Library, Libby is the way to go. It's so easy to set up and start using. At the training, library staff easily downloaded and starting using Libby. More features are being added regularly. For example, if you're a Kindle user you can now send books to your Kindle from Libby.

Do you have to switch from OverDrive App to Libby? No, you can use both at the same time - I do. For patrons who have been using Wisconsin's Digital Library for a while, they may have a Wish List (like me) or recommended titles and want to see the list. These options are not available on Libby yet. To access your settings, wishlist, rated titles, or recommendations, you'll want to use the OverDrive app or the web version of Wisconsin's Digital Library. As far as I know, there are no plans to discontinue the OverDrive app. If that changes, I'll be sure to let you know.

If you have a Kindle Fire, the OverDrive app is available in the Amazon app store. Libby is not. The OverDrive app opens up the ePub format titles to Kindle Fire users.

And, if you're a SYNC YA program listener, you'll need to use the OverDrive app or the OverDrive Media Console on your computer to download the weekly titles.

Happy reading and listening!

 

General Data Protection Regulation law - what?

Europe's General Data Protection Regulation law goes into effect May 25, 2018.  The definition from Wikipedia is "The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union and the European Economic Area. It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU and EEA.

This law has been seven years in the making and, in light of other recent news about data privacy infringement, seems to be very timely.  If companies and websites that you may use have a global presence (like Google), you are probably seeing an increase in "required" information bits about how that company or website is protecting your privacy and/or changes you should make to your account to increase the protection of your personal data.  

Here's a link to an article in The Guardian (UK) that I was reading in my last copy of American Libraries Direct.

And an article from The New York Times May 6, 2018 

Enjoy! Heidi O.

ID for Cables

Earlier this year while assembling the Virtual Reality kits, I came across a problem with them: Too many cables.  At first I had used a small label maker to identify the cable but found they could be torn off easily and didn't look very nice.  After a quick Amazon search I found some cable IDs and knew that it would be the perfect solution.  The set I purchased can be found here.

They are slim plastic tubes to put around the cable to ID them either by color, number, or text.  The identifiers come in different colors so you can easily see them and where they go.  They also come with the inserts so you can display inside what the cable is for.  

These aren't just for VR kits though.  They can be used with PC cables, TVs, projectors, or gaming consoles.  How many times have you gone to unplug one of the 10 black cables you thought was the right one and it ended up being the fish tank or the whole network?  This is a cheap and simple solution to those minor situations.  (Plus the colors make the cables look pretty :) )

Word's Disappearing Ribbon Trick

Have you ever been using Word and wished for more vertical space? Or maybe, like what happened here and at one other library where all that was showing up in the Word window was the menu bar and the user was wondering: Where's the ribbon?

This post will help you answer these questions. In Word there is an option to hide the ribbon or unhide the ribbon by using Ctrl F1. This keyboard command works for both Word 2010 (if you have Windows 8) and Word 2013 (if you have Windows 10).

If you prefer using the mouse then the location of the clickable caret (looks like an upside down V) varies depending on which version of Word you have.

For Word 2010

In the upper right-hand corner of a Word window, directly to the left of the question mark inside a blue circle is the caret you click on to either hide the ribbon or show the ribbon. If it is hidden then the caret points down and if the ribbon is visible then the caret points up.

 

For Word 2013

In the upper right-hand corner of a Word window, directly to the right of the word "Editing" is the caret you click on to hide the ribbon.

If it is hidden to show it again you need to click on the icon directly to the right of the question mark in the upper right-hand corner.

It will show you three options: Auto-hide Ribbon, Show Tabs and Show Tabs and Commands. In order to show the ribbon again you will need to click on the Show Tabs and Commands option.

 

CAN Opportunities

I occasionally post about Community Area Networks (CANs) in this blog. If you are curious about what a CAN might do for your institution and your community there are two upcoming opportunities to learn more in Wisconsin.

The first is at the WiscNet Connections Conference in Madison next Monday and Tuesday (May 14 & 15). Advance registration is closed, but you may register at the event. CANs are a thread throughout the conference. 

The second is also sponsored by WiscNet and it is WiscNet's Community Conversation: CANs in Stevens Point on June 12. "Invite your stakeholders to learn the “What, Why, and How” of CANs; connect with others to glean ideas for the next steps to help your organization and community move forward with your own aspirations of connecting and sharing resources and applications for the common good."

 

 

Marker.to

Marker.to is a Chrome extension for highlighting text on a webpage.

Why would you use it?
I used it because I ran across a blog post that I wanted to share with a friend. We had just been talking about his work environment, team dynamics, and the importance of trust (and an interesting book I just started reading), and I wanted to call my friend's attention to specific sections of the post. I used the extension to highlight those bits, and the extension provided me a URL to the highlighted page.

Here's the original page: http://www.blockshelf.com/leaders-eat-last-simon-sinek/

and here's the URL to the highlighted webpage: http://marker.to/sjtUeg

The link to the highlighted page includes a little toolbar at the top that includes a link to the original page, sans highlighting.

Now, of course, the kicker with this is that the URL is a shortened URL and it isn't apparent where it's sending the user, so I also included a very-clearly-from-me sentence in my email about the article I was sending so he knew it wasn't malicious.

Pretty nifty!

Chrome blocking autoplay videos on PCs

You've opened a web page and just started reading when suddenly you're spending the next few seconds trying to hunt down that annoying autoplay video that's blaring out of your speakers. Sounds familiar, right?  Annoying, right? As time has gone on, browsers have started coming up with ways to fight the problem but  most have required you to fiddle with settings or possibly install an add-on.

Starting with version 66, Chrome is going to be muting autoplay videos. There's a default list of over 1,000 popular sites that will be allowed to autoplay videos and Chrome will learn from your browsing behavior to know which sites to mute or unmute. Once you've "trained" Chrome, they say it will block about half of your unwanted auto-plays though it will still allow those videos that are muted when they autoplay to run. At least it'll save your ears.

Website maintenance best practice reminder: block old accounts

You wouldn't let a staff member keep a key to the library after they become a former staff member, would you? Of course not! Don't forget to take the same care with the library's website. When a staff member leaves the library (for any reason, good or bad), it's good practice to limit their access to edit library websites, such as:

• Main public-facing website
• Staff blog or wiki
• Social media/other groups where the library has a presence (Facebook, Twitter, Google, Slack, etc.)

For example, if your library website runs on Drupal, there are options* to deal with a departing staff member's website editing account:

• Change the password on the account so the departing staff member can't log in anymore.
• Reassign the account to someone else with a new username & email.
• Block the account so that it cannot be used to log in at all.
• Delete the account so it is gone forever. On a Drupal site, this option will also prompt the question: should the content created with this account be deleted or reassigned to another staff member?

The specific options and steps for each platform may differ. The important thing is to remember to make sure the account housekeeping happens!

* Some of these options might only be available to a site administrator. (If your library's website is hosted by SCLS, this is something SCLS staff can help you manage—just let us know!)